SDET Architect

ZipRecruiter; London; Hybrid; GBP 95,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading staffing solution provider based in London is seeking an experienced QA Architect to lead automation efforts and mentor a QA team. The ideal candidate will have strong experience in automation testing, Java, and CI/CD processes, along with a proven ability to drive QA excellence in a collaborative environment. This role offers a hybrid work model and a competitive salary between £95,000 and £110,000, plus a bonus.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience in automation testing.
• Proven experience leading QA teams and driving automation initiatives.
• Deep understanding of OOP principles and design patterns.

Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor the QA team in implementing automation solutions.
• Collaborate with clients to define automation strategies.
• Drive early lifecycle testing and ensure integration with CI/CD pipelines.

Skills

Automation-first mindset

Leadership in QA teams

Strong AI/GenAI experience

Java expertise

CI/CD knowledge

Tools

Cypress

Selenium

Playwright

WebdriverIO

Job description

Job Description

Location: Hybrid – London

Salary: £95,000 – £110,000 (depending on experience) + 10% bonus

Are you a hands-on, automation-first QA leader ready to shape the future of intelligent testing? We’re looking for a passionate QA Architect to sub-lead a forward-thinking practice as both a technical mentor and team lead, where quality engineering meets cutting-edge automation strategy.

What You'll Be Doing

• Acting as a hands-on sub-practice lead, leading by example and working alongside your team to architect and implement robust automation solutions.
• Assisting in driving the practice forward, working directly alongside the Head of QA to achieve this.
• Collaborating across multiple, isolated client projects (e.g., within telecom and enterprise environments) and helping define a shared automation platform strategy.
• Building automation frameworks from the ground up, using the that best suits the context—primarily Java, JavaScript, TypeScript, C#, or Python.
• Driving early lifecycle testing (Shift-Left), continuous integration of quality, and test architecture excellence.
• Using your deep understanding of OOP principles to evaluate and mentor team members on scalable, maintainable test automation design.
• Contributing directly to code, championing best practices, and leading discovery/exploratory testing strategies.
• Participating in agile ceremonies and continuously optimising engineering processes, quality metrics, and delivery standards.

What We’re Looking For

• A proven automation-first mindset – you won’t find manual testing on your recent CV (exploratory/discovery testing ).
• Experience leading QA teams and acting as an automation architect, not just a hands-off manager.
• Strong pre-sales experience and experience driving a team forward
• Strong AI/GenAI experience
• Strong experience architecting and implementing test frameworks (UI, API, integration, E2E) with tools such as Cypress, Playwright, WebdriverIO, or Selenium.
• Solid understanding of CI/CD, Git workflows, and test integration into delivery pipelines.
• Strong Java experience
• Skilled in using OOP principles, design patterns, SOLID practices, and dependency injection.
• Comfortable leading coding reviews and hands-on pairing sessions.
• Knowledge of non-functional testing areas including performance, compatibility, accessibility, and security.

If you're a seasoned QA leader ready to shape the future of automation, we’d love to hear from you.