QA Automation Leader: Drive Strategy, Standards & Quality

GCS; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

GCS is seeking a Lead Engineer - QA Automation in London to guide QA strategy across in-house and supplier-delivered apps. You will set testing standards, drive automation, and ensure alignment with security, regulatory, and business requirements while championing modern engineering practices.

You will lead a team of QA engineers, embed Shift Left principles, govern testing across multiple levels, integrate automation with CI/CD, and report quality metrics to stakeholders.

Qualifications

• ISTQB certification or equivalent testing qualification.
• Degree in IT, Engineering, Computer Science, or equivalent practical experience.
• Proven experience leading QA and testing functions within complex enterprise environments.
• Experience governing quality across supplier-led or outsourced delivery models.
• Strong experience designing and delivering enterprise-wide test strategies and plans.

Responsibilities

• Define and own the QA and testing strategy across in-house and supplier-led delivery.
• Establish standards and governance for unit, integration, system, UAT, regression, performance, and automation testing.
• Lead and mentor QA engineers, supporting test planning, estimation, prioritisation, and delivery.
• Embed Shift Left testing practices to improve quality throughout the software development lifecycle.
• Review test cases, test coverage, automation scripts, and quality metrics.
• Validate supplier testing deliverables, identify quality risks, and drive remediation activities.
• Lead the implementation and continuous improvement of automated testing frameworks.
• Ensure automation is scalable, maintainable, and integrated within CI/CD pipelines.
• Own defect management processes, quality reporting, and release readiness assessments.
• Support test environment management and test data strategy.
• Communicate quality status, risks, and recommendations to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Drive continuous improvement across testing practices, tools, processes, and supplier engagement.

Skills

QA leadership

Test strategy

Automation testing

Stakeholder management

CI/CD awareness

DevOps practices

Education

Bachelor's degree in IT/Engineering/CS

Tools

Selenium

Cypress

Playwright

SpecFlow

Postman

REST API Testing

C#

Job description

GCS is seeking a Lead Engineer - QA Automation in London to guide QA strategy across in-house and supplier-delivered apps. You will set testing standards, drive automation, and ensure alignment with security, regulatory, and business requirements while championing modern engineering practices.

You will lead a team of QA engineers, embed Shift Left principles, govern testing across multiple levels, integrate automation with CI/CD, and report quality metrics to stakeholders.