Software Test Lead

Owing to our continued growth and trusted reputation, we are seeking a skilled Test Lead to join our Testing/QA team.

You will champion a planned, process‑based approach to testing - ensuring that quality is never left to chance and that every stage of the testing lifecycle is executed with purpose, discipline and efficiency.

You will work closely with cross‑functional teams to define test strategies, streamline workflows, and embed best‑practice quality processes.

The ability to communicate effectively and engage with stakeholders at all levels is critical.

You will be expected to build strong relationships, set expectations confidently, and ensure that testing remains a visible, valued, and well‑understood part of the delivery process.

Responsibilities

Your main responsibilities will be to…

Take ownership of all aspects of testing of the company’s software and data science products across multiple projects.

Develop and maintain test strategy, test plans, test cases, and test schedules.

Execute manual and automated test cases.

Identify and track software defects through to resolution.

Work closely with developers, product owners, business analysts, and project managers to ensure quality is embedded throughout the software development lifecycle.

Assess risks relating to product quality and communicate these effectively to stakeholders.

Continuous improvement of testing processes, tools and methods.

Produce regular quality metrics and test progress reports for management.

Champion continuous improvement and quality assurance best practices.

Identify opportunities for improvement related to the software and data science products under test.

The Person

Essential Criteria

Currently hold Security Checked (SC) or be eligible and willing to achieve SC clearance. N.B.eligibility requires sole British nationality or Dual nationality, one of which must be British together with 6 years consecutive residency in the UK.

Significant experience in software testing, including leading testing activities.

Proven experience working in Agile or Waterfall environments.

Proven experience of manual and automated testing.

Experience managing defects using tools such as Jira.

Experience producing test strategies, plans, and reports.

Experience coordinating testing across multiple projects.

Experience in modelling and tracking software quality metrics – e.g. defect density, etc.

Strong understanding of Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) and Software Testing Life Cycle (STLC).

Familiarity with test management tools.

Excellent communication skills with both technical and non-technical audiences.

Experience with automation tools ideally Playwright.

Performance testing knowledge using JMeter or similar.

Experience with container technologies such as Docker.

Experience with databases.

Familiarity with Git.

Desirable

System and User acceptance testing experience.

Ability to independently develop automated tests e.g. in Playwright.

Ability to independently develop/script unit or integration tests – e.g. Junit, PyTest.

Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related discipline (often desirable rather than essential).

Experience with PostgreSQL.

Experience operating within an ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 quality environment