At a Glance
- Tasks: Design and develop automated test frameworks for our award-winning digital products.
- Company: Join the Financial Times, a leading global news organisation with a supportive culture.
- Benefits: Enjoy generous leave, medical cover, gym memberships, and flexible working options.
- Other info: Embrace innovation in a dynamic environment with excellent career growth opportunities.
- Why this job: Make an impact in tech while ensuring quality in every deployment of our digital platforms.
- Qualifications: Experience in test strategies and automated testing tools like Selenium and Cypress.
The predicted salary is between 50000 - 65000 £ 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. Together, we help audiences stay better informed and deepen their understanding of the world around them.
Our Product & Tech teams drive us forward in an ever-evolving digital landscape, delivering cutting‑edge products to over one million digital subscribers daily. Our growth relies on a diverse, dedicated and dynamic group of product, tech, delivery and data specialists. With a supportive culture, entrepreneurial spirit and opportunities at every turn, there are no limits to where your FT career can take you.
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 Software Engineer in Test Automation who is passionate about engineering scalable quality systems and automated guardrails that ensure confidence in every deployment of FT’s award‑winning digital products. You’ll join the Mobile Apps team, a multidisciplinary, cross‑functional group focused on delivering an outstanding mobile experience for our world class news. You’ll collaborate closely with engineers, product managers, business analysts and designers and QA Engineers to build scalable automation frameworks, integrate with CI/CD systems, and ensure high confidence in every deployment across our web and mobile platforms.
What You’ll Do:
- Design, develop and maintain robust, reusable, and scalable automated test frameworks using tools like Selenium, Cypress, Appium or Playwright.
- Integrate automated tests in CI/CD pipelines to support rapid, reliable delivery.
- Optimise test suites for speed, stability, and clarity of failure.
- Analyse user stories and system architecture to define effective and proportionate test coverage.
- Design and implement functional, regression, smoke, and integration test scenarios.
- Collaborate with teams to shift quality left by identifying risks early and integrating testability into software design.
- Drive test data strategy and support deterministic, data‑driven testing.
- Make pragmatic trade‑offs between delivery speed, risk, and quality.
- Investigate flaky tests, failures, and false positives contributing to root cause analysis and resolution.
- Collaborate effectively with teams to improve pipeline stability and feedback loops.
- Contribute to the broader test engineering community, sharing learnings and evolving best practices.
- Support teams to deliver quality software without reliance on central QA.
What You’ll Bring:
- Proven experience designing test strategies, not just writing tests (unit, integration, E2E, and trade‑offs between them).
- Experience designing and implementing automated guardrails that protect platform quality at scale.
- Experience defining and using quality signals to support release decisions (e.g. test results, failure patterns, platform health metrics).
- Experience enabling multiple teams to deliver quality software without central QA dependency.
- Experience building and maintaining automated quality gates in CI/CD pipelines (e.g. GitHub Actions, CircleCI).
- Ability to define and improve test coverage, reliability, and signal quality (e.g. reducing flakiness, improving feedback loops).
- Hands‑on experience testing web and mobile applications (iOS and Android).
- Strong analytical skills with the ability to diagnose issues across code, test, and environment.
- Clear communication skills across engineering and non‑technical stakeholders.
- Experience defining platform‑level quality standards, guardrails, and release criteria across multiple teams.
- Experience improving or replacing flaky E2E test strategies with more effective approaches.
- Knowledge of testing in production practices (feature flags, canary releases, rollback strategies).
- Familiarity with observability and production monitoring (e.g. Splunk, Grafana) and using these as quality signals.
- Experience supporting or coaching teams to improve testing practices and confidence.
- Experience influencing engineering practices across teams without direct authority.
- Experience designing quality dashboards or reporting that provide actionable insights (not just coverage or pass rates).
What’s in it for you? 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. We’ve embraced a 50% hybrid working model (averaging two to three days onsite) that fosters trust and remote adaptability while encouraging in‑person camaraderie and peer learning. Additionally, we are open to accommodating specific flexible working pattern requests for all roles where feasible.
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.
Software Engineer in Test Automation employer: Financial Times
The Financial Times is an exceptional employer, offering a vibrant work culture that champions diversity, equity, and inclusion while fostering innovation and collaboration. With a commitment to employee growth, the FT provides ample opportunities for professional development, alongside generous benefits such as flexible working arrangements and comprehensive health coverage. Located in a dynamic environment, employees are encouraged to thrive both personally and professionally, making it a rewarding place to build a meaningful career.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Software Engineer in Test 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 brushing up on your technical skills. Since you're applying for a Software Engineer in Test Automation role, make sure you can talk confidently about tools like Selenium and CI/CD practices. Practice coding challenges to keep your skills sharp!
✨Tip Number 3
Show your passion for quality and automation during interviews. Share examples of how you've designed test strategies or improved testing practices in past roles. This will demonstrate that you’re not just a coder, but someone who cares about delivering top-notch products.
✨Tip Number 4
Don’t forget to apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets seen by the right people. Plus, it shows you’re genuinely interested in joining the FT team.
We think you need these skills to ace Software Engineer in Test Automation
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your Application:Make sure to customise your CV and cover letter to highlight your experience with test automation and the specific tools mentioned in the job description. We want to see how your skills align with what we're looking for!
Showcase Your Passion:Let your enthusiasm for software engineering and quality assurance shine through in your application. Share any personal projects or experiences that demonstrate your commitment to building robust automated systems.
Be Clear and Concise:When writing your application, keep it straightforward and to the point. Use clear language to describe your achievements and how they relate to the role. We appreciate a well-structured application that’s easy to read!
Apply Through Our Website:We encourage you to submit your application directly through our website. This way, you’ll ensure it reaches the right people and you can easily track your application status. Plus, it shows you're keen on joining us at the FT!
How to prepare for a job interview at Financial Times
✨Know Your Tools
Familiarise yourself with the specific tools mentioned in the job description, like Selenium, Cypress, and Appium. Be ready to discuss your experience with these tools and how you've used them to build automated test frameworks.
✨Understand Test Strategies
Prepare to talk about your approach to designing test strategies. Think about how you balance unit, integration, and E2E tests, and be ready to share examples of how you've made trade-offs between delivery speed and quality.
✨Collaborate Like a Pro
Since collaboration is key in this role, think of examples where you've worked closely with cross-functional teams. Highlight how you’ve contributed to improving pipeline stability and feedback loops, and be prepared to discuss how you communicate with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
✨Show Your Analytical Skills
Be ready to demonstrate your analytical skills by discussing how you've diagnosed issues across code, tests, and environments. Prepare to share specific instances where you've investigated flaky tests or failures and how you resolved them.
