Quality Engineer in Cheltenham

About Finova

Finova is the UK's leading lending and savings technology provider, supporting one in every five mortgages nationwide. Our agile, cloud-native solutions enable over 60 banks, building societies, specialist lenders, equity release providers and a network of 2,400+ brokers to stay ahead in a competitive market. Built on open architecture and backed by deep industry expertise, our platform is designed to scale. Each year, we process over £50 billion in loans, manage nearly £50 billion in savings, and support the digital servicing of more than 650,000 UK borrower accounts. Be part of a team that’s driving innovation, enabling growth and shaping the future of UK lending.

About the Role:

As a Quality / Test Engineer within the engineering organisation, you will play a central role in embedding shift-left quality practices and scaling our automated test capabilities across core product features. Reporting to the Quality Engineering Lead, you will sit within an agile software delivery squad alongside Product Managers, Business Systems Analysts, and Software Engineers. Your core purpose is to design, execute, and maintain automated UI and API test frameworks, integrate test suites into modern CI/CD pipelines, and balance automated coverage with deep exploratory testing across complex mortgage processing logic and cloud microservices.

About you:

• Core Testing Experience: 2–5 years of Quality/Test Engineering experience in an agile software delivery environment, ideally within SaaS, fintech, or regulated financial services.
• Hands-on Automation Skills: Proven experience building or maintaining scalable UI and API test automation frameworks using modern tools like Playwright, Cypress, or REST Assured.
• API & Database Proficiency: Strong hands-on experience validating REST APIs (via Postman, SoapUI, or code) and inspecting backend data using SQL queries, XML, and JSON data structures.
• CI/CD & Source Control: Practical working knowledge of Git, branch management, and integrating automated test suites directly into modern CI/CD delivery pipelines.
• Shift-Left & BDD Practices: Strong analytical mindset with experience engaging early in sprint planning to write BDD scenarios, refine acceptance criteria, and perform risk assessments.

What will you be doing?

• Automation & Framework Engineering: Design, write, and maintain scalable UI and API automated test scripts using frameworks like Playwright or Cypress, contributing directly to shared automation codebases.
• CI/CD Pipeline Integration: Identify regression and smoke test candidates for automation, integrate suites into CI/CD pipelines, and monitor continuous test health and reporting.
• API & Microservice Validation: Conduct thorough functional, integration, and non-functional testing across cloud-hosted microservices, REST APIs, and core calculation engines using JSON/XML data formats and SQL.
• Shift-Left BDD & Requirement Reviews: Partner early with Business Systems Analysts and Engineers to review technical requirements, build BDD scenarios, and establish complete acceptance criteria coverage.
• Exploratory & Logic Interrogation: Balance framework automation with structured manual exploratory testing to interrogate complex business logic, edge cases, system inputs/outputs, and data integrity.
• Incident Analysis & Quality Metrics: Support Root Cause Corrective Action (RCCA) investigations for major incidents, link corrective fixes back into regression suites, and track key quality metrics like defect density and pipeline reliability.

What We Offer:

• Hybrid working: We operate on a hybrid model that is primarily office-based, requiring three days in the office each week, with the flexibility to work remotely for the remainder.
• Private medical insurance: Comprehensive health cover, with the option to add your family to your plan, because your well-being matters to us.
• Life assurance & income protection: We provide life assurance and income protection to give you peace of mind for the future.
• Family friendly policies: Our enhanced family-friendly policy goes beyond maternity and paternity leave, offering paid time off for when plans change or alternative paths to parenthood are needed.
• Work from anywhere: Some thrive in the office, others at home — and many do best with choice. With approval, Finova employees can work abroad for up to 4 weeks each year.
• Flexible holiday package: Enjoy 25 days paid holiday allowance, plus all public holidays. And, you can rebook any public holidays for a day that aligns with your personal beliefs or celebration calendar. We also offer holiday trading allowing you to purchase or sell your holiday allowance.
• Company pension scheme: With salary exchange, you save on tax and can build a secure future.
• Employee assistance programme: We understand that mental health is just as important as physical health. Access to a 24/7 confidential counselling helpline ensures you have support when you need it.
• Electric car scheme: Get a brand-new electric vehicle with salary sacrifice as a benefit, paid for through your gross monthly pay, saving on Income Tax and National Insurance.
• Health cash plan: Our Health Cash Plan empowers you to prioritise your wellbeing by providing effortless reimbursement for everyday healthcare costs, from dental and optical visits to physiotherapy.
• Gym discounts: Achieve your fitness goals for less with GymFlex, which offers significant savings on annual memberships at over 3,000 gyms and leisure centers nationwide.
• Perks that matter: We fuel your day with a fully stocked pantry of fresh fruit and snacks and keep the team spirit high with weekly socials and events.

Equal Opportunity Statement: We value diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. If you’re passionate about this role but don’t meet all the criteria, please reach out, we’d love to discuss how your skills and experiences align with our needs.