Lead QA Automation Engineer

Lead QA Automation Engineer / Hands-On Test Lead

Contract: 6 months Rate: Up to £550 per day, Outside IR35, depending on experience Working arrangement: Hybrid - two days in the office, Tuesdays and Thursdays, and three days from home. Flexibility is required to meet business needs.

Our client is seeking a technically hands-on QA Automation Lead to take ownership of testing for an integration project, combining practical test delivery with strong supplier and stakeholder management.

You will define the testing approach, establish test automation frameworks and carry out testing across interconnected systems. Alongside this, you will liaise with up to 20 third parties and three external contractors, coordinating testing activity, challenging delivery quality and ensuring issues are resolved.

The role

Define and deliver the test strategy, plans and quality standards across internal and supplier-led delivery.

Set up, develop and maintain automated test frameworks, integrating automation into CI/CD pipelines.

Lead and carry out integration, API, functional and regression testing, supporting UAT and performance testing.

Review test cases, automation scripts, coverage and supplier testing evidence.

Own defect management, prioritising issues according to business risk and driving resolution.

Coordinate test environments and test data, supporting release readiness decisions.

Communicate progress, risks and quality issues clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Hold suppliers and contractors accountable, handling challenging conversations constructively.

Coach colleagues and improve testing practices across the project.

What you'll bring

Experience of working in Social Housing / Housing Association (or Housing supplied by a local authority) organisation.

Proven experience in a hands-on QA Automation Lead or Test Lead role.

Strong practical experience setting up test frameworks, writing automated tests and executing testing yourself.

Experience testing complex integrations and enterprise systems, including APIs and data flows.

Experience with relevant tools and technologies such as C#, Postman, REST API testing, Selenium, Cypress, Playwright or BDD frameworks.

A strong understanding of manual and automated testing, CI/CD pipelines and DevOps practices.

Experience managing quality across multiple third-party suppliers and full delivery lifecycles.

Excellent communication and influencing skills, with the confidence to challenge stakeholders and drive action.

Experience working in Agile environments, such as Scrum or Kanban.

A relevant testing or QA qualification, such as ISTQB, and a degree or equivalent experience in a related field.

This opportunity would suit someone who combines technical testing expertise with the confidence and judgement to lead quality across a complex supplier landscape.

To apply, send your CV highlighting your hands-on test automation, integration testing and supplier management experience to Laura at

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