Principal QA Engineer

MRJ Recruitment; Manchester; On-site; GBP 72,000 - 88,000; Full time

Job summary

MRJ Recruitment is seeking a Principal QA / Principal Software Engineer in Test in Manchester City Centre, offering up to £80k. This hands-on leadership role focuses on defining the QA strategy and driving automation, particularly using Playwright, with a strong emphasis on mentoring and building a high-performing team. The candidate should have experience in API testing, CI/CD processes, and a good understanding of modern automation to ensure quality across their well-known product platform.

Qualifications

• Strong experience with Playwright or Cypress.
• Experience with API testing using Postman.
• Good understanding of CI/CD practices.

Responsibilities

• Own and define the QA strategy across products.
• Lead adoption of Playwright-based automation frameworks.
• Work closely with engineers to embed quality across the SDLC.
• Mentor QA engineers and build a high-performing team.
• Improve tooling, processes, and CI/CD pipelines.

Skills

Playwright

Cypress

API testing

CI/CD

Leadership

Strong communication

Tools

Postman

Jenkins

AWS

Azure

Job description

Principal QA / Principal Software Engineer in Test - Manchester City Centre - up to £80k

We’re working with a growing SaaS business looking for a Principal QA to lead their testing strategy and drive quality across engineering.

This is a hands‑on leadership role with a strong focus on modern automation, particularly Playwright (Cypress also welcome).

What you’ll be doing

• Own and define the QA strategy across products
• Lead adoption of Playwright-based automation frameworks
• Work closely with engineers to embed quality across the SDLC
• Mentor QA engineers and build a high-performing team
• Improve tooling, processes, and CI/CD pipelines

What they’re looking for

• Strong experience with Playwright or Cypress
• Experience with API testing (Postman)
• Good understanding of CI/CD (Jenkins/AWS/Azure)
• Strong communication and leadership skills

You’ll be leading a highly skilled, established QA team, while still staying hands‑on with automation and strategy. The product itself is a well‑known platform you’ve likely come across, adding real‑world impact to the work you’ll be doing.