Contract Opportunity (Outside IR 35) - Test Engineer - Glasgow or Manchester (3 days hybrid with customer site visits)

Job Type: Contract
Duration: 6 months to begin with
Location: Glasgow
Rate: 70 GBP/day (Outside IR 35)

Job Description:

Senior Test Engineer — Testing Services
Locations: Glasgow — hybrid, with customer site visits (London Speechmark / Newbury / Birmingham Small Heath / Manchester)
Clearance: Non SC
Immediate Start

LOCATION, TRAVEL & CLEARANCE:

Candidates must be in proximity to one of the client's UK office locations of demand: London (Speechmark), Newbury, Birmingham (Small Heath), Manchester, or Glasgow. Working pattern is hybrid, with attendance at the relevant client hub and occasional customer site visits as required by project scope (including, where applicable, the customer lab in Spain). Newbury HQ attendance is required to liaise with the wider client Test team.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Own test design and execution for assigned workstreams across the VBTS estate.
• Review requirements, HLDs, LLDs, and project documentation to identify test scenarios and coverage gaps.
• Produce and peer-review test scripts, test cases, and execution evidence to sign-off standard.
• Lead defect triage, root-cause analysis, and retest coordination across delivery, design, engineering, and operations teams.
• Validate System Integration, Functional, Non-Functional, Disaster Recovery, and Operational Acceptance test coverage before execution windows open.
• Provide technical guidance and mentoring to Test Engineers; raise the standard of scripts, evidence, and defect records across the workstream.
• Maintain ALM discipline: test case structure, requirements traceability, defect lifecycle, and reporting accuracy.
• Execute and lead complex testing across routers, switches, firewalls, hosting, data center, LAN/WiFi, SD-WAN, UC & Unity, telephony, mobility, MPN & cloud, IoT, fixed connectivity, cloud & security, and service transition.
• Set up and validate complex test environments, including network test equipment and RFC 2544 performance testing where required.
• Support Test Managers with status reporting, risk identification, defect trend analysis, and milestone readiness assessments.
• Represent testing in technical design discussions, ensuring testability is considered in HLD/LLD reviews.
• Interface confidently with Vodafone stakeholders and customer representatives in test working groups and triage calls.
• Escalate risks and blockers within the same working day, with proposed mitigations rather than bare problems.
• Drive reuse: contribute and curate test assets, automation candidates, and AI-assisted test design patterns supporting the programme's 5% / 10% / 18% cumulative productivity commitments.
• Support onboarding, knowledge transfer, and continuity across joiners and leavers with no impact to the Project Test Plan.
• Comply with Vodafone security policy, data handling, and audit requirements at all times, on and off site.
• Attend Vodafone hubs and customer sites as required, including Newbury HQ liaison with the wider Test team and, where applicable, the customer lab in Spain.