Lead Quality Engineer - Automation & AI

Hastings Direct; Greater London; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Private medical insurance

Flexible hybrid working arrangement

£5k car allowance

27 days annual leave plus bank holidays

Job summary

Hastings Direct is looking for a Lead Quality Engineer – Automation & AI to lead the QA strategy across our underwriting platforms. The role combines technical leadership with strategic oversight, ensuring high-quality delivery in a hybrid working environment.

You will be responsible for evolving our testing practices, driving automation, and managing a team of QA professionals. A competitive salary, hybrid working arrangements, and robust benefits package, including private medical insurance, are offered.

Qualifications

• Strong experience leading QA or test engineering teams in complex, regulated environments.
• Hands-on capability to contribute to test design and automation decisions.
• Experience with Git/GitHub and CI/CD pipelines.

Responsibilities

• Lead the end-to-end QA strategy for all underwriting lines of business.
• Design and implement QA strategy covering pre-live testing, post-release monitoring.
• Maintain communication to manage multiple initiatives and report progress.

Skills

Python

Test Automation

Agile

Leadership

SQL

Stakeholder Management

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

pytest

Selenium

Azure DevOps

Job description

Overview

Lead Quality Engineer – Automation & AI

Location: Bexhill / Leicester / London – Hybrid

We are a digital insurance provider seeking an experienced QA leader to transform how testing is carried out across our pricing platforms. The role combines hands‑on technical leadership with people management and strategic ownership of our QA function.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the end‑to‑end QA strategy for all underwriting lines of business, ensuring high‑quality delivery at pace.
• Design, implement and continuously evolve the QA strategy covering pre‑live testing, post‑release monitoring and live issue investigation.
• Provide hands‑on technical leadership by reviewing test strategies, automation design and investigating high‑impact defects, including rating behaviour and data input validation.
• Drive the use of test automation, ensuring it is maintainable, targeted to the highest‑risk areas and enhanced by AI techniques where beneficial.
  • Improve automation tooling to reduce manual effort and strengthen preventive quality controls.
  • Apply AI‑assisted testing techniques in collaboration with pricing engineers and ML teams, ensuring governance in a regulated environment.
• Own post‑release quality activities, including monitoring, alerting and validation of controls to detect issues early.
• Optimize QA test environments for stability and reliability, reducing environment‑related failures.
• Support incident RCA activities by providing testing insight, evidence and analysis.
• Line‑manage QA Leads and the Automation Manager, providing direction, prioritisation, coaching and performance support.
• Maintain strong communication and organisational discipline to manage multiple initiatives and report progress, risks and outcomes consistently.
• Develop and maintain QA documentation, standards and artefacts, ensuring practices are consistent, auditable and aligned with regulatory requirements.
• Define and track quality metrics such as defect trends, test effectiveness, automation coverage and release readiness to support data‑driven decisions.
• Support recruitment and development of QA talent through active hiring, mentoring and creating a growth environment.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering or related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Strong experience leading QA or test engineering teams in complex, data‑driven or regulated environments.
• Hands‑on technical capability to write, read and review code and contribute to test design and automation decisions.
• Proficiency in Python, including automated tests, debugging failures in complex rule‑based systems.
• Experience designing and maintaining test automation (API and integration testing) using frameworks such as pytest; UI tools such as Selenium, Playwright or Cypress where appropriate.
• Experience applying AI‑assisted testing tools to improve coverage, efficiency or defect detection with clear governance and control.
• Practical experience with Git/GitHub, CI/CD pipelines and Azure‑based engineering environments.
• Strong understanding of modern testing practices: risk‑based testing, shift‑left quality, end‑to‑end assurance.
• Experience with test environments and data validation using SQL and data comparison techniques.
• Familiarity with defect tracking tools such as Azure DevOps and the ability to produce clear, meaningful quality metrics.
• Excellent leadership, stakeholder‑management and influencing skills, with the ability to balance technical, commercial and governance considerations.
• Strong problem‑solving and communication skills, able to explain technical risks and solutions to both technical and non‑technical stakeholders.
• Experience working in Agile delivery environments and collaborating closely with engineering, data and ML teams.

Benefits

• Competitive salary plus £5k car allowance.
• Flexible hybrid working arrangement.
• Competitive bonus scheme.
• Private medical insurance (PMI) and a range of financial wellbeing products (life assurance, income protection, pension contributions).
• Mental wellbeing programme, including access to a thrivmind mental health app and dedicated support.
• 27 days annual leave plus bank holidays, with the option to buy or sell a week.
• Additional schemes: health‑care cashback, dental plans, cycle‑to‑work, technology discounts and free onsite facilities.

Interview Process

1. Recruiter screening call.
2. Intro call with Hiring Manager.
3. Case study round.

Equal Opportunities

Hastings Group is an equal opportunities employer. We welcome applications from all suitably skilled persons regardless of gender, age, race, disability, ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation, gender reassignment or marital/family status. We also conduct thorough referencing, including credit and criminal record checks.