Test Team Lead

SoCode Limited; Cambridge; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

SoCode Limited in Cambridge is seeking an experienced Conformance Test Team Lead to guide a specialist conformance testing team. This role focuses on leadership, planning and delivery, working with product, development and compliance partners.

It is not a hands-on testing position, but requires strong people management and organisational skills. You will coordinate testing activities, manage priorities, and ensure regulatory alignment while collaborating with the Technical Lead and external

Qualifications

• Proven experience in testing with leadership or test lead responsibilities.
• Strong people management skills including delegation and performance management.
• Excellent planning, prioritisation and organisational abilities in testing contexts.
• Strong stakeholder communication with technical and non-technical audiences.
• Technical grounding in testing/conformance to understand team work.

Responsibilities

• Lead, mentor and manage a team of 5-6 conformance test engineers and collaborate with the Technical Lead.
• Plan and run sprint ceremonies and organise team activities to hit testing objectives.
• Develop conformance testing strategies and maintain test plans and schedules.
• Coordinate resources and ensure delivery across internal teams and external partners.
• Generate test reports and liaise with compliance partners.
• Identify process gaps and drive improvements in testing practices.

Skills

Team leadership

People management

Planning & prioritisation

Stakeholder communication

Agile methodologies

Jira/Azure DevOps

Test management

Risk assessment

Lab management

Education

ISTQB or testing certification

Tools

Jira

Azure DevOps

Job description

Job Title: Conformance Test Team Lead Salary: £70,000 - £80,000 Location: Cambridge (On site with some flex) (Please note, you must already live in the UK with right to work to be considered for this position).

We are seeking an experienced Test Team Lead to lead and manage a specialist conformance testing team. This is an opportunity to take ownership of a specialist conformance testing function, supporting the team through its next stage while working across product, development and compliance activities. This role would suit someone who enjoys leading people, organising complex testing activity and managing priorities, rather than someone looking for a predominantly hands-on position. You will be comfortable providing strong leadership, structure, prioritisation and stakeholder management and the priority is to complement that technical capability with strong people management and operational leadership.

Experience with Agile ways of working, sprint planning and tools such as Jira or Azure DevOps would therefore be beneficial.

A technical grounding in testing and conformance is important, particularly to enable you to understand the team's work and confidently handle stakeholder questions when engineers are unavailable. However, this is not a hands-on testing role. The focus is on leading the team, organising work, managing priorities, coordinating resources and ensuring effective delivery.

You will work closely with the existing Technical Lead, development teams, product stakeholders and external certification/compliance partners.

Key Responsibilities:

Team Leadership & Management

• Lead, mentor and manage a team of 5-6 conformance test engineers and work closely with the Technical Lead, who will provide specialist domain knowledge and technical support.
• Plan and run sprint ceremonies, including planning, reviews, stand-ups and retrospectives and organise and prioritise team activities to ensure testing objectives are delivered on time.
• Delegate work effectively and support performance management and personal development and foster a culture of ownership, accountability and quality.

Planning & Prioritisation

• Develop and maintain conformance testing strategies aligned with product and business requirements and create and maintain test plans and schedules.
• Prioritise testing activities according to project requirements, risks and timelines and ensure testing remains aligned with changing product timelines and regulatory demands.
• Manage team backlogs using appropriate test management and Agile tools.

Lab & Resource Management

• Organise and maintain a fully functional physical test lab, managing lab scheduling, equipment and test environments.
• Allocate resources effectively to meet project requirements and coordinate testing activities across internal teams and external partners where required.

Stakeholder Management & Reporting

• Act as a key point of contact for testing-related stakeholder queries and provide clear and timely updates on progress, risks, priorities and quality.
• Generate test reports and compliance documentation and work closely with development, product management and certification partners to align testing with product lifecycles.
• Support communication with relevant compliance and certification bodies.

Continuous Improvement

• Identify process gaps and drive improvements in testing processes and methodologies.
• Support appropriate use of automation and improved testing practices and help develop efficient structures and processes for the team.

What You Need to Succeed:

(Essential)

• Proven experience in testing, with experience in a test management, team leadership or test lead role.
• Strong people management skills, including delegation, coaching and performance management.
• Excellent planning, prioritisation and organisational skills and experience managing testing activities and competing priorities.
• Strong stakeholder communication skills, with the ability to communicate with both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Sufficient technical grounding in testing/conformance to understand the team's work and respond to stakeholder questions.
• Experience working with Agile methodologies and sprint-based delivery and familiarity with tools such as Jira, Azure DevOps or similar.
• Experience organising and managing physical test labs and strong analytical and risk-assessment capabilities.

(Desirable):

• Experience working in a regulated industry such as telecommunications, electronics, automotive or medical devices.
• Knowledge of relevant regulatory or compliance frameworks.
• Experience working with third-party testing, certification or compliance laboratories.
• ISTQB or another relevant testing certification.
• Understanding of wireless communications technologies such as LTE, 5G or TETRA.
• Exposure to automated testing frameworks and processes and experience working within multi-site or international teams.
• Background in electronics or embedded systems testing and familiarity with continuous improvement approaches such as Kaizen or Six Sigma