Quality Engineering Test Lead

Nextbase; Caerphilly; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Salary Sacrifice Schemes

Family Private Medical Insurance (MHD)

Employee Assistance Program

Life Assurance

Company Pension

Charity Days

Job summary

Nextbase is seeking a hands-on Test Lead to own the day-to-day running of the testing function. You will embed with the team, lead and develop test engineers, and drive the execution of the test plan while monitoring progress to keep delivery on track.

This role closes the gap between planning and delivery, providing visible leadership, timely updates, and reliable testing status across products and releases.

Qualifications

• Proven experience leading, supervising or coordinating a software testing or QA team.
• A solid technical testing background built over several years in software testing.
• Strong working knowledge of the software test lifecycle and common testing approaches.
• Hands-on experience planning and executing test cycles across multiple releases.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Experience with agile and scrum practices.
• Ability to build effective relationships with a flexible and collaborative approach.
• Highly organized and delivery-focused with a knack for tracking progress and blocking issues.

Responsibilities

• Line manage the test engineering team, including workload allocation, 1:1s, objective setting and performance management.
• Own the day-to-day execution of the test plan, breaking it down into clear tasks and priorities for the team.
• Track progress against the plan daily, chase outstanding actions, flag slippage and escalate risks to leadership.
• Identify and remove blockers, coordinating with development, product and other teams to keep testing moving.
• Run regular team check-ins to keep work coordinated and aligned on priorities.
• Maintain an up-to-date view of test status, defects and coverage, and communicate clearly to stakeholders.
• Ensure test execution follows agreed processes and quality standards, with results documented before sign-off.
• Act as the first point of contact for questions on testing progress and product readiness.
• Coach and support test engineers, raising capability and consistency over time.

Skills

People management

Test leadership

QA processes

Agile/Scrum

Communication

Stakeholder management

Delivery focus

Problem solving

Job description

We are seeking a hands-on, organised and people-focused Test Lead to own the day-to-day running of the testing function at Nextbase. This is a deliberately operational role; the successful candidate will be embedded with the team, leading and developing the test engineers, owning the execution of the test plan, and actively monitoring and chasing progress to keep delivery on track. Where the test strategy sets the direction, the Test Lead makes it happen on the ground each day.

The Test Lead is the central point of contact for the status of testing at any given moment: who is working on what, what is blocked, what is at risk, and what is ready to sign off. They turn the test plan into a clear set of daily and weekly priorities for the team and hold people accountable to them.

This role exists to close the gap between planning and delivery. By keeping the Test Lead close to the day-to-day work, the team gains a consistent, visible point of leadership, progress is chased and unblocked in real time, and the wider business gets reliable, up-to-date visibility of testing status and product readiness.

Objectives

• Lead, manage and develop the team of test engineers on a day-to-day basis
• Own and drive the execution of the test plan across products and releases
• Continuously monitor progress, chase outstanding actions, and remove blockers to keep testing on schedule
• Provide clear, regular reporting on test progress, coverage and product readiness to the Head of Testing and wider stakeholders

Key Responsibilities

• Line manage the test engineering team, including workload allocation, 1:1s, objective setting, performance management and development
• Own the day-to-day execution of the test plan, breaking it down into clear tasks and priorities for the team
• Track progress against the plan daily, proactively chasing outstanding actions, flagging slippage early and escalating risks to the Head of Testing
• Identify and remove blockers, coordinating with development, product and other teams to keep testing moving.
• Run regular team check-ins to keep work coordinated and the team aligned on priorities.
• Maintain an accurate, up-to-date view of test status, defects and coverage, and communicate it clearly to stakeholders.
• Ensure test execution follows agreed processes and quality standards, and that results are properly documented before sign-off.
• Act as the first point of contact for questions on testing progress and product readiness.
• Coach and support test engineers, helping the team raise its capability and consistency over time.

Skills and Experience

• Proven experience leading, supervising or coordinating a software testing or QA team
• A solid technical testing background built over several years in software testing
• Strong working knowledge of the software test lifecycle and common testing approaches
• Hands‑on experience planning and executing test cycles across multiple releases
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Experience with agile and scrum practices
• An ability to build effective relationships, with a flexible and collaborative approach
• Highly organized and delivery-focused, with a natural instinct to track progress and chase actions to completion
• Experience in the delivery of consumer electronic projects (software and hardware)/dash cams

Salary and Benefits

• Salary Sacrifice Schemes
• Family Private Medical Insurance (Medical History Disregarded) and Medicash Health Cash Plan
• Employee Assistance Program
• Life Assurance
• Company Pension
• Charity Days