Lead Test Automation Engineer: Strategy & Delivery

Howdens Joinery; Hundred House; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary and annual bonus

Car or Car Allowance

Excellent pension scheme (12%)

25 days holiday plus bank holidays

Staff discount and colleague benefits

ShareSave scheme

Subsidised restaurant facilities atKey

Free onsite parking

Career development opportunities

Access to industry-leading technology

Job summary

Howdens Joinery is seeking an experienced Test Automation Lead to guide a team of automation specialists and advance our automation tooling across howdens.com.

The role is a permanent, full-time position based from our sites in Brackmills, Croxley Park, Watford or Howden, East Yorkshire, with responsibility for defining strategy, expanding automation coverage and delivering value-driven solutions across digital platforms.

Qualifications

• Experience leading test automation teams in enterprise environments.
• Strong stakeholder management and clear communication competencies.
• Track record delivering automation solutions for large-scale digital platforms.
• Analytical mindset with problem-solving and systematic thinking.

Responsibilities

• Act as the technical authority for test automation tooling and frameworks.
• Lead, develop and support a team of QA Automation Engineers.
• Own and manage enterprise test automation platforms and tooling.
• Drive automation strategy, roadmaps and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Collaborate with technology and business stakeholders to deliver value-driven solutions.
• Ensure automation solutions meet governance, security and quality standards.
• Oversee design, build, testing and deployment of automation capabilities.
• Manage vendor relationships and third-party partners.
• Monitor emerging technologies to inform future direction.
• Support frequent, high-quality software releases through enhanced automation coverage.
• Lead root cause analysis and service improvements.

Skills

Leading test automation teams

Stakeholder management

Communication skills

Analytical & problem-solving

Strategic planning

Tools

Tricentis

Selenium

Ranorex

Robot Framework

Job description

Howdens Joinery is seeking an experienced Test Automation Lead to guide a team of automation specialists and advance our automation tooling across howdens.com.

The role is a permanent, full-time position based from our sites in Brackmills, Croxley Park, Watford or Howden, East Yorkshire, with responsibility for defining strategy, expanding automation coverage and delivering value-driven solutions across digital platforms.