At a Glance
- Tasks: Design and implement automated test solutions for innovative products and services.
- Company: Join UKRI, a leader in research and innovation with a supportive culture.
- Benefits: Enjoy 30 days annual leave, flexible working, and a fantastic pension scheme.
- Other info: Great opportunities for personal development and career growth await you!
- Why this job: Make a real impact on quality assurance in a dynamic, collaborative environment.
- Qualifications: Experience in software testing and automation tools like Selenium or Cypress required.
The predicted salary is between 46743 - 46743 £ per year.
Salary: £46,743 per annum.
Band: UKRI Band E.
Contract Type: Fixed Term (23 months).
Hours: Full-time (flexible working available).
Location: Bristol - Hybrid working available (Minimum 2 days per week in office).
Closing Date: Thursday 1st October 2026.
About the role
As a Senior Test Engineer, you will:
- Design, develop, maintain, and implement automated test solutions across multiple products and services.
- Develop and maintain reusable test frameworks, tooling, and test assets that support efficient and consistent testing practices.
- Ensure automated tests are integrated into CI/CD pipelines and support continuous quality assurance activities.
- Apply a risk-based approach to testing and proactively identify, assess, communicate, and manage quality risks.
- Analyse requirements, user stories, designs, technical specifications, and business processes to define effective test approaches and coverage.
- Design and implement functional, integration, system, exploratory, regression, performance, and non-functional testing activities.
- Collaborate closely with developers, business analysts, product managers, and partners to ensure quality is embedded from the outset.
- Investigate defects and quality issues, ensuring that findings are clearly communicated and understood by both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
- Promote modern engineering and testing practices across teams and projects.
- Contribute to the development of testing standards, strategies, frameworks, and quality metrics.
- Support the evaluation and adoption of new testing tools, technologies, and approaches.
- Coach, mentor, and support other testers and team members to improve testing capability and quality outcomes.
Personal Specification
The below criteria will be scored during Shortlisting (S), Interview (I) or both (S&I).
Essential
- Proven experience in software testing and quality engineering within Agile delivery environments and working with multidisciplinary teams (S).
- Experience designing, implementing, and maintaining automated test frameworks using modern automation tools such as Robot Framework, Selenium, Playwright or Cypress (S&I).
- Experience integrating automated testing into CI/CD pipelines (S&I).
- Experience applying risk-based testing methodologies and test strategies (I).
- Experience coaching and mentoring testers and quality engineering professionals as well as contributing to testing communities of practice and continuous improvement initiatives (S&I).
Benefits
We recognise and value our employees as individuals and aim to provide a favourable pay and rewards package. UKRI are committed to supporting employees' development and promote a culture of continuous learning!
A list of benefits below:
- An outstanding defined benefit pension scheme
- 30 days' annual leave in addition to 10.5 public and privilege days (full time equivalent)
- Employee discounts and offers on retail and leisure activities
- Employee assistance programme, providing confidential help and advice
- Flexible working options
- Plus many more benefits and wellbeing initiatives that enable our employees to have a great work life balance!
For further information on our benefits please see: Benefits of working at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)
Please apply online, if you experience any issue applying, please contact Recruitment@ukri.org
Please note, if you will require sponsorship to work in the UK, as part of your sponsorship application, you and any dependants travelling with you, will be required to pay costs directly to The Home Office for the application before you start your role with us. UKRI is normally able to reimburse some, or all of these fees after you have become an employee and this can be discussed with the Hiring Manager.
For more information, please visit https://www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa/how-much-it-costs or contact Recruitment@ukri.org.
Senior Test Engineer in Bristol employer: UKRI
The MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) is an exceptional employer, offering a dynamic work environment that fosters innovation and collaboration in cutting-edge research. With a strong commitment to employee development, the LMB provides opportunities for training and professional growth, while its inclusive culture encourages open communication and teamwork. Located in a world-renowned research facility, employees benefit from access to state-of-the-art resources and the chance to contribute to impactful scientific advancements in health care.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Senior Test Engineer in Bristol
✨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 UKRI 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 UKRI.
✨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 UKRI.
✨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 UKRI 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 Senior Test Engineer in Bristol
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 UKRI.
Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at UKRI 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 UKRI
✨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 UKRI 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.
