Lead Software Test Engineer - Embedded & Defense

Zetron, Inc; Whiteley; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

DTC, part of Codan, seeks a Software Test Team Lead to guide a team of engineers ensuring software and embedded products meet quality, reliability, and performance standards across Defence and critical communications projects in Europe.

You will own test strategy, mentor staff, coordinate testing across features and releases, and partner with engineering, product, operations, and stakeholders to deliver secure, maintainable solutions.

Qualifications

• Strong experience in software testing, quality assurance, or verification and validation, ideally within embedded, defence or mission-critical software environments.
• Proven ability to lead testing activities and coordinate the work of a software test team across multiple priorities and releases.
• Strong understanding of software testing methodologies, including test design, exploratory testing, regression testing, integration testing, acceptance testing and defect lifecycle management.
• Experience creating and maintaining test plans, test cases, test scripts, test frameworks, test evidence, test reports and release quality assessments.
• Experience working across the full software development life cycle, from requirements review through to final test, release support and post-release defect analysis.
• Practical experience with test management tools, defect tracking systems, source control, CI/CD pipelines and automated test frameworks.
• Ability to communicate quality status, technical risks, defect impact and release readiness clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to identify root causes and make pragmatic quality recommendations.
• Experience mentoring testers and building a collaborative, disciplined, and quality-focused team culture.
• Strong attention to detail and a commitment to delivering reliable, maintainable, and customer-ready products.
• Experience testing embedded communication platforms such as Software Defined Radios (SDRs) would be desirable but not essential.
• Experience with test automation using scripting or programming languages such as Python, C, C++, MATLAB or similar.
• Knowledge of hardware-in-the-loop, system integration, RF, networking, protocol or device-level testing.
• Familiarity with regulated, safety-critical, security-sensitive, defence or ISO 9001 quality management environments.
• Experience improving test maturity, test coverage, defect prevention, release quality metrics or engineering quality processes.
• Experience supporting recruitment, onboarding, performance development and progression planning for software test engineers.
• Experience with CE Radio Equipment Directive, FCC and other government RF compliance requirements.

Responsibilities

• Lead, support, and mentor a team of software test engineers, helping them develop technical capability, product knowledge, and effective test practices.
• Own the planning, coordination, and execution of software testing activities across features, releases, products, and technical initiatives.
• Define and maintain test strategies, test plans, test cases, test environments, and test completion criteria aligned with product requirements and engineering priorities.
• Work closely with software engineering, systems engineering, product management, operations, and project stakeholders to understand requirements, risks, schedules and acceptance criteria.
• Ensure appropriate testing coverage across functional, integration, regression, performance, reliability, usability, security, and system-level test activities where applicable.
• Promote the effective use of automated testing, test tooling, CI/CD integration, defect tracking and test reporting to improve quality and delivery confidence.
• Review requirements, designs, user stories, test documentation and release plans to identify risks, gaps, ambiguities and opportunities for early defect prevention.
• Manage defect triage, root cause analysis, retesting, regression testing and quality risk reporting throughout the software development life cycle.
• Provide clear visibility of test progress, product quality, defect trends, risks, blockers and readiness for release.
• Drive continuous improvement in testing processes, quality standards, test environments, tools and team ways of working.

Skills

Software testing

Team leadership

Test planning

Automation testing

Embedded systems

CI/CD

Defence/mission-critical

Job description

DTC, part of Codan, seeks a Software Test Team Lead to guide a team of engineers ensuring software and embedded products meet quality, reliability, and performance standards across Defence and critical communications projects in Europe.

You will own test strategy, mentor staff, coordinate testing across features and releases, and partner with engineering, product, operations, and stakeholders to deliver secure, maintainable solutions.