Lead QA Engineer (MG)

CareScribe; West of England; Hybrid; GBP 47,000 - 62,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days holiday

Parental leave up to 16 weeks

Pension contribution 5%

Sick pay

Wellbeing support

Learning allowance

Work Away days

Access to Caption.Ed and TalkType

Team socials

Dog-friendly office

Charity donations

Job summary

CareScribe in Bristol is seeking a Lead QA Engineer to own quality across the engineering team, shaping test strategy, automation, and AI-assisted testing. You will lead QA engineers, stay hands-on with test design, and collaborate with Engineering, Product and Design to bake quality in from day one.

The role requires managing a team, building metrics, and driving improvements while remaining credible with your team through hands-on work and mentorship.

Qualifications

• Have strong experience in testing methodologies, both manual and automated, covering functional, regression, integration, performance and security testing.
• Have built test strategies and automation frameworks that scale (tools like Cypress).
• Have a solid grip on CI/CD pipelines and how testing fits into the development lifecycle.
• Have practical, hands-on experience with AI-assisted testing tools, and a clear view on where they help and where they introduce risk.
• Have people management experience: 1:1s, performance conversations, feedback and career development.
• Have a track record of improving testing processes, not just running them.
• Are a strong communicator who can work comfortably across QA, Engineering, Product and Design

Responsibilities

• Define and evolve our QA strategy, including automation, so it aligns with where the business is heading.
• Build test plans and cases from product requirements, ensuring full coverage across releases.
• Run manual and automated testing to catch issues before they reach customers.
• Set and monitor quality metrics that create real accountability, not vanity numbers.
• Line manage the QA team: 1:1s, goal setting, performance reviews, feedback and recognition.
• Support your team's growth, including their automation and AI‑assistant testing skills.
• Lead QA recruitment alongside the Head of Engineering and People team.
• Stay hands‑on with test design and automation work, so you keep credibility with your team.
• Set the direction for how the QA function adopts AI‑assistant testing tools.
• Build our approach to AI‑assistant test generation, flakiness reduction, visual regression and exploratory testing.
• Evaluate new AI testing tools as the landscape moves, and decide what's worth adopting.
• Coach QA engineers and software engineers to use AI testing tools well, so the benefits compound rather than fragment.
• Reduce the end-to-end testing burden currently sitting with software engineers, freeing up capacity for product work.
• Champion quality throughout the product lifecycle, working closely with Product, Engineering and Design
• Continuously improve our testing tools, frameworks and processes
• Act as the escalation point for critical quality issues, leading cross-team fixes
• Coordinate testing priorities across teams in line with broader business goals

Skills

QA strategy

Automation

AI testing tools

CI/CD

People management

Communication

Test design

Tools

Cypress

Job description

Location: Hybrid, with at least 2 days per week in our Bristol office

At CareScribe, we're building the foundations for more inclusive, neurodiverse-friendly spaces.

Our ambition is to become a trusted partner for organisations, combining technology, knowledge, and enablement to make inclusion work in real life, every day. Not just through individual adjustments, but through systems, tools, and confidence that scale.

Everything we build is grounded in real user needs and lived experiences. We believe organisational trust is earned through genuine adoption, measurable outcomes, and products that people truly value.

As we grow, we're looking for a Lead QA Engineer to own quality across our engineering team, building the strategy, tools and culture that let us ship dependable, accessible software with confidence.

A Note from the Hiring Manager

At CareScribe we want (and need) to produce quality, reliable software that genuinely transforms the lives of our users and customers.

We are looking for someone who has broad knowledge of user experience, is capable of making trade-offs based on context, and is able to understand systems and applications at a deep level. With that knowledge in hand, they’ll use the new tools available to build an automated test suite, create reports, and monitor quality. Recent advances in LLMs haven't replaced the need for a person to judge what good software looks, feels and behaves like.

They’ll also be a good people manager: someone who knows how to get the best out of the team, challenging them to grow while recognising and celebrating their strengths. We have a small, dedicated, and talented QA team who work well with the development and product teams. We want someone who can nurture and support that talent while giving us a step up in knowledge and skills.

About the Role

As Lead QA Engineer, you'll take ownership of quality across our engineering team, from test strategy and automation to team leadership and the adoption of AI-assisted testing tools.

You’ll lead our QA engineers, stay hands‑on with test design where it matters, and work closely with Engineering, Product and Design to make sure quality is built in from the start, not bolted on at the end. This role carries real scope from day one: you'll shape how CareScribe tests, automates and adopts AI tooling as we grow.

What You'll Be Doing

• Define and evolve our QA strategy, including automation, so it aligns with where the business is heading
• Build test plans and cases from product requirements, ensuring full coverage across releases
• Run manual and automated testing to catch issues before they reach customers
• Set and monitor quality metrics that create real accountability, not vanity numbers
• Line manage the QA team: 1:1s, goal setting, performance reviews, feedback and recognition
• Support your team's growth, including their automation and AI‑assistant testing skills
• Lead QA recruitment alongside the Head of Engineering and People team
• Stay hands‑on with test design and automation work, so you keep credibility with your team

AI-Enabled Testing Practice

• Set the direction for how the QA function adopts AI‑assistant testing tools
• Build our approach to AI‑assistant test generation, flakiness reduction, visual regression and exploratory testing
• Evaluate new AI testing tools as the landscape moves, and decide what's worth adopting
• Coach QA engineers and software engineers to use AI testing tools well, so the benefits compound rather than fragment
• Reduce the end-to-end testing burden currently sitting with software engineers, freeing up capacity for product work

Process, Quality & Collaboration

• Champion quality throughout the product lifecycle, working closely with Product, Engineering and Design
• Continuously improve our testing tools, frameworks and processes
• Act as the escalation point for critical quality issues, leading cross-team fixes
• Coordinate testing priorities across teams in line with broader business goals

About You

You’ll likely be a great fit if you:

• Have strong experience in testing methodologies, both manual and automated, covering functional, regression, integration, performance and security testing
• Have built test strategies and automation frameworks that scale (tools like Cypress)
• Have a solid grip on CI/CD pipelines and how testing fits into the development lifecycle
• Have practical, hands‑on experience with AI‑assistant testing tools, and a clear view on where they help and where they introduce risk
• Have people management experience: 1:1s, performance conversations, feedback and career development
• Have a track record of improving testing processes, not just running them
• Are a strong communicator who can work comfortably across QA, Engineering, Product and Design

Bonus if you have:

• Experience leading a team's adoption of new tools or ways of working, not just adopting them yourself
• Background in accessibility or usability testing
• Experience in a fast-growing, PE‑backed or startup environment

Working at CareScribe

Our Lead QA Engineer salary band is £47,000–£62,000, depending on experience. We want CareScribe to be a place where people can do great work, grow their careers, and feel supported.

We offer:

• Transparent pay and progression frameworks
• 25 days holiday (rising to 30) plus bank holidays, with the option to buy
• Up to 16 weeks' full-pay/8 weeks half-pay parental leave (up to 6 weeks for partners)
• 5% employer pension contribution with option to salary sacrifice
• Company sick pay - 4 weeks full pay and 4 weeks at half pay
• Spill mental wellbeing support and Health Shield cash plan
• £250 annual learning allowance
• 10 "Work Away" days each year
• Free access to Caption.Ed and TalkType for friends and family
• Team socials, away days, and a dog‑friendly office
• Matched charity donations

Our Hiring Process

We aim to keep things straightforward and respectful of your time:

• We will undertake an initial review of your application, if successful:
• A first conversation with the hiring manager (20 minutes)
• A follow‑up interview (virtual, 50 minutes)
• A final in‑person session including a short practical task and time to meet the team

We'll move quickly and keep you informed throughout.

Right to Work in the UK

This role is open to candidates who already have the right to work in the UK. We're not currently able to offer visa sponsorship.

CareScribe is committed to building a diverse, inclusive, and supportive workplace. We want everyone here to feel valued, respected, and able to do their best work.