Test Lead

We are looking for a Test Lead/ Manager to join our crew!
You’ll play a key role in driving our ambition to build a best-in-class engineering culture—where quality, collaboration, and continuous improvement sit at the heart of everything we do.

We’re looking for an experienced Test Manager to join our client's Loyalty team and help deliver seamless, high-quality digital experiences to millions of customers. You’ll lead the testing strategy and ensure the reliability of systems that integrate personalized offers and mission-based rewards into our customer journey. Working closely with developers, data scientists, and the core loyalty platform team, you’ll help create a modern digital ecosystem powered by data and built with cutting-edge technology.

This is an initial 6 month contract (outside IR35). You will be required on client site 3 days a week in Paddington, London.

What You’ll Do:

Test Leadership & Strategy

• Define and own the end-to-end testing strategy across functional, integration, and performance layers.
• Lead quality assurance across a program covering multiple teams, combining end-to-end automated tests with integration tests.
• Establish and continuously improve QA frameworks, standards, and processes to ensure software quality and reliability.
• Champion automation, continuous testing, and Behavior-Driven Development (BDD) practices across delivery pipelines.

Team Management & Development

• Build, mentor, and manage a high-performing test team—cultivating a culture of ownership, collaboration, and technical excellence.
• Plan resource allocation, workload balancing, and skill development across projects.
• Foster close collaboration between test, development, and product teams to ensure shared ownership of quality.

Agile Delivery & Continuous Improvement

• Work with engineering, product, and delivery teams to plan testing activities aligned with sprint goals and release timelines.
• Monitor and communicate testing progress, quality metrics, and risk mitigation plans.
• Drive early quality involvement through test-driven, shift-left, and automated testing practices.

Quality Governance & Tooling

• Ensure adherence to our client's quality and compliance standards.
• Select, implement, and optimise testing tools and environments across functional, API, and performance testing.
• Oversee defect management, release validation, and production support readiness.

• Backend: Java, Spring Boot, Micronaut
• Frontend: React, Next.js, TypeScript, Angular
• Cloud & Observability: Azure, Kubernetes, Dynatrace
• Databases: SQL Server, MongoDB, Redis, Ignite
• Test Tooling (examples): Cypress, Playwright, JMeter, Postman, Selenium, REST Assured, Azure DevOps

Who you are:

• A hands-on, technically strong Test Manager or Senior QA Lead with experience building and leading test teams.
• Skilled in test automation frameworks, CI/CD integration, and performance testing in cloud-based environments.
• Experienced in quality assurance for large-scale, distributed systems (web and backend).
• Familiar with modern microservices architectures built on Microsoft Azure.
• Strong knowledge of containers, AKS, and Kubernetes.
• Experienced with SFTP, Azure Storage (blob, table, queue), and monitoring tools such as Dynatrace.
• Familiar with Azure native features and leveraging them effectively for testing and quality automation.
• Ideally experienced in Behavior-Driven Development (BDD).
• Familiarity with Loyalty capabilities—specifically the Salesforce Loyalty Platform—is a plus.
• Experience within Banking or Finance systems is an advantage.
• Collaborative and pragmatic—able to balance quality goals with delivery speed.
• A strong advocate for DevOps and continuous quality improvement (“you build it, you test it, you run it”).

- 6 month initial contract (outside IR35) with the possibility of an extension

- Working with a multinational Retailer