Head of Test Automation

Sumitomo Group; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 108,000 - 162,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid and flexible working

Competitive paid leave days

Private medical insurance

Life and invalidity insurance

Counselling and coaching services

Learning and development opportunities

Job summary

SMBC Group in London seeks a Head of Test Automation to lead the bank’s automation and quality engineering across trading platforms. You will define strategy, set standards, and drive scalable automated testing for UI, API, services, and data layers.

You will establish BDD/Cucumber practices, integrate into CI/CD, and mentor a team of 10+ QA engineers, fostering collaboration with Product, Trading and Tech stakeholders. Hybrid working in the UK is offered.

Qualifications

• Strong software engineering background, 15+ years in software development or QA in financial services or similar regulated environments.
• Experience building and leading enterprise-scale test automation across UI, API, services, messaging and data layers.
• Hands-on Java or other modern languages; ability to review automation frameworks and provide direction.
• Extensive experience with BDD and Cucumber; integrating into the SDLC and CI/CD pipelines.
• Automation frameworks using Selenium/Playwright, REST/API testing, Cucumber and contract/service testing.

Responsibilities

• Define the test automation strategy, roadmap, operating model, and standards across Sales & Trading platforms.
• Drive shift from manual regression to automated continuous testing across functional, API, end-to-end and performance testing.
• Embed automation throughout the SDLC with measurable targets for coverage, quality and efficiency.
• Lead reusable automation components and govern feature files, scenarios and maintenance.

Skills

Software engineering

Test automation

Java

BDD/Cucumber

Selenium

Playwright

REST/API testing

CI/CD

Jenkins

GitHub Actions

Docker

Kubernetes

OpenShift

Leadership

Quality Engineering

Education

Degree in Computer Science/Engineering

Tools

Jira

Xray/Zephyr

Git

Quality dashboards

Job description

Select how often (in days) to receive an alert:

SMBC: A trusted partner for the long term

Here at SMBC Group, we want to help you find the next step in your career so read on to discover if this opportunity is the one for you. We like to recognise potential in our people, so we welcome your application even when your experience doesn’t perfectly align with the job description. Whilst we’ll always strive to be better, we’re proud of our inclusive culture, and encourage our applicants and colleagues to be their authentic, unique selves.

Who we are

United by a sense of purpose towards our customers – to be a trusted partner for the long-term – and our universal banking platform in EMEA, SMBC Group has an international growth agenda and award-winning products, meaning we provide exciting opportunities to work on a diverse range of projects and initiatives. We deliver a full suite of corporate finance products and solutions to our customers as well as investment banking and advisory services, and a range of innovative solutions in global capital markets. Read on to find out how you could enhance your skills and gain valuable experience, by joining us to support our clients transition to a sustainable future.

Role Summary

The Head of Test Automation will provide strategic, technical and organisational leadership for the bank’s test automation and quality engineering capability across Sales and Trading technology business platforms.

The role will define and execute the test automation strategy, establish engineering standards and frameworks, and lead teams responsible for delivering scalable automated testing across trading, risk, pricing, P&L, market data, eTrading and other critical financial systems.

A key responsibility will be to establish industry practices such as Behaviour-Driven Development (BDD) with tools like Cucumber, to improve collaboration between Technology, Business and Product teams and ensure that automated tests are aligned with business requirements and critical trading workflows.

• Strong software engineering background, ideally with 15+ years in software development, quality engineering or test automation, with significant experience in financial services or other complex, highly regulated environments.
• Proven experience building and leading enterprise-scale test automation across UI, API, services, messaging and data layers.
• Strong hands-on understanding of Java and/or other modern programming languages, with the ability to review automation frameworks and provide technical direction.
• Extensive experience with BDD and Cucumber, including defining executable specifications and integrating BDD into the SDLC.
• Experience designing and implementing automation frameworks using tools such as Selenium/Playwright, REST/API testing frameworks, Cucumber and contract/service testing.

Strong understanding of CI/CD and DevOps, including Jenkins/GitHub Actions, Docker, Kubernetes / OpenShift and automated quality gates.

• Leading a team of 10+ quality assurance testers / test automation engineers, including automation engineers, manual testers and vendor resources.
• Key interface will be with other team members, development leads, and other development managers across multiple regions.
• Automation coverage: target 95%+ automation of repeatable regression testing, with higher coverage for critical business processes.
• CI/CD: Automation executed through enterprise pipelines using tools such as GitHub Actions, Docker / Kubernetes / OpenShift.

Frameworks: establish and maintain enterprise-standard automation frameworks, including Java, Selenium / Playwright, REST/API testing, and BDD/Cucumber.

Compensation

The anticipated salary range for this role is £108,000 - £162,000, with the final offer determined based on the candidate’s skills, experience, role scope, location, and relevant market factors. In addition to base salary, the role may be eligible for a discretionary incentive award and a competitive benefits package, including core benefits such as pension provision.

Position Description

• Define the test automation strategy, roadmap, operating model, and engineering standards across Sales & Trading Business Platforms.
• Drive the shift from manual regression to automated continuous testing across functional, API, integration, end-to-end, performance, and resilience testing.
• Embed automation throughout the SDLC, with measurable targets for coverage, quality, defect leakage, and efficiency.

BDD & Cucumber

• Lead adoption of BDD using Cucumber and Gherkin, establishing common standards and best practices.
• Ensure business-readable scenarios link requirements and acceptance criteria to automated tests and production behaviour.
• Establish reusable automation components and governance for feature files, scenarios, and test maintenance.
• Integrate BDD into CI/CD pipelines, quality gates, and reporting.

Technology & Engineering Leadership

• Lead reusable, scalable test automation frameworks, tooling, test data, and environment management.
• Promote collaboration across Product, Business Analysis, Trading, Development, and Quality Engineering.
• Drive engineering excellence through code reviews, standards, automation, and technical governance.
• Evaluate and introduce appropriate testing technologies and tools.

Leadership & People Management

• Lead and develop manual testing, automation, and BDD engineers.
• Build a high-performing Quality Engineering organisation with clear career and development frameworks.
• Recruit and retain strong engineering talent while promoting quality, automation, and continuous improvement.
• Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent.
• Investment banking / Markets Technology experience
• Significant Quality Engineering, test automation, or software engineering experience.
• Director/Senior Engineering Manager experience leading distributed technology teams.
• Strong Java, BDD, Cucumber and Gherkin expertise.
• Strong CI/CD, DevOps, Agile, SDLC, and engineering governance experience.
• Experience testing distributed systems, APIs, microservices, and mission-critical platforms.
• Strong ability to influence senior Business and Technology stakeholders.

Technical skills

• Programming : Python, Java, C#
• Tooling : Jira, Xray/Zephyr, Git, automated reporting and quality dashboards
• Experience with eTrading, order management, market data, pricing, risk or P&L systems.
• Experience with high-volume, low-latency systems, with performance and resilience testing.
• Experience implementing enterprise-wide Quality Engineering transformation.

There will at times be the need to balance multiple projects so utilising their time efficiently will be key.

Customer Focus

Driving Change

Driving Results

Judgement and Decision Making

Strategic and Visionary

Trust and Integrity

What we offer

For all the expertise and experience you bring to help us make a difference, it’s only sustainable if we support you to build your career and be your best self so we offer competitive company benefits, centred around promoting positive well-bring and work-life balance. We also believe in fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment, where all team members perspectives and contributions are valued. Initiatives in place which promote a diverse and inclusive culture and healthy work life balance include hybrid working, Sport & Social Clubs and Diversity and Inclusion networks.

As an employee of SMBC you have access to a host of both useful and exciting benefit offerings. See below some of the benefits on offer to you:

• Hybrid and flexible working
• Competitive paid leave days
• Benefits to support your physical wellbeing, including private medical insurance and life and invalidity insurance
• Various policies to support your mental wellbeing, including a robust behavioural health network with counselling and coaching services
• Access a wide range of learning and development opportunities and career progression opportunities

We recognise our role as a bank to support social change and welcome all applications, including those from groups often under-represented in financial services. We value the uniqueness of professional and personal, backgrounds and perspectives as they play a vital role in continuing the sustainable growth of our organisation. We’ll ensure reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process are offered due to a disability or long-term condition whenever requested.

We are committed to transparent and equitable pay practices. Compensation is determined using objective criteria, including skills, experience, and role responsibilities, and applied consistently throughout our recruitment processes. We do not request candidates' pay history and are committed to preventing unjustified pay disparities.

About SMBC

A trusted partner for the long term
United by a sense of purpose towards our customers - to be a trusted partner for the long-term - and our universal banking platform in EMEA, we deliver a full suite of corporate finance products and solutions to our customers, including corporate, structured and trade finance, leveraged finance, loan market and treasury products. We can also provide investment banking and advisory services and a range of innovative solutions in global capital markets.
Find out more about what we do and who we are at https://www.smbcgroup.com/emea/careers