Principal QA Engineer Technology - Product & Engineering (Regs & Compliance Tribe) · Nottingham ·

ENSEK Ltd; Nottingham; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading company in the energy sector is seeking a Principal QA Engineer to lead testing efforts and ensure product quality. This role involves collaborating with cross-functional teams, defining testing strategies, and mentoring junior engineers. The ideal candidate will have extensive QA leadership experience and strong communication skills, fostering a culture of quality within the engineering teams.

Qualifications

• Experience as a technology leader in small teams of software engineers.
• Expertise in QA processes and best practices.

Responsibilities

• Lead testing efforts and ensure product quality through collaboration.
• Define and implement overall testing strategy, including manual and automated testing.
• Mentor and support test engineers to enhance their skills.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Teamwork

Problem Solving

Tools

Test Automation Tools

Job description

We are a technology business operating in the global energy sector.

ENSEK has become the go-to option for top energy suppliers across the globe. Why? Because our technology represents a significant step change away from the legacy systems that have historically dominated the market. It’s also massively cheaper to adopt the ENSEK solution, with no loss in customer service or standards.

But by far the biggest reason why ENSEK is the best choice in energy supplier software is because of the people who work here, their endless enthusiasm, energy, and the way they support their colleagues. All our clients comment on what great people we have. Our people are our superpower.

That is where you come in.

ROLE SUMMARY:

Reporting to the Tribe Engineering Manager, the Principal QA Engineer leads testing efforts, ensuring product quality through collaboration, QA process enhancement, and automation. With extensive QA leadership experience, this role involves mentoring QA engineers, managing test environments and releases, supporting incident resolution, and communicating QA results to stakeholders.

This role involves collaborating with cross-functional squads/tribes, defining and enhancing QA processes, and maintaining robust automation frameworks.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

1. Lead role & go-to person for approximately 2-3 squads or for a domain impacting many squads.
2. Influential leader across multiple squads through formal supervisory responsibility and/or technical authority, as well as by example/influence, challenging mindsets/behaviours if needed.
3. Work in collaboration with Architects, Lead Engineers, and Engineering Management on implementing testing best practices, testing tools, and test strategies to ensure product solutions, capabilities, and outcomes are delivered.
4. Define and implement the overall testing strategy, encompassing both manual and automated testing approaches.
5. Collaborate with product management, development, and other stakeholders to ensure testing efforts align with business objectives.
6. Ensure the overall quality of the product through development of test strategies and execution of various test techniques, including E2E implementation and production monitoring.
7. Contribute to a central view of QA status across the product portfolio.
8. Drive continuous improvement in all areas affecting product quality, including test environment, release strategies, production testing, monitoring, and engineering practices.
9. Establish and enforce quality standards and best practices throughout the development and testing lifecycle.
10. Conduct root cause analysis of defects and implement corrective actions to prevent reoccurrence.
11. Lead internal sharing of best practices within the QA guild.
12. Mentor and support test engineers to enhance their skills and performance.
13. Participate actively in QA recruitment processes.
14. Lead QA training initiatives, such as QA academy.
15. Work closely with the Head of QA Enablement and take ownership within the release process, making risk-based decisions and providing sign-off for production releases.
16. Present testing results, metrics, and insights to senior management and stakeholders.
17. Promote a positive, results-oriented work environment, fostering teamwork across the company.
18. Add value to client, colleague, and stakeholder experiences by practicing and promoting company values.
19. Collaborate with the tribe’s Lead Engineers to ensure PR reviews provide the necessary quality assurance.

TECHNICAL SKILLS:

1. Experience as a technology leader, empowering and working within small teams of software engineers.
2. Expertise in QA processes and best practices, with hands-on experience in a QA leadership role.
3. Proficiency in test automation tools and a deep understanding of SDLC.
4. Experience working in an agile environment; experience within Energy/Utilities is advantageous but not essential.

SOFT SKILLS:

1. Ability to understand the business big picture and make decisions with long-term impact.
2. Effective at bringing others on board with new mindsets, behaviors, and ways of working.
3. Experience coaching and mentoring others in their development.
4. Approachable, strong communicator who listens, influences, persuades, and can present to senior stakeholders.
5. Values teamwork; experience working remotely within a multi-disciplinary team is advantageous.
6. Highly organized, prioritized, and structured in approach.
7. Fosters a culture of quality within engineering teams.