Head of QA

Serco; Greater London; Remote; GBP 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Performance bonus

Company car or cash allowance

Pension

Annual leave 25 days

Private medical insurance

Life assurance 2x salary

Employee Assistance Programme

Discounts

Job summary

Serco UK & Europe Digital Services is seeking an experienced Head of QA to transform quality engineering from traditional testing to an engineering-led discipline. You’ll define the enterprise QA strategy, set governance, and drive automation and AI-enabled quality practices across digital, data and cloud services.

You’ll lead a large, diverse team, shape standards, tooling and ways of working, and report to senior stakeholders, ensuring customer outcomes, resilience and delivery excellence

Qualifications

• Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Systems, or equivalent practical experience.
• 10+ years' experience in Testing and/or Quality Engineering, including senior leadership positions.
• Certifications in Quality Engineering, Testing, Agile or DevOps are desirable.
• Cloud, automation, performance, reliability, accessibility, data or AI-related certifications would be advantageous.
• A passion for continuous improvement and the responsible adoption of emerging technologies, including AI.

Responsibilities

• Define and own Serco’s enterprise Quality Engineering strategy, operating model, standards and transformation roadmap.
• Drive a culture of Quality by Design, embedding shared accountability across Product, Engineering, Data, Architecture, Cyber, Delivery and Operations teams.
• Establish governance, assurance and risk management frameworks that provide transparency of quality readiness and business risk.
• Lead the development of enterprise-wide Quality Intelligence, delivering meaningful insights into engineering health, reliability, customer impact and cost of poor quality.
• Build and develop a high-performing Quality Engineering community, including capability frameworks, career pathways and coaching programmes.
• Drive the adoption of automation, CI/CD-integrated quality controls, observability, performance engineering, accessibility testing and AI-enabled quality practices.
• Provide portfolio-level oversight and executive reporting, supporting evidence-based decision-making and continuous improvement.
• Act as the senior authority for Quality Engineering, influencing leaders, delivery teams and strategic suppliers across the organisation.

Skills

Quality Engineering

Leadership

Test automation

CI/CD practices

Cloud architectures

DevOps culture

Observability

AI in testing

Education

Degree in Computer Science or related

Tools

Azure

AWS

CI/CD tooling

Playwright

Selenium

Job description

Serco UK & Europe Digital Services

Salary: Competitive

Serco UK & Europe Digital Services

Location: Home-based with regular travel required to support business and stakeholder needs across the UK, including occasional visits to our Solihull (Homer Road) and London (Cardinal Place) offices.

Salary: Competitive

Security Clearance: SC clearance may be required for this role, or a willingness to obtain clearance.

Lead the Future of Quality Engineering

At Serco, we’re transforming the way we deliver digital services. We’re looking for an experienced Head of QA to lead the evolution of our Quality Engineering capability, moving from traditional test-led assurance to an engineering-led approach where quality is built in from the start.

This is a strategic leadership role with enterprise-wide influence, responsible for defining and driving our Quality Engineering strategy across digital, data and cloud services. You’ll shape standards, tooling, governance and ways of working that improve customer outcomes, operational resilience and delivery performance across a complex and diverse portfolio.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Define and own Serco’s enterprise Quality Engineering strategy, operating model, standards and transformation roadmap.
• Drive a culture of Quality by Design, embedding shared accountability for quality across Product, Engineering, Data, Architecture, Cyber, Delivery and Operations teams.
• Establish governance, assurance and risk management frameworks that provide transparency of quality readiness and business risk.
• Lead the development of enterprise-wide Quality Intelligence, delivering meaningful insights into engineering health, reliability, customer impact and cost of poor quality.
• Build and develop a high-performing Quality Engineering community, including capability frameworks, career pathways and coaching programmes.
• Drive the adoption of automation, CI/CD-integrated quality controls, observability, performance engineering, accessibility testing and AI-enabled quality practices.
• Provide portfolio-level oversight and executive reporting, supporting evidence-based decision-making and continuous improvement.
• Act as the senior authority for Quality Engineering, influencing leaders, delivery teams and strategic suppliers across the organisation.

What You’ll Bring

• Significant experience leading enterprise-scale transformation from traditional QA/testing models to modern Quality Engineering practices.
• Proven success building and leading high-performing technical teams and communities of practice.
• Deep expertise across quality engineering, test automation, performance, resilience, security, accessibility and continuous assurance.
• Strong technical understanding of modern software engineering, cloud-native architectures, APIs, data platforms and DevOps practices.
• Experience defining enterprise tooling strategies, frameworks and automation approaches using technologies such as Playwright, Cypress, Selenium, Pytest or similar.
• Strong knowledge of CI/CD, Infrastructure as Code and cloud platforms including Azure and/or AWS.
• The ability to influence and challenge stakeholders at all levels, translating technical quality indicators into clear business outcomes.
• Experience operating across complex programmes, live services and supplier ecosystems.

Qualifications & Experience

• Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Systems, or equivalent practical experience.
• 10+ years' experience in Testing and/or Quality Engineering, including senior leadership positions.
• Professional certifications in Quality Engineering, Testing, Agile or DevOps are desirable.
• Cloud, automation, performance, reliability, accessibility, data or AI-related certifications would be advantageous.
• A passion for continuous improvement, innovation and the responsible adoption of emerging technologies, including AI.

Why Join Serco?

This is a unique opportunity to shape the future of Quality Engineering across a large-scale, complex organisation delivering critical services that make a real difference. You’ll have the autonomy and influence to drive transformational change, develop organisational capability and establish industry-leading quality practices across Serco's digital landscape.

Notable Benefits

• Bonus 10% on target, 20% max
• Company car Grade C car selection or £4,200 cash allowance
• Pension 6% employer matched
• Annual leave 25 days + bank holidays
• Private medical insurance Single
• Life assurance 2x base salary, if in pension (1x if not)
• Employee Assistance Programme
• 30% Serco Leisure Centre Discount
• Option to buy additional leave
• Charitable payroll giving
• Flexible working
• A wide range of discounts

A Little Bit About Us

At Serco, everyone plays a vital part in delivering essential public services that make a real difference. As a global team of 50,000 people across Defence, Transport, Justice, Immigration, Healthcare, Leisure and Citizen Services, we’re united by a shared purpose: to improve the services that communities rely on. Guided by our values of Trust, Care, Innovation and Pride, our people make meaningful impact, every single day.

Our Inclusive Recruitment Commitment

We prioritise your skills and potential. As a Disability Confident Leader, the Top Great British Employer of Veterans 2026, and a Gold Inclusive Employer Standard holder, we champion equal opportunities for all. We offer flexible and hybrid working where possible and make reasonable adjustments throughout recruitment and employment.

• Guaranteed Interview Scheme: Applicants with disabilities, veterans and people with convictions, who meet the minimum job criteria, are guaranteed an interview. Simply opt into the relevant scheme on the application form.
• Ban The Box: We also support fair access for those with unspent criminal convictions through our ‘Ban the Box’ pledge (some roles may have security exemptions).