QA Engineer - Java, Automation (we have office locations in Cambridge, Leeds & London)

Genomics England partners with the NHS to provide whole genome sequencing diagnostics. We also equip researchers to find the causes of disease and develop new treatments – with patients and participants at the heart of it all. Our mission is to continue refining, scaling, and evolving our ability to enable others to deliver genomic healthcare and conduct genomic research. We are accelerating our impact and working with patients, doctors, scientists, government and industry to improve genomic testing, and help researchers access the health data and technology they need to make new medical discoveries and create more effective, targeted medicines for everybody.

We are seeking a proven QA Engineer with strong Java, automation and data testing experience to help ensure the delivery of high-quality, reliable systems that exceed user expectations. In this role, you’ll play a key part in maintaining and improving our systems by developing, executing and automating tests across various platforms.

Everyday responsibilities include:

• Design, build, and maintain Test Automation Frameworks in Java, and for APIs & WebUI, performance, and security testing.
• Experienced working with large-scale datasets and data pipelines, ensuring data integrity and quality through automated validation.
• Apply a strong understanding of data models and data structures to design effective test strategies for big data environments.
• Follow standard software testing processes to validate and verify Genomics England products.
• Manage and optimize CI/CD pipelines for seamless test automation.
• Produce clear, accurate documentation to support product and service maintenance.
• Apply Agile techniques to effectively deliver testing solutions.
• Interact with databases programmatically to retrieve and verify test data.

Skills and Experience for Success:

• Hands-on experience testing big data systems and validating data pipelines.
• Ability to interpret and test against complex data models and schemas.
• Understanding of non-functional testing (performance, security) and test data management.
• Strong understanding of QA methodologies, tools, and processes.
• Ability to write clear and comprehensive test plans and test cases.
• Experience with cloud platforms ideally such as AWS (preferable).
• Hands-on experience across the full testing lifecycle, from unit testing to user acceptance testing.
• Proficiency with Selenium-Java, TestNG or JUnit, Cucumber (for BDD with Java).
• Must have strong Java programming skills (this is absolutely essential), with the proven ability to build and maintain reliable, automated test scripts.
• Familiarity with BDD methodologies.
• A proactive problem-solving approach and a drive for continuous learning and innovation.
• Experience with Gitlab CI/CD, Test Management (X-Ray), Monitoring (Datadog or similar) and Playwright beneficial.
• Experience with other programming languages beneficial, namely Shell, JavaScript.

Qualifications:

• QA or testing certifications are desirable but not essential.

Additional Information:

• Salary from: £53,500
• Closing Date: Sunday 20th July at 23:00 (UK time)

Being an integral part of such a meaningful mission is extremely rewarding in itself, but in order to support our people, we’re continually improving our benefits package. We pride ourselves on investing in our people and supporting them to achieve their career goals, as well as offering a benefits package including:

• Generous Leave: 30 days’ holiday plus bank holidays, additional leave for long service, and the option to apply for up to 30 days of remote working abroad annually (approval required).
• Family-Friendly: Blended working arrangements, flexible working, enhanced maternity, paternity and shared parental leave benefits.
• Pension & Financial: Defined contribution pension (Genomics England double-matches up to 10%, however you can contribute more if you wish), Life Assurance (3x salary), and a Give As You Earn scheme.
• Learning & Development: Individual learning budgets, support for training and certifications, and reimbursement for one annual professional subscription (approval required).
• Recognition & Rewards: Employee recognition programme and referral scheme.
• Health & Wellbeing: Subsidised gym membership, a free Headspace account, and access to an Employee Assistance Programme, eye tests, flu jabs.

Equal opportunities and our commitment to a diverse and inclusive workplace:

Genomics England is actively committed to providing and supporting an inclusive environment that promotes equity, diversity and inclusion best practice both within our community and in any other area where we have influence. We are proud of our diverse community where everyone can come to work and feel welcomed and treated with respect regardless of any disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, or social background.

Genomics England’s policies of non-discrimination and equity will be applied fairly to all people, regardless of age, disability, gender identity or reassignment, marital or civil partnership status, being pregnant or recently becoming a parent, race, religion or beliefs, sex or sexual orientation, length of service, whether full or part-time or employed under a permanent or a fixed-term contract or any other relevant factor.

Genomics England does not tolerate any form of discrimination, harassment, victimisation or bullying at work.