Automation Tester

Financial Ombudsman Service; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 38,000 - 63,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days holiday entitlement

Generous pension

Private medical insurance

Gym membership discounts

Job summary

Financial Ombudsman Service seeks an Automation Tester (SDET) to lead automation strategy, framework design and hands-on testing across multiple applications. You will balance technical delivery with leadership, driving automation maturity and embedding quality across the SDLC.

The role requires senior automation expertise, strong collaboration with developers, testers and product owners, and experience with CI/CD and Azure DevOps in a hybrid working environment.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience designing, developing and maintaining test automation frameworks (Selenium or equivalent).
• Proven automation testing in fast-paced Agile environments across multiple technologies.
• Ability to define automation strategies, frameworks and roadmaps.
• Experience with automation metrics, ROI and reducing regression effort.
• Influence stakeholders, mentor testers and developers on automation best practices.
• Experience in enterprise testing environments, including CI/CD pipelines and Azure DevOps.
• Familiarity with Dynamics, SharePoint and cloud-based apps.
• Bachelor’s degree in CS/IS or substantial software testing experience.
• Experience with performance testing using relevant tools.

Responsibilities

• Lead test automation strategy, frameworks and practices across applications.
• Design, build and enhance scalable automation solutions and CI/CD integration.
• Increase automation coverage and reduce manual effort while accelerating delivery.
• Collaborate with developers, analysts and product owners to deliver high-quality solutions.
• Provide technical leadership and coaching to grow automation capability.

Skills

Automation testing

Selenium

Agile delivery

Leadership / mentoring

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related

Tools

Azure DevOps

CI/CD pipelines

SQL

Test management tools

Dynamics/SharePoint

Job description

Automation Tester (SDET)

Join a team where Purpose is at the heart of everything we do, Ambition drives us to be the best we can be, Respect shapes our culture and Trust builds our foundation. We're not just hiring — we're inviting you to build the future with us. If you're curious, driven, and ready to leave your mark, this is your invitation to make your next move.

Key Information

Contract: FTC 6 Months

Working hours: 35 hours per week is full time.

Salary: up to £63,000

Location: London

Reporting to: QA Test Manager

Working Arrangement

By joining our team, you'll enjoy the best of both worlds – hybrid working and the collaboration of a great office environment. Our permanent hybrid policy sees us all working at least four days across a fortnight in the office. As well as extensive opportunities for personal and career development.

About Us

The Financial Ombudsman Service is an independent, not-for-profit organisation that plays a vital role in UK financial services. Every day we help resolve disputes between consumers, or small businesses, and their financial service providers. The IT Applications and Development team plays an important role in developing and supporting our applications, enabling us to deliver services to customers and colleagues.

Role Overview

As an Automation Tester, you'll bring specialist automation expertise to help us deliver reliable, high-quality services for our customers and colleagues. You'll lead the development of automation frameworks and testing approaches, balancing hands‑on technical delivery with technical leadership. Working across multiple applications and teams, you'll drive automation maturity, promote innovation, and help embed quality throughout the software development lifecycle. Through collaboration, coaching and continuous improvement, you'll play a key role in shaping our automation capability and supporting our wider digital strategy.

What You’ll Do

Leading our test automation strategy, frameworks and engineering practices to improve the quality, reliability and efficiency of application delivery. Designing, building and enhancing scalable automation solutions, embedding automated testing across the development lifecycle and CI/CD pipelines. Driving continuous improvement by increasing automation coverage, championing AI-enabled testing capabilities, and promoting best practice across teams. Working collaboratively with developers, testers, business analysts and product owners to deliver high-quality, customer-focused solutions. Providing technical leadership, coaching and guidance to help grow automation capability and influence quality outcomes across the organisation. Monitoring and improving automation effectiveness through data‑led insights, innovation and a focus on reducing manual effort while accelerating delivery.

Minimum Criteria

• Extensive experience designing, developing, and maintaining test automation frameworks using tools such as Selenium or equivalent, with a strong focus on scalability, maintainability, and quality engineering best practices.
• A strong Proven track record in automation testing within fast-paced Agile delivery environments, working across diverse technologies, applications, and complex business domains.
• Strong expertise in defining automation strategies, test frameworks, and automation roadmaps, driving increased test coverage, reduced manual effort, and measurable quality improvements.
• Strong understanding of automation metrics, reporting and ROI measurement, with evidence of increasing automation coverage, improving execution efficiency and reducing regression effort.
• Proven ability to influence stakeholders, collaborate across delivery teams and mentor testers/developers on automation best practices and framework adoption.
• Demonstrable experience designing, implementing and supporting automated testing solutions within enterprise environments, including CI/CD pipelines, Azure DevOps, test management tools, database testing (SQL), and testing across Microsoft technology platforms such as Dynamics, SharePoint and cloud‑based applications.
• Experience of AI-enabled testing approaches is desirable.
• A bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or related field or substantial relevant work experience in a software development, software testing role.
• Experience in performance testing with a performance test tool and resolve coding or environmental issues.

Why You'll Love Working With Us

We are a values led organisation. Our values define our culture, influence our decisions, and underpin our vision and strategy. They set out how we play our PART through Purpose, Ambition, Respect and Trust. Flexibility: Work your way — remote, hybrid, or in‑office. Wellbeing: [Health plan, gym memberships, mental health support]. Growth: We invest in your future with [courses, mentorship, promotions]. Culture: Diverse. Inclusive. Collaborative. Fun.

Benefits & Perks

We also offer an attractive, competitive salary and flexible benefits to suit our people. Here’s a list of some of the many benefits and perks you can get for working with us:

• 25 days holiday entitlement, with the option to buy extra or sell days
• Generous pension
• Various Family Friendly Policies, including enhanced maternity pay, carers and dependants leave
• Employer provided benefits such as Private medical insurance, virtual GP, Critical illness cover, Life assurance cover, to name a few
• Choice of voluntary benefits including Technology scheme, Cycle to work scheme, Will‑writing service amongst others
• Gym membership discounts, and a fully equipped on‑site gym open 24/7 in London only

Equal Opportunity & Diversity

The Financial Ombudsman is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all team. We view diversity as fundamental to our success and welcome applications from underrepresented groups across all communities.

The Financial Ombudsman Service is an equal opportunities employer. All applicants will be treated in a fair and equal manner and in accordance with the law, regardless of gender, marital status, race, religion, colour, age, disability or sexual orientation.

We’re proud to be a Disability Confident Leader and, under the scheme, will progress a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria to interview. Interviews may be conducted via video, telephone, or a panel Interview, with some vacancies requiring an online assessment to measure the minimum criteria. You will need to demonstrate that you meet the minimum criteria in order to qualify for the Disability Confident scheme.

Do let us know of any reasonable adjustments you need.

Company Culture

Who we are… With fairness at the heart of everything we do, we embrace difference and treat everyone as equals. We’re a diverse organisation, but something we all share is our values. They’re central to the way we work – and work together. We’re an independent, not‑for‑profit organisation that sorts out disputes between financial businesses and their customers. We do this by making decisions that are fair – and feel fair to both sides. The Financial Ombudsman Service is an equal opportunities employer.