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Ronald James Group

Quality Assurance Lead

Newcastle upon Tyne
£60k – £80k/yr
Posted about 14 hours ago
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Our client is a well-established business operating within the financial services sector, providing innovative technology solutions to support complex financial operations. They are committed to delivering high-quality software and continuously investing in automation, modern engineering practices, and product innovation.

The Opportunity

They are looking for an experienced QA & Automation Team Lead to lead their Quality Assurance function and drive the evolution from predominantly manual testing to a modern, automation-first approach.

This is a hands-on leadership role, ideal for someone who has successfully transformed QA teams, implemented automation strategies, and enjoys improving software quality through scalable processes and technology.

You'll lead a team of QA Engineers while remaining technically involved, helping shape testing frameworks, embedding quality into development workflows, and championing continuous improvement across the engineering function.

What They're Looking For:

  • Leading the transition from manual testing to automated testing.
  • Managing and mentoring QA Engineers.
  • Defining QA strategy, automation frameworks, and testing standards.
  • Embedding quality into Agile development and CI/CD pipelines.
  • Remaining hands-on with automation, debugging, and technical problem solving.
  • Driving continuous improvement across software quality processes.

Key Responsibilities:

Team Leadership

  • Lead and mentor a team of QA Engineers.
  • Conduct regular one-to-ones, performance reviews, and development planning.
  • Allocate work, prioritise testing activities, and ensure effective team delivery.
  • Foster a collaborative, accountable, and high-performing QA culture.
  • Support recruitment, onboarding, and capability development.

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QA Strategy & Quality Ownership

  • Own and evolve the overall QA strategy.
  • Define testing standards, release criteria, and quality processes.
  • Ensure appropriate test coverage across new features and regression testing.
  • Review requirements early to identify quality risks and improve testability.
  • Act as the key quality representative across Engineering and Product teams.

Test Automation & Delivery

  • Lead the design and implementation of automated testing frameworks.
  • Define testing strategies covering functional, integration, API, end-to-end, and non-functional testing.
  • Improve regression coverage and maintainability of automation suites.
  • Integrate automated testing into CI/CD pipelines.
  • Support hands-on testing activities where required.

Reporting & Continuous Improvement

  • Develop quality metrics and meaningful QA reporting.
  • Monitor defect trends, release quality, and testing effectiveness.
  • Identify opportunities to improve tooling, processes, and delivery practices.
  • Drive continuous improvement initiatives across the QA function.

AI & Innovation

  • Explore practical applications of AI within software testing.
  • Evaluate tools that improve automation, productivity, and test coverage.
  • Encourage experimentation with AI-assisted testing approaches.
  • Stay up to date with emerging QA technologies and industry trends.

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Collaboration

  • Work closely with Product Managers, Software Engineers, Business Analysts, and stakeholders.
  • Promote a quality-first culture throughout the software development lifecycle.
  • Communicate testing progress, quality risks, and release readiness effectively.
  • Support User Acceptance Testing where appropriate.

Essential Experience:

  • Proven experience leading a QA team.
  • Demonstrated success transitioning organisations from manual to automated testing.
  • Strong experience designing and maintaining automated test frameworks.
  • Experience defining QA strategies for complex software products.
  • Strong understanding of Agile development methodologies.
  • Experience with API, integration, regression, and end-to-end testing.
  • Knowledge of CI/CD pipelines and DevOps practices.
  • Excellent analytical, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
  • Ability to balance quality, delivery timelines, and commercial priorities.

Desirable Experience:

  • Experience within financial services, fintech, or another regulated industry.
  • Knowledge of trading systems, electronic markets, or complex financial platforms.
  • Experience with Playwright, Cypress, Selenium, or similar automation tools.
  • Exposure to AI-assisted software testing solutions.
  • Performance, resilience, or security testing experience.
  • Previous experience within a scaling technology business.

For more information on this role, apply now!

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Skills

QA Leadership
Test Automation
Automation Framework Design
CI/CD Pipelines
Agile Methodologies
API Testing
Regression Testing
End-to-End Testing
Stakeholder Management
Quality Strategy
Mentoring
Defect Tracking
Playwright
Cypress
Selenium
AI-assisted Testing

Location

Newcastle upon Tyne, England, United Kingdom

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