Test Lead

Version 1; Newcastle upon Tyne; Hybrid; GBP 45,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Quarterly Performance-Related Profit Share

Career Progression & Mentorship

Flexible/remote working

Pension and Private Healthcare

Generous holiday allowance

Educational assistance and incentivised certifications

Employee Wellbeing schemes

Job summary

Version 1 is looking for a highly skilled Automation and Performance Test Engineer to lead strategic testing initiatives across complex systems. This role combines technical expertise with leadership skills to drive quality in our engineering processes.

The ideal candidate will possess hands-on experience with automation frameworks, CI/CD pipelines, and excellent problem-solving abilities. The position also offers flexibility in working arrangements and a variety of employee benefits.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in leading testing teams and strategic testing initiatives.
• Strong hands-on experience with automation frameworks.
• Deep understanding of CI/CD pipelines and test environment management.

Responsibilities

• Plan and lead large-scale, complex testing activities.
• Build, maintain, and evolve automation frameworks.
• Design and execute a wide range of testing techniques.

Skills

Hands-on experience with automation frameworks (e.g., Selenium, Playwright, Cypress)

Experience with Virtuoso for test automation

Deep understanding of CI/CD pipelines

Excellent problem-solving skills

Strong communication and leadership skills

Experience in Agile and DevOps environments

Expertise in database and ETL testing

Tools

Virtuoso

Selenium

Playwright

Cypress

Job description

We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced Automation and Performance Test Engineer to lead strategic testing initiatives across complex systems. This role demands a blend of technical expertise, leadership capability, and problem-solving acumen to drive quality across our engineering processes.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategic Leadership: Plan and lead large-scale, complex testing activities, managing risks and identifying opportunities to improve quality and efficiency.
• Technical Ownership: Build, maintain, and evolve automation frameworks using open-source technologies.
• Process Improvement: Lead investigative work into existing processes to identify gaps and implement improvements.
• Test Design & Execution: Design and execute a wide range of testing techniques including functional, performance, and automated testing.
• Stakeholder Communication: Communicate test results and insights effectively to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Continuous Improvement: Review and enhance test environments and processes to support ongoing quality improvements and maintain high standards.
• End-to-End testing specialising in validating data pipelines, source-to-target mapping, and data integrity testing.
• Test Automation: Implement and maintain test automation using Virtuoso and other relevant tools.
• Test Management: Oversee test planning, execution, and reporting aligned with the Test strategy.
• Defect Management: Manage defect lifecycle and ensure timely resolution and reporting.
• Database/ETL Testing: Perform thorough testing of database systems and ETL processes to ensure data accuracy and reliability.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in leading testing teams and strategic testing initiatives.
• Strong hands‑on experience with automation frameworks (e.g., Selenium, Playwright, Cypress)
• Experience with Virtuoso for test automation or similar tool.
• Deep understanding of CI/CD pipelines, test environment management.
• Excellent problem‑solving skills and ability to work independently and collaboratively.
• Strong communication and leadership skills, with the ability to influence and mentor others.
• Experience in Agile and DevOps environments.
• AI tooling experience.
• Expertise in database and ETL testing.
• Familiarity with test management and defect tracking tools.
• SC eligible preferred

Benefits

• Share in our success with our Quarterly Performance-Related Profit Share Scheme, where employees collectively benefit from a share of our company's profits.
• Strong Career Progression & mentorship coaching through our Strength in Balance & Leadership schemes with a dedicated quarterly Pathways Career Development programme.
• Flexible/remote working, Version 1 is tremendously understanding of life events and people's individual circumstances and offer flexibility to help achieve a healthy work life balance.
• Financial Wellbeing initiatives including Pension, Private Healthcare Cover, Life Assurance, Financial advice and an Employee Discount scheme.
• Employee Wellbeing schemes including Gym Discounts, Bike to Work, Fitness classes, Mindfulness Workshops, Employee Assistance Programme and much more. Generous holiday allowance, enhanced maternity/paternity leave, marriage/civil partnership leave and special leave policies.
• Educational assistance, incentivised certifications, and accreditations, including AWS, Microsoft, Oracle, and Red Hat.
• Reward schemes including Version 1's Annual Excellence Awards & Call-Out platform.
• Environment, Social and Community First initiatives allow you to get involved in local fundraising and development opportunities as part of fostering our diversity, inclusion and belonging schemes.

and many more exciting benefits... drop us a note to find out more.