Head of QA

La Fosse Associates; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 105,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading recruitment agency is seeking a Head of Quality Assurance/Test Automation in London to lead a team of QA Engineers in a collaborative environment. This strategic role combines hands-on leadership and team management, focusing on setting testing standards and implementing innovative solutions. Ideal candidates will have extensive expertise in QA, modern test frameworks, and strong communication skills. The role offers a competitive salary of up to £105k plus benefits, with a flexible hybrid working option.

Benefits

Flexible working options

8-week work from anywhere policy

Generous parental leave policies

Training and mentorship opportunities

Inclusive workplace culture

Qualifications

• Strong experience in QA and Test Automation at a senior level.
• Hands-on expertise with Playwright, Cypress, and API testing.
• Experience creating scalable test strategies.

Responsibilities

• Overseeing testing standards across the organization.
• Identifying gaps in the test ecosystem.
• Coordinating test migration to a new platform.

Skills

QA and Test Automation experience

Modern frameworks expertise

Comfort with TypeScript

Building scalable test strategies

Strong communication skills

Tools

Playwright

Cypress

k6

JMeter

Job description

Overview

Head of Quality Assurance / Test Automation – £90,000 to £105,000 London (Hybrid, 2 days per week)

Please note: This role does not offer sponsorship so candidates must have the valid right to work in the UK

A global tech client is recruiting a Head of QA & Test Automation. This is a greenfield environment and a blank canvas to implement your own vision and strategy, defining the direction and environment for QA across the business. The role is an 80% strategic / 20% hands-on position, taking ownership of a team of 10–15 QA Engineers/SDETs, setting standards, and providing leadership for the existing SDET team. You will have experience leading testing teams (ideally having previously operated as a Head of QA / Test Automation).

Key responsibilities

• Overseeing and setting testing standards across the organisation, providing quality gates and proactively raising the bar for quality
• Identifying gaps in the test ecosystem
• Introducing contract testing
• Improving the standard of testing across multiple squads
• Defining best practices and ensuring SDETs adhere to them
• Ownership and coordination of test migration from the legacy client platform to a new greenfield platform

Technical Stack: Typescript, Playwright, Github, AWS, IOS & Android.

Salary & benefits

• Up to £105k with 15% bonus (potentially flexible for the right candidate/someone with a good deal of Head of QA experience already)
• 8 week work from anywhere policy

Days in office: 2 days per week (no set days)

Interview process/format – 3 stages

1. Initial screen – 30 min with rec team
2. Screen with Eng managers (30-40 minutes)
3. Presentation (1 hr) & final interview with head of department

How to apply

Please upload your CV and we can book in a chat

We know that great leaders come from many different backgrounds. If you meet most of these requirements, we’d love to hear from you.

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Requirements / What we’re looking for

• Strong experience in QA and Test Automation, especially at a senior or head-of-function level.
• Hands-on expertise with modern frameworks (Playwright, Cypress, contract or API testing).
• Comfort coding in TypeScript or similar languages.
• Experience creating scalable test strategies for complex, multi-team delivery environments.
• A track record of building inclusive, high-performing technical teams.
• Strong communication and influencing skills – both technical and non-technical.
• Knowledge of performance and reliability testing (e.g. k6, JMeter) is desirable.

Who you are

• A coach and mentor who brings out the best in others.
• A collaborator who values diverse opinions and voices.
• Confident in decision-making – even under pressure.
• Passionate about continuous improvement and automation excellence.
• Committed to creating safe, inclusive spaces where every team member can thrive.

Why join us

We know that a person’s potential is more than the sum of their past experiences. If you meet most but not all these points, we still encourage you to apply, your unique perspective could make the difference.

What Collinson Offers

• Flexible and hybrid working options
• Work from anywhere – 8 weeks a year
• Generous parental leave and family-friendly policies
• Career development, mentorship, and training
• A supportive, inclusive culture with employee resource groups and diversity initiatives.

Collinson is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes differences in all their forms including: colour, race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, neurodivergence, family status, age, individuals with disabilities and people from all backgrounds, cultures and experiences as we strongly believe this contributes to our on-going success.

We are focused on continually evolving our purpose driven, high performing culture, providing an environment where our people have the opportunity to achieve their full potential and do interesting and meaningful work. Our company values are: Take Action, Do the right thing, One team and Be insight led. These help guide everything we do internally in terms of how we think, act and interact, right through to how we deliver value to our customers and clients.

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