Software QA Engineer

About us

At National Grid, our commitment to a cleaner, greener energy future is powered by the dedication and ingenuity of our people. Join our team as a Software QA Engineer and be a part of something bigger-where your unique skills and passions can make a real difference. Together, we are superpowered.

National Grid is hiring a Software QA Engineer on a permanent basis. The location for this role can be based in Warwick, Bristol, Castle Donnington or possibly other UK Wide locations – We offer a hybrid working model.

Job Purpose

Reporting to the Head of QA Engineering, the QA (Quality Assurance) Engineer is responsible fordesigning, implementing, and managing software testing, platforms, tooling and systems (SaaS andon-premise) in support of the development team. The role is responsible for ensuring system quality,scalability, reliability, efficiency and security across diverse environments, while driving automationand operational excellence. The QA engineer is expected to play a critical role in enhancingresilience, minimising defects and optimising performance, while adhering to industry best practicesand compliance standards.

This role is also expected to be a subject matter expert in their respective discipline, fosteringcollaboration, continuous improvement, and adaptability within the organisation, as a facilitator,mentor, and enabler of Agile principles. A person who advocates for a culture of agility, encouragingall to embrace Agile values and practices.

The role also has accountability to deputise for their line manager (whenever necessary) and isexpected to support the software engineering community while also driving a positive culture(primarily through role modelling) across the Technology department and wider business.

What you\’ll do

• Design and deploy scalable, high-performance software that aligns with the company’s long-term operational and business goals.
• Monitor, analyse, and enhance the performance and reliability of large-scale distributed softwareplatforms to ensure continuous uptime and efficiency.
• Develop automation solutions for configuration management, system provisioning, anddeployment to streamline operations and reduce manual interventions.
• Perform security testing to identify vulnerabilities and ensure data integrity and securitycompliance. – Implement and maintain security protocols, ensuring software is compliant withregulatory standards and best practices, including data encryption, access control, andvulnerability management.
• Lead the resolution of platform outages or performance degradation issues, conducting rootcause analysis and implementing preventive measures.
• Work closely with cross-functional teams, including software engineering, DevOps, and IToperations, to integrate solutions, troubleshoot issues, and enhance system performance.
• Implement and maintain automated test cases to validate business functionalities of productsbuilt in a microservices architecture.
• Analyse current system capacities and plan for future growth, ensuring that platforms areprepared to handle increased loads and scaling needs.
• Maintain detailed documentation of system configurations, procedures, and troubleshootingsteps to facilitate knowledge sharing and future reference.
• Drive continuous improvements by staying informed of industry trends, emerging technologies, and best practices, integrating relevant advancements into the company’s infrastructure.
• Proactively support 3rd party application development partners to ensure they deliver softwarewithin the agreed solution design, and to agreed quality standards.
• Ensures the Design goals – Performance, Modularity, Reliability, Maintainability, Reusability andAccessibility – are met.
• Identify defects early in the development lifecycle and ensure they are accurately reported andtracked through issue management tools.
• Conduct performance testing, including load, stress, and scalability tests, to ensure platformsand products can handle varying levels of user activity and traffic.
• Take ownership of own personal development and career progression. Identify, own and managethe risks involved in running our business appropriate to my role, in line with the company riskframework.
• Champion the agile frameworks (Scrum and Kanban) within the team, ensure that Agile principlesare practiced by peers and understood by stakeholders.
• Undertake other duties from time to time as required by the Head of Product Management.

About you

• Strong knowledge of cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP), containerisation technologies,automation tools and orchestration tools.
• Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines and DevOps methodologies.
• Proficient in scripting/programming languages such as Python.
• Familiarity with performance testing tools such as Locust.
• Experience with API testing using tools like Postman.
• Proficient in test-driven development and behaviour-driven development practices.
• Deep understanding of large-scale distributed systems, network architectures, storage solutions,and compute resource management.
• Proven ability to troubleshoot complex system issues, perform root cause analysis, and applysolutions in a timely manner.
• Proficiency with test monitoring, logging tools and frameworks.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to work effectively across teamsand present technical information clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to handle complex projects and work in fast-paced environments.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to synthesise data, research, and insights into actionablestrategies.
• Ability to address challenges and roadblocks creatively and effectively.
• A demonstrated interest in contributing to the IT&D QA community, whether through blogs,knowledge transfer sessions or internal library contributions.

What you\’ll get

A competitive salary between £50,000 – £65,000 dependent on capability

As well as your base salary, you will receive a bonus based on personal and company performance and a competitive contributory pension scheme where we will double match your contribution to a maximum company contribution of 12%. You will also have access to a number of flexible benefits such as a share incentive plan, salary sacrifice car and technology schemes, support via employee assistance lines and matched charity giving to name a few.

More Information

The closing date for this vacancy is 18th July. However, we encourage candidates to submit their applications as early as possible and not to wait until the published closing date. National Grid’s recruitment periods can and may vary. We reserve the right to remove this advert or close it to further applications at any point during the recruitment process.

DE & I statement

At National Grid, we work towards the highest standards in everything we do, including how we support, value and develop our people. Our aim is to encourage and support employees to thrive and be the best they can be. We celebrate the difference people can bring into our organisation, and welcome and encourage applicants with diverse experiences and backgrounds, and offer flexible and tailored support, at home and in the office.
Our goal is to drive, develop and operate our business in a way that results in a more inclusive culture. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, the innovation from diverse teams & perspectives and business need. We are committed to building a workforce so we can represent the communities we serve and have a working environment in which each individual feels valued, respected, fairly treated, and able to reach their full potential.

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