Job Level: 10
We are looking for a Lead QA Engineer to join our Engineering capability as a technical authority responsible for architecting, evolving, implementing and governing our strategic automated testing solutions. You will lead the design of complex automation frameworks and define the overarching quality roadmap to ensure high-confidence delivery across diverse client engagements. This role involves mentoring other QA engineers, negotiating quality benchmarks with senior stakeholders, and driving the development of internal automation IP to scale best practices across the entire engineering practice.
Responsibilities
- Owns the end-to-end testing strategy and lifecycle for major projects, devising new techniques while managing the primary technical relationship with the stakeholders.
- Maintains a hands-on approach, taking primary responsibility for building foundational framework components and resolving technical blockers that require expert intervention.
- Implements automated test solutions setting the "Gold Standard" for clean, performant, and maintainable code.
- Provides expert direction on framework design and test planning, defining firm-wide best practices and automation standards.
- Consults with stakeholders to determine which non-functional quality characteristics add value, leading the overarching strategy to ensure performance, security, and reliability are accounted for.
- Resolves systemic architectural blockers and process inefficiencies by translating complex, conflicting requirements into strategic solutions.
- Negotiates testing priorities, timelines, and regression risks with senior technical and non-technical stakeholders across organizations.
- Governs quality by peer-reviewing QA engineers to ensure architectural integrity and business value in all test approaches.
- Drives practice-wide improvement by researching and implementing emerging tools and automation frameworks.
- Mentors the QA Engineer cohort to cultivate the consultancy’s next generation of technical leaders.
- Provides the final expert recommendation on release readiness based on broad, data-driven risk analysis.
- Continuously maintain and update skills and knowledge to stay current within your relevant field of expertise.
Dimensions
- Budget: N/A
- Headcount: Typically responsible for directly managing up to 3 people.
- Resource complexity: Leads functional and technical workstreams across multiple squads or high-complexity projects. Directly oversees the work of QA Engineers and defines practice-wide standards for delivery coordination.
- Problem-solving responsibility: Independently solves complex problems and contributes to the development of solutions that consider technical, user, and business needs. Provides input into decision-making and may advise others on best practices.
- Change management requirements: Supports the planning, communication, and delivery of change. May lead smaller-scale change initiatives or contribute significantly to larger programmes, ensuring that solutions are adopted effectively.
- Internal/External interactions: Works confidently with clients, stakeholders, and internal teams. Regularly facilitates workshops, delivers presentations, and builds strong working relationships with technical and non-technical audiences.
- Strategic timeframe: Operates across mid-to-long-term timeframes (6–12 months), contributing to strategic roadmaps and ensuring alignment of short-term activities with broader goals.
Essential
- Proven expertise in architecting and implementing scalable automation frameworks from the ground up utilizing industry-standard tools like Playwright, Selenium, or Cypress while strategically selecting the most appropriate architectural patterns (e.g., POM, Data-Driven, or Hybrid) to meet complex, long-term client requirements.
- Advanced knowledge of the end-to-end testing ecosystem, including web, API, and mobile tools, with the ability to evaluate and onboard new technologies for different client contexts.
- Strategic experience in designing the integration of automated testing into global CI/CD pipelines to enable a seamless "Continuous Testing" culture.
- Capacity to lead technical discovery and scoping for new projects, including the ability to provide high-level effort estimations and articulate the strategic value of automation solutions to diverse stakeholders.
- Advanced SQL and scripting skills (UNIX/Shell/PowerShell) used to architect complex test data management solutions and backend validation processes.
- Demonstrated expertise in combining advanced technical execution with strategic oversight, successfully driving firm-wide quality standards while providing cross-project mentorship and guidance.
Desirable
- Previous experience in a consultancy or central government environment is highly advantageous.
- Proven ability to operate across diverse programming languages and technical stacks, with the capacity to evaluate and implement emerging technologies across different client environments.
- Experience with Ruby and using Ruby-based automation frameworks, including Capybara, to design and maintain robust end-to-end test suites.
- Proven track record of shaping or leading internal Communities of Practice or Centres of Excellence to drive high-standard testing methodologies across an organisation.
- Prior experience in Non-Functional Testing (NFT).
- Previous experience in managing or formally leading a multi-person test team.
Technical skills
- Expertise in defining and enforcing firm-wide standards for clean, maintainable, and reusable code across multiple teams or projects.
- Ability to architect modular test frameworks that balance immediate delivery needs with long-term technical debt management.
- High-level proficiency in conducting architectural code reviews, focusing on performance, security, and systemic reliability.
- Expertise in creating reusable automation IP (libraries, templates, or plugins) that increases the firm’s delivery speed across new and existing accounts.
- Expertise in orchestrating and monitoring automation within a CI/CD context to provide high-level quality reporting to stakeholders.
- Proficiency in API testing and the integration of automated security or performance checks into the API layer.
Behaviours
Analytical Thinking & Problem-Solving
- Applies high-level critical thinking to evaluate systemic quality issues and technical debt across the organization, identifying the most effective automation strategies to maximise long-term ROI.
- Resolves high-complexity architectural bottlenecks and framework limitations that impact the productivity of multiple engineering squads or the wider consultancy practice.
Strategic Communication
- Translates complex technical risks and quality metrics into clear, actionable business insights for senior stakeholders and clients to influence delivery timelines and product roadmaps.
- Acts as a primary technical advisor, bridging the gap between engineering, product, and business leadership to ensure quality is a shared responsibility at an organizational level.
Mentoring & Leadership
- Cultivates a high-performance testing culture by setting technical standards, defining career development paths for the QA chapter, and coaching Senior Engineers into leadership roles.
- Drives the adoption of modern automation best practices and emerging methodologies across the entire consultancy, ensuring a consistent "Gold Standard" of delivery.
Adaptability & Risk Management
- Proactively identifies and mitigates high-impact, cross-project risks, ensuring the testing strategy remains resilient in the face of shifting business priorities or organizational changes.
- Leads teams through ambiguity and high-pressure scenarios, making high-stakes decisions on resource allocation and release readiness with confidence.
Strengths, drivers and traits
- Strategic Growth Driver: Passionate about evolving the consultancy’s automation IP and setting the "Gold Standard" for technical excellence across the entire engineering practice.
- Quality Governance Authority: Driven by the responsibility of defining organizational quality benchmarks and ensuring testing strategies align with high-level business value.
- Influential Technical Advisor: Composed under pressure, with the ability to navigate ambiguity and translate complex technical risks into clear, actionable insights for senior stakeholders.
PACT values
- Purpose - The beating heart of our organisation—the impact we make on people, places, and the planet. Purpose is our driving force and at the core of our organisation.
- Accountability - As we apply flexibility, pace and growth through our self-organisation, we are accountable* to all of our stakeholders.
- Craft - Craft highlights our dedication to bringing precision, problem-solving, and creativity to our work, both with our clients and internally.
- Togetherness - Togetherness is ‘how’ we work - it captures the energy, fun, and user-centred approach that we embrace. It signifies the collaborative spirit we bring to our work, including people at every level and creating a sense of belonging to our teams.
People-Powered Transformation
We're a purpose driven organisation, supporting organisations to build a better future for people, places and the planet. Combining vast experience in the public, private and third sectors and expertise in human-centred design, data, experience and technology, we’re creating sustainable solutions ready for an ever-evolving world.
At the heart of TPXimpact, we’re collaborative and empathetic. We’re a team of passionate people who care deeply about the work we do and the impact we have in the world. We know that change happens through people, with people and for people. That’s why we believe in people-powered transformation.
Working in close collaboration with our clients, we seek to understand their unique challenges, questioning assumptions and building in their teams the capabilities and confidence to continue learning, iterating and adapting.
Benefits Include:
- 30 days holiday + bank holidays
- 2 volunteer days for causes that you are passionate about
- Maternity/paternity - 6 months Maternity Leave, 3 months Paternity Leave
- Life assurance
- Employer pension contribution of 5%
- Health cash plan
- Personal learning and development budget
- Employee Assistance Programme
- Green incentive programmes including Electric Vehicle Leasing and the Cycle to Work Scheme
- Financial advice
- Health assessments
About TPXimpact - Digital Transformation
We drive fundamental change in approaches to product and service development, delivery and technology. Our agile, multidisciplinary teams use technology, design and data to deliver better results, improving outcomes for individuals, organisations and communities.
By working in the open, in partnership with our clients, we not only transform their systems and services but also build the capability of their teams, so work can continue without us in the longer term. Our focus is sustainable change, always delivered with positive impact.
We are committed to having a positive impact on the clients and the communities we serve. We actively encourage applications from all genders, ethnicities, disabled people, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and those from lower socio-economic backgrounds.
Don’t meet 100% of the criteria? We still want to hear from you. Please let us know if you require any adjustments during the recruitment process.
