Lead QA Engineer

The Investigo Group; Warrington; Hybrid; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible Working

Private Medical

Generous holiday allowance

Access to continuous learning opportunities

Pension scheme contributions

Job summary

A dynamic tech firm is seeking a Lead QA Engineer to transform its quality engineering function from reactive manual testing to a proactive automation-first approach. This role emphasizes mentorship, QA integration into the SDLC, and strong collaboration with diverse teams. A focus on deep technical knowledge and effective communication is essential for shaping the future of product quality.

Qualifications

• Proven experience as a Lead or Senior QA Engineer in a modern Agile environment.
• Deep understanding of test automation frameworks and continuous delivery principles.
• Strong communication, mentoring, and influencing skills.

Responsibilities

• Define and own the end-to-end QA strategy, with a strong emphasis on automation.
• Build and maintain test automation frameworks (UI, API, integration).
• Guide the shift-left approach and embed QA earlier in the SDLC.

Skills

Test automation frameworks

Selenium

Collaboration skills

Agile methodologies

Programming in C#

Education

ISTQB or Certified Agile Tester qualifications

Tools

Postman

RestSharp

Docker

Kubernetes

Job description

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Role: Lead QA Engineer

Location: Liverpool - Hybrid (2-3 days on-site preferred, flexibility for the right candidate)

Job Type: Full-time, Permanent

Salary: Competitive, based on experience + benefits + bonus potential

About Us

Come and be a part of The Investigo Group (TIG), a dynamic coalition of cutting-edge tech firms specialising in Platform, Software, Data, AI and other bleeding-edge technology solutions. Our innovative prowess spans the globe while proudly hailing from the United Kingdom.

The group is multi-functional with a large portfolio of B2B products and services.

Our ecosystem is made up of:

IIS, Providing secure internet access in both the public and private sectors. Its mission? To deliver world-class secure internet capabilities enhancing productivity across diverse skillsets and organisations.

Vestigo Consulting is our training and consultancy company, tailored around specialist sector-specific knowledge, and provides regular courses and CPD for our community. The Consultancy side concentrates on expert support of our customers as well as specifically assigned individual deployments.

Collaboraite is a bleeding-edge company that provides our Data and AI capability. A collaborative partner for designing user-centred secure data solutions to overcome operational hurdles, delivered through design thinking and agile coaching.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) are at the heart of The Investigo Group (TIG). We're dedicated to creating a workplace where people from all backgrounds are not only welcome but empowered to excel. We actively seek diverse talent, promote fairness, and foster an inclusive environment where every voice matters, driving innovation and progress in our dynamic tech community.

The group provides bespoke, secure, user-centric products fuelled by deep technical knowledge advanced data and analytical skills.

We proudly stand as a global leader in this space, partnering with esteemed entities that require these advanced forward-thinking capabilities. These partnerships have been forged from our understanding of customer challenges, as well as our expertise in developing world-leading enterprise product sets.

Join us at TIG, where innovation knows no bounds, and together, we'll shape the future of technology solutions for a safer, more efficient world.

About You:

You're a hands-on QA leader with a passion for building scalable quality processes and lifting those around you. You've introduced automation from scratch, improved test maturity in Agile teams, and understand how to create a culture of quality beyond just writing tests.

You enjoy mentoring others and believe that quality should be everyone's responsibility. You're confident influencing at all levels, from developers to senior leadership, and you bring clarity, energy, and technical credibility to every conversation.

You're also pragmatic, you know what to fix now, what to tackle later, and how to deliver value quickly without compromising on standards.

About The Team:

You'll be joining a collaborative and growing Testing function embedded within our Product Development team. QA and Development work closely together day-to-day, with shared involvement across planning, refinement, and delivery.

This is an exciting time for the team, as we shift from a primarily manual, reactive testing approach to a more modern, proactive quality engineering mindset. There's strong leadership backing to evolve how we approach quality, not just as a final gate, but as a fundamental part of how we build software.

As our new Lead QA Engineer, you'll play a key role in shaping this evolution. You'll have the opportunity to influence tooling, process, and culture, while mentoring others and building a more automation-first QA capability that scales with the business.

About The Role:

We're looking for a Lead QA Engineer to take our quality engineering function to the next level. This is a key strategic and hands-on role aimed at transforming our existing QA capability from reactive, manual testing to a proactive, automation-first approach that's embedded across the entire SDLC.

As the Lead QA Engineer, you'll define and implement automation frameworks, coach and mentor team members, and advocate for QA as a collaborative, continuous discipline. You'll play a central role in influencing our test strategy, tooling decisions, and quality posture across a suite of over 20 apps and services.

This is an exciting opportunity to shape a future-focused QA practice in a fast-evolving product and engineering environment. You'll have the autonomy to lead change, backed by strong leadership support.

Key Responsibilities:

• Define and own the end-to-end QA strategy, with a strong emphasis on automation
• Build and maintain test automation frameworks (UI, API, integration)
• Guide the shift-left approach and embed QA earlier in the SDLC
• Mentor and upskill our Test Analysts into QA Engineers
• Collaborate with Developers and Product to ensure testability and shared ownership
• Champion quality practices in planning, refinement, and release
• Integrate test automation into CI/CD pipelines
• Establish and report on meaningful QA metrics and KPIs
• Improve test data and environment management in partnership with Infrastructure teams
• Help shape a simplified, more predictable release process over time
  
  

Success in This Role Looks Like

• A test automation strategy is in place and delivering measurable improvements
• Manual testing is reduced while confidence in releases increases
• Test Analysts grow into QA Engineers under your guidance
• Quality is embedded earlier in the process and owned across teams
• Stakeholders recognise QA as a key partner in delivering high-performing, resilient products
  
  

Requirements

What We're Looking For:

• Proven experience as a Lead or Senior QA Engineer in a modern Agile environment
• Deep understanding of test automation frameworks and continuous delivery principles
• Hands-on skills with tools like Selenium, Playwright, SpecFlow, Postman, RestSharp
• Familiarity with .NET testing frameworks (e.g. xUnit, NUnit, MSTest)
• Programming/scripting in C#, Python, JavaScript or similar
• Strong knowledge of CI/CD tooling (e.g. GitHub Actions, TeamCity, Jenkins, Azure DevOps)
• Understanding of REST APIs, SQL, mocking tools, and containerisation (Docker/Kubernetes)
• Comfortable managing test environments and advocating for test data strategy
• Strong communication, mentoring, and influencing skills
  
  

Bonus Points For:

• ISTQB or Certified Agile Tester qualifications
• Experience scaling QA across multiple products or platforms
• Exposure to security, compliance or regulated environments
  
  

Security Clearance Requirements

Please note that holding current SC clearance is not essential at the point of application, but eligibility is required.

This role requires the successful candidate to be eligible for Security Check (SC) clearance. To meet this requirement, applicants must:

• Have the right to work in the UK
• Have lived in the UK continuously for the past 5 years
• Not have spent more than 6 months outside the UK in total during that period
• Be willing to undergo security vetting as part of the onboarding process
  
  

Benefits

• Flexible Working: We offer a hybrid working model.
• Private Medical
• Inclusive Culture: Enjoy an inclusive culture and environment
• Flexible Benefits: A flexible benefits allowance to suit your needs
• Holiday: Generous holiday allowance
• Learning: Access to continuous learning and development opportunities
• Bonus Potential: Bonus potential based on performance and business-related factors
• Discounts: Discounts on a wide range of products and services
• Pension: Pension scheme contributions with Government Top-Up
• EV Car Scheme
• More Benefits: Explore additional benefits on our career site.
  
  

Please note that the talent acquisition team is managing this vacancy directly and we do not require agency support.

Candidates who are successful will be required to undergo relevant security checks.

Our Process

Our talent acquisition team will be in touch if you're successful, the team will arrange a short screening call (max 30 minutes) to learn more about you, and what you are looking for and answer any questions you may have. If all goes well, the team will share your profile with the hiring manager for review. Our interview process is tailored to each role but typically the first half of the process is run remotely with a final stage on-site.

For this position, you can expect a two-stage interview process:

1st stage - An informal 30-minute video call with the hiring team to discuss your skills and relevant experience. This is an excellent opportunity to learn more about the role and ask any questions.

2nd Stage - A 60-90-minute formal interview where you can anticipate competency and technical questions.

As an inclusive employer, please inform us if you require any reasonable adjustments.

Equal Opportunities

Here at TIG we are committed to equal opportunities and value diversity, equity and inclusion at our company. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, colour, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

As a Group, we seek to ensure that individuals with disabilities receive reasonable accommodation throughout the hiring process and ultimately within the job itself. Please contact us to request any accommodations.

Seniority level

• Seniority level

  Mid-Senior level

Employment type

• Employment type

  Full-time

Job function

• Job function

  Information Technology

• Industries

  IT Services and IT Consulting

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