Lead QA Engineer: Automation-First Quality & Release

Compass Group UK & Ireland Ltd; Birmingham; Hybrid; GBP 75,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Compass Group UK & Ireland Ltd. is seeking a senior Lead QA Engineer to shape and lead the quality strategy across Digital & Technology.

You will drive automation-first testing, coach engineers, and collaborate with Product, Software Engineering, Platform Engineering, SRE and Service Operations to ensure reliable, scalable digital products ready for release. This senior, hands-on role sets the technical direction for quality and embeds quality throughout the product lifecycle, across multiple

Qualifications

• Significant experience in software testing, automation and quality engineering.
• Experience leading QA within agile, product-led or DevOps environments.
• Strong knowledge of automation frameworks, API and end-to-end testing.
• Experience integrating automated testing into CI/CD pipelines.
• Ability to define test strategies for complex products or platforms.
• Experience leading defect investigations and improving quality outcomes.
• Strong technical leadership, coaching and stakeholder management skills.
• Strategic mindset combined with a willingness to remain hands-on.

Responsibilities

• Define and deliver our quality engineering strategy and roadmap.
• Lead the development of scalable test automation frameworks and standards.
• Coach QA Engineers and build a strong quality engineering community.
• Embed automated quality gates into CI/CD pipelines.
• Establish risk-based approaches to functional and non-functional testing.
• Challenge requirements, designs and acceptance criteria to identify risks early.
• Oversee release assurance and production-readiness evidence.
• Lead complex defect investigations and root cause analysis.
• Use quality metrics and defect trends to drive improvement.
• Evaluate AI-assisted testing tools and emerging quality practices.

Skills

Software testing

QA leadership

Automation frameworks

CI/CD testing

Test strategy

Defect investigations

Stakeholder management

Hands-on leadership

Strategic mindset

Job description

Compass Group UK & Ireland Ltd. is seeking a senior Lead QA Engineer to shape and lead the quality strategy across Digital & Technology.

You will drive automation-first testing, coach engineers, and collaborate with Product, Software Engineering, Platform Engineering, SRE and Service Operations to ensure reliable, scalable digital products ready for release. This senior, hands-on role sets the technical direction for quality and embeds quality throughout the product lifecycle, across multiple