Quality & Test Lead - Telecoms

Cambridge Consultants; Cambridge; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

Cambridge Consultants is seeking a Quality & Test professional to lead testing activities on telecoms projects and define testing approaches. You will guide test teams, manage risks, and ensure delivery meets quality and release standards.

You will collaborate with project managers and engineering leads, support bids, and promote continuous improvement, automation, and modern quality practices across engagements.

Qualifications

• Experience leading quality and test engineering activities within telecoms projects or defence, aerospace, electronics, software, or other complex engineering environments.
• Strong understanding of product development lifecycles, including test strategy, planning, verification, validation, and release assurance.
• Ability to define, estimate, plan and manage testing activities within a project environment.
• Ability to identify, assess and manage quality and delivery risks, ensuring appropriate mitigation and escalation where required.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to explain technical and quality-related issues clearly and work effectively with customers, project teams and senior stakeholders.
• Experience leading, coordinating, mentoring or supporting quality and test engineers to deliver successful project outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Defining and implementing project-level test strategies, ensuring effective verification and validation from requirements through to customer acceptance.
• Managing quality and testing risks within your projects, escalating significant concerns and seeking guidance where appropriate to support successful delivery.
• Working alongside project managers and engineering leads to deliver high-quality outcomes that meet project objectives.
• Communicating testing progress, quality indicators, risks, and release readiness to project stakeholders and customers.
• Contributing to bids, proposals, and planning activities by providing testing and quality assurance input.
• Overseeing, mentoring and supporting quality and test engineers on projects, creating a positive culture focused on accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Promoting and embedding effective test practices and helping teams adopt efficient quality engineering approaches.
• Supporting the implementation of test automation, DevOps, and continuous improvement initiatives.

Skills

Test leadership

Quality engineering

Stakeholder management

Test strategy

Communication

Tools

GitLab

Jenkins

Python

Linux

Wireshark

Job description

Overview

We are seeking a Quality & Test professional looking to take the next step in their career. This is a client-facing role for someone who can provide quality and test leadership, define appropriate testing approaches, guide test teams, and provide assurance on product quality and release readiness on telecoms projects.

Working with the support of senior engineering and project leaders, you will have opportunities to broaden your experience across increasingly complex delivery environments while developing your strategic thinking, stakeholder management, and quality engineering capabilities.

As we expand into emerging telecoms technologies such as AI-RAN, space economy and non-terrestrial networks, you will play an important role in delivering next-generation communications systems whilst building experience across innovative new technologies.

Examples of projects we have worked on in the recent past are:

• Connecting the unconnected with affordable Digital Radio Mondiale technology
• Wireless breakthrough for the Ocado Smart Platform
• Propelling Flylogix's drone technology beyond the far horizon

What you’ll be doing:

Supporting a range of telecoms projects, you will oversee quality and testing activities, helping to ensure solutions are delivered to the required standards of quality, performance, and customer satisfaction.

Key responsibilities include:

• Defining and implementing project-level test strategies, ensuring effective verification and validation from requirements through to customer acceptance.
• Managing quality and testing risks within your projects, escalating significant concerns and seeking guidance where appropriate to support successful delivery.
• Working alongside project managers and engineering leads to deliver high-quality outcomes that meet project objectives.
• Communicating testing progress, quality indicators, risks, and release readiness to project stakeholders and customers.
• Contributing to bids, proposals, and planning activities by providing testing and quality assurance input.
• Overseeing, mentoring and supporting quality and test engineers on projects, creating a positive culture focused on accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Promoting and embedding effective test practices and helping teams adopt efficient quality engineering approaches.
• Supporting the implementation of test automation, DevOps, and continuous improvement initiatives.

What you need to succeed:

• Experience leading quality and test engineering activities within telecoms projects or defence, aerospace, electronics, software, or other complex engineering environments.
• Good understanding of product development lifecycles, including test strategy, planning, verification, validation, and release assurance.
• Ability to define, estimate, plan and manage testing activities within a project environment.
• Ability to identify, assess and manage quality and delivery risks, ensuring appropriate mitigation and escalation where required.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to explain technical and quality-related issues clearly and work effectively with customers, project teams and senior stakeholders.
• Experience leading, coordinating, mentoring or supporting quality and test engineers to deliver successful project outcomes.

Desirable:

• Experience supporting bids, proposals or customer-facing activities.
• Experience with test automation, DevOps, CI/CD or modern quality engineering practices.
• Knowledge of one or more of the following areas: embedded software, hardware engineering, AI, cloud technologies, systems integration or telecommunications.
• Familiarity with tools such as GitLab, Jenkins, Ansible, Python, Linux, Wireshark or similar engineering and test tools.
• Knowledge of telecoms technologies including mobile networks, satellite communications, RF systems, 3GPP, DVB or IP networking.
• Understanding of how AI can be applied within telecoms systems or quality engineering activities.
• Relevant professional certifications or evidence of ongoing professional development in testing, quality engineering or related disciplines.

We recognise that candidates develop expertise through different experiences. If your background does not exactly match every requirement but you are excited about the role, we would welcome your application.

Why Cambridge Consultants?

Cambridge Consultants creates exciting and novel breakthroughs in technology and products. We help our clients achieve the kind of game-changing leap forward that will transform their whole business.

At the heart of what we do, we have talented and motivated multi-disciplinary teams empowered to create cutting edge technologies and systems to solve difficult problems for our clients.

We recognise and celebrate individual talent, and we understand the importance of letting individuals be just that. Our people are here to do their best work, and our job is to provide the platform for them to do it.

Diversity & Inclusion

Cambridge Consultants is a workplace where everyone is welcome. When the brightest minds come together and feel included, that's when we develop the most important technology breakthroughs. We believe that diversity can only flourish when everyone feels involved and has a sense of belonging. We welcome and value all people regardless of their characteristics and encourage applications from all backgrounds and dimensions of society.

By submitting an application to Cambridge Consultants, you confirm that the information provided in this application, together with any supporting documentation, is true, complete, and accurate to the best of your knowledge and belief. You understand that any false statement, misleading information, or material omission may render you liable to disqualification from the recruitment process, withdrawal of any offer of employment, or dismissal without notice if discovered following appointment. You acknowledge that the organisation reserves the right to verify the information supplied.