At a Glance
- Tasks: Ensure high-quality digital experiences through testing across web, mobile, and APIs.
- Company: Join the Financial Times, a leading global news organisation with a collaborative culture.
- Benefits: Enjoy generous leave, medical cover, gym memberships, and a hybrid work model.
- Other info: Diverse community with opportunities for personal and professional growth.
- Why this job: Make an impact on millions while growing your skills in a dynamic environment.
- Qualifications: Experience in manual testing and a passion for quality assurance.
The predicted salary is between 35000 - 45000 £ per year.
The Financial Times is one of the world’s leading news organisations, globally recognised for its authority, integrity and accuracy, with a mission to deliver quality information and services worldwide. At the FT, curiosity thrives and ambitious thinking is rewarded. Here, you’re given the chance to reach millions, create work that matters and deliver impartial journalism in a polarised world. In our warm, collaborative culture, you’ll connect with a diverse community of experts who support your growth, career aspirations and wellbeing. Your future at the FT will be filled with opportunities that challenge and inspire you. With no fixed path, you’ll discover new skills and forge a career that can take you anywhere.
Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
We believe in the power of unique perspectives and want all voices in our organisation to be heard, respected and valued. A supportive workplace is one where employees feel they can be themselves and operate to their full potential. We are committed to removing barriers for everyone, with a focus on addressing those faced by underrepresented groups.
The Role
We’re looking for a detail-oriented Quality Assurance (QA) Engineer who is passionate about delivering reliable, high-quality digital experiences to millions of FT readers worldwide. You’ll play a key role across two of our customer facing teams, ensuring our products are robust and performant. Helping us maintain the premium experience expected across our web, mobile, and backend platforms. Working across web, mobile, APIs, and backend services, this role is initially centred around hands-on manual and exploratory testing, while also offering the opportunity to help shape and grow our automation capabilities over time. We’re looking for someone who enjoys understanding how products work end-to-end, is proactive in identifying risks and edge cases, and is excited by the opportunity to evolve testing practices through tooling, automation, and continuous improvement. Improving collaboration between product, engineering, and design, and supporting a culture of shared ownership for quality across the teams.
What You’ll Do
- Own quality for features from refinement through to release, helping define testable acceptance criteria and appropriate test coverage.
- Perform manual, exploratory, smoke, and regression testing across web, mobile, API, and backend systems.
- Create and maintain clear test plans, test cases and defect reports.
- Support production issues and customer-reported bugs by working closely with your scrum teams.
- Identify opportunities to automate repetitive, high-value, or regression-heavy scenarios.
- Help evolve QA practices, tooling, and automation capabilities across the team.
- Identify opportunities to improve testing efficiency and release confidence through automation and smarter testing approaches.
- Contribute to automated test coverage using tools such as Playwright, Selenium, Appium, or similar frameworks.
- Communicate quality risks, test coverage, and release readiness clearly to stakeholders across engineering and product.
- Participate actively in agile ceremonies including refinement, planning, retrospectives, Scrum, and Kanban processes.
- Advocate for quality throughout the development lifecycle by helping shape clear acceptance criteria and testable user stories.
- Contribute to release readiness discussions by communicating risks, trade-offs, and test coverage clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
- Work collaboratively across engineering, product, and support teams to foster a strong culture of quality ownership.
What You’ll Bring
- Strong experience in manual, exploratory, smoke, regression, and functional testing within agile teams.
- A good understanding of QA methodologies, risk-based testing, and shift-left quality practices.
- Experience testing web, iOS, Android, APIs, and integrated systems.
- Hands-on experience with API testing tools such as Postman or equivalent.
- Ability to design pragmatic test strategies and comprehensive test cases across different scenarios.
- Strong analytical skills, with the ability to spot risks, gaps, and edge cases early.
- An interest in automation and a desire to grow skills in tools such as Playwright, Selenium, Appium, or similar.
- Good communication skills and confidence working across engineering, product, and support teams.
Nice to Have
- Experience contributing to test automation frameworks.
- Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines and modern delivery practices.
- Ability to influence QA practices and promote a strong culture of quality ownership across the team.
What’s in it for you? Our benefits
Our benefits vary by location but we are committed to providing best-in-class perks across all our offices. These include generous annual leave, medical cover, inclusive parental leave packages, subsidised gym memberships and opportunities to give back to the community. Full details of our benefits are available here.
We currently operate a hybrid model which requires staff to work onsite 50% of the time, subject to role requirements & regular review. While flexible working requests will be considered, not all patterns are suitable for all roles. We believe this balanced approach supports flexibility and protects our culture, making collaboration and communication easier, building stronger relationships and team cohesion, and supporting peer learning. We reserve discretion on reasonable notice to change this approach either generally or for specific individuals or teams.
Accessibility
We are a disability confident employer and Valuable 500 signatory. Please let us know if you require any reasonable adjustments/personalisation as part of the application process or to enable you to attend an interview. If you would like to discuss your requirements or have any questions, email talent@ft.com and a member of our team will be happy to help.
Further information
At the FT, we embrace innovation and the use of technology and appreciate that individuals may leverage AI tools as part of their job application process. Whilst we are happy for you to use AI to assist with your application, it is essential that all information provided is authentic and accurately represents your skills, experience, and qualifications. Candidates should be aware that the use of AI throughout the application process may be monitored to ensure a fair and transparent hiring process for all.
QA Engineer — Digital Experience & Automation employer: Financial Times
The Financial Times is an exceptional employer that fosters a warm and collaborative culture, where curiosity and ambitious thinking are not only encouraged but rewarded. With a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, employees are supported in their growth and career aspirations, while enjoying a range of benefits including generous annual leave and flexible working arrangements. Joining the FT means being part of a diverse community dedicated to delivering quality journalism and innovative digital experiences that truly matter.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land QA Engineer — Digital Experience & Automation
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to current or former employees at the Financial Times on LinkedIn. A friendly chat can give you insider info and maybe even a referral, which can really boost your chances.
✨Tip Number 2
Prepare for the interview by practising common QA scenarios. Think about how you'd approach testing different platforms like web and mobile. Show them you know your stuff and can think on your feet!
✨Tip Number 3
Don’t just talk about your skills; demonstrate them! If you get a chance, share examples of your past work or even do a quick demo of your testing process. This shows you’re not just all talk.
✨Tip Number 4
Apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets seen. Plus, it shows you’re genuinely interested in being part of the FT team. Let’s get you that job!
We think you need these skills to ace QA Engineer — Digital Experience & Automation
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your Application:Make sure to customise your CV and cover letter for the QA Engineer role. Highlight your experience with manual and exploratory testing, and don’t forget to mention any tools like Playwright or Selenium that you’ve used. We want to see how your skills align with what we’re looking for!
Show Your Passion for Quality:In your application, let us know why you’re passionate about delivering high-quality digital experiences. Share examples of how you’ve identified risks or improved testing practices in previous roles. We love candidates who are proactive and eager to evolve their skills!
Be Clear and Concise:When writing your application, keep it clear and to the point. Use bullet points where possible to make your achievements stand out. We appreciate straightforward communication, especially when it comes to discussing quality risks and test coverage.
Apply Through Our Website:We encourage you to apply directly through our website. It’s the best way to ensure your application gets into the right hands. Plus, you’ll find all the details you need about the role and our company culture there!
How to prepare for a job interview at Financial Times
✨Know Your QA Methodologies
Make sure you brush up on your understanding of QA methodologies, especially risk-based testing and shift-left quality practices. The Financial Times is looking for someone who can spot risks and gaps early, so be ready to discuss how you've applied these methodologies in your previous roles.
✨Showcase Your Testing Experience
Prepare to talk about your hands-on experience with manual, exploratory, and regression testing across various platforms like web, iOS, and Android. Be specific about the tools you've used, such as Postman for API testing, and share examples of how your testing has improved product quality.
✨Emphasise Collaboration Skills
The FT values a collaborative culture, so highlight your ability to work across engineering, product, and support teams. Think of examples where you've successfully communicated quality risks or contributed to agile ceremonies, as this will show you're a team player who advocates for quality.
✨Express Your Interest in Automation
Since the role involves evolving automation capabilities, express your enthusiasm for learning and growing in this area. Mention any experience you have with automation tools like Playwright or Selenium, and be prepared to discuss how you envision contributing to the team's automation efforts.
