At a Glance
- Tasks: Create and execute test plans for innovative SaaS products and websites.
- Company: Join Spydr, a leading digital agency in Bristol with a creative culture.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, flexible working hours, and opportunities for professional growth.
- Other info: Collaborative environment with a focus on quality and continuous improvement.
- Why this job: Make a real impact on product quality and user experience in a dynamic team.
- Qualifications: Experience in QA, strong testing skills, and familiarity with bug tracking tools.
The predicted salary is between 60000 - 75000 £ per year.
Company About Spydr: Join a dynamic and innovative team at Spydr, where creativity meets technology. We're a leading digital agency in Bristol, specialising in providing comprehensive managed products and website development services to a diverse range of clients. Our mission is to deliver high-quality, scalable, and user-friendly solutions that drive success and satisfaction for our clients.
The role What you’ll be doing We’re looking for a mid-weight QA Engineer who brings both rigour and initiative to quality assurance. You’ll own the creation and execution of test plans across our SaaS products and marketing websites, while also taking a proactive role in monitoring application health - watching for issues before they become incidents, not just after. This isn’t a purely reactive role. We want someone who treats support tickets, observability data, and analytics as a continuous feedback loop, using what they see to inform testing priorities, surface trends, and drive improvements across the team.
Day to day Key responsibilities:
- Design, write, and maintain test plans and test cases for SaaS features and marketing website releases
- Carry out functional, regression, integration, and exploratory testing across web applications
- Define and document acceptance criteria in collaboration with product and engineering
- Manage and report on test coverage, flagging gaps and recommending improvements
- Oversee UAT processes, coordinating with internal stakeholders and clients where needed
Automation:
- Contribute to and maintain automated test suites (e.g. Playwright)
- Identify the right balance between manual and automated testing for each area of the product
- Support the team in embedding quality earlier in the development cycle
Monitoring & Observability:
- Proactively monitor observability and analytics dashboards (Signoz, OpenPanel Analytics, GA4, and similar) to track application performance and detect anomalies
- Keep a regular eye on support tickets to identify recurring issues, spot patterns, and feed findings back into test coverage and product priorities
- Produce clear, concise reports on application health, bug trends, and quality metrics for engineering and stakeholder audiences
- Raise the alarm early - you won’t wait to be told something is wrong
Process & Collaboration:
- Work closely with engineers to reproduce, triage, and verify bug fixes
- Champion QA best practices across the team - from definition of done to release checklists
- Contribute to a culture of shared ownership over quality, not just sign-off at the end
Your experience Skills + requirements:
- Essential Proven experience as a QA engineer in a product or agency environment, testing web-based applications
- Strong ability to write clear, well-structured test plans and test cases from scratch
- Hands-on experience with both manual and automated testing approaches
- Familiarity with bug tracking and test management tools (e.g. Jira, Linear, TestRail, or similar)
- Comfortable working with observability or error monitoring tools (Sentry, Datadog, New Relic, or similar)
- Analytical mindset - able to look at a dashboard or a support queue and draw useful conclusions
- Strong written communication - your reports need to be useful to both engineers and non-technical stakeholders
Desirable:
- Experience with test automation frameworks such as Playwright, Cypress, or Selenium
- Familiarity with Google Analytics 4 and interpreting behavioural data as a quality signal
- Exposure to testing SaaS platforms, multi-tenant applications, or CMS-driven websites (WordPress, Drupal)
- Understanding of CI/CD pipelines and where testing fits within them
- Some awareness of accessibility testing standards (WCAG)
- ISTQB Foundation certification or equivalent (not required, but noted)
QAT Engineer in England employer: Spydr
At Spydr, we pride ourselves on being an excellent employer, offering a vibrant and collaborative work culture that fosters creativity and innovation. Located in the heart of Bristol, our modern office provides fantastic amenities, including a gym and regular team events, ensuring a healthy work-life balance. With opportunities for professional growth and the chance to work on exciting projects with renowned clients, joining our team as a Software Engineer means becoming part of a supportive environment where your contributions truly matter.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land QAT Engineer in England
✨Join Local Tech Meetups
Get out there and mingle with fellow developers by joining local tech meetups. It’s a fantastic way to meet people who might be working at Spydr or know someone who does. Plus, you can pick up some trendy tech skills and trends while you're at it!
✨Contribute to Open Source Projects
Show off your coding chops by jumping into open-source projects. Not only does this give you practical experience, but it also gets you noticed in the dev community. You'll create a killer portfolio that speaks volumes about your skills to Spydr.
✨Tap into Online Developer Communities
Don’t underestimate the power of online developer communities like GitHub, Stack Overflow, and even Reddit. Participate in discussions, share your projects, and build your visibility. We can often find opportunities through these channels that can lead to a full-time gig at companies like Spydr.
✨Explore Job Boards Specifically for Tech Roles
Keep your eyes peeled on job boards that focus on tech roles. Sites like TechCareers or Stack Overflow Jobs can often have listings for companies like Spydr that might not show up on broader job sites. Make it a habit to check these regularly, and don’t hesitate to apply directly through our website!
We think you need these skills to ace QAT Engineer in England
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show off your coding skills:When applying for a software engineering role, it's super important to showcase your coding skills. Make sure your CV includes your tech stack, any relevant programming languages you’re comfortable with, and examples of projects you've worked on. If you have a GitHub profile, link it up! We love to see code in action.
Tailor your portfolio:For a full-time role, we’d expect to see some solid examples of your work in your portfolio. Make sure to include at least two or three projects that highlight your problem-solving skills and your ability to work with different technologies. Focus on the projects that are most relevant to the position at Spydr.
Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at Spydr and how your skills align with the role. Show us your passion for software development. We dig enthusiastic candidates who understand the value of collaboration and continuous learning!
Be clear and concise:When it comes to writing your CV and cover letter, clarity is key. Avoid jargon that could confuse us and stick to simple, direct language. Highlight your achievements with quantifiable results where possible, and keep everything easy to read. A well-organised application goes a long way!
How to prepare for a job interview at Spydr
✨Brush Up on Your Coding Skills
For a full-time software engineering role, it's crucial that we stay sharp with our coding abilities. Expect technical questions that might involve solving problems on the spot or discussing algorithms. Practise on platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank to get comfortable with the types of questions that often come up.
✨Know Your Tools and Frameworks
Make sure we’re well-acquainted with the tools and technologies listed in the job description. Familiarise ourselves with any specific frameworks or programming languages mentioned. If Spydr uses React or Node.js, for instance, be ready to discuss how we’ve used them in previous projects or coursework.
✨Showcase Your Projects
Bring along a portfolio that highlights our best work. This could be code samples, GitHub repositories, or any side projects we’ve built. Make sure we can talk through our thought process for each project, especially the challenges we faced and how we solved them—this shows our problem-solving skills in action.
✨Prepare for Behavioural Questions
While technical skills are key, full-time positions also require cultural fit. Be ready to discuss our previous experiences and how we handle teamwork, conflict, and deadlines. Brush up on the STAR method—Situation, Task, Action, Result—to clearly articulate our past experiences when discussing how we've contributed to a team.
