Lead Test Engineer/Principal SDET
Posted 1 day ago by Fusion People
£640 Per day
Inside
Undetermined
Manchester, UK
Summary: The Lead Test Engineer/Principal SDET will be instrumental in defining and implementing a scalable, automation-first test strategy within a major digital transformation programme. This hands-on technical leadership role involves influencing engineering practices and contributing to automation frameworks across multiple delivery teams. The position requires strong collaboration with stakeholders to ensure consistent testing practices and quality outcomes. The ideal candidate will possess extensive experience in microservices environments and automation technologies.
Key Responsibilities:
- Define and implement an end-to-end test strategy aligned to microservices architecture
- Establish standards, patterns, and best practices across multiple teams
- Assess current testing approaches and drive continuous improvement
- Embed testing strategy across teams, creating scalable frameworks and exemplars
- Design, build, and maintain automated test frameworks
- Work across different test levels: unit, integration, contract, system, and E2E
- Lead automation efforts in Java-based environments
- Support teams with implementation, not just direction
- Partner with engineering teams and stakeholders to ensure alignment
- Provide technical leadership and coaching to testers and developers
- Ensure testing practices are consistently applied across teams
- Maintain visibility of quality and delivery outcomes
Key Skills:
- Strong experience designing and implementing test strategies for microservices environments
- Hands-on automation experience using Java, Selenium, Rest Assured
- API, contract, and integration testing experience
- Knowledge of CI/CD pipelines and Spring Boot-based applications
- Understanding of performance testing fundamentals
- Experience with non-relational databases (e.g., MongoDB)
- Ability to influence stakeholders without direct authority
- Strong communication skills across technical and non-technical audiences
- Experience operating at Lead/Principal level
- Automation-first mindset with ability to build reusable, maintainable frameworks
Salary (Rate): £640 per day
City: Manchester
Country: UK
Working Arrangements: undetermined
IR35 Status: inside IR35
Seniority Level: undetermined
Industry: IT
Role: Lead Test Engineer/Principal SDET
Contracting Authority: DWP
Contract Length: 12 months
IR35: inside
Pay Rate to Candidate: As Umbrella - Max rate is £640 however DWP reserve the right to offer less this is based on candidate experience
Security Clearance: SC
Overview:
We are seeking a highly skilled Lead Test Engineer/Principal SDET to join a major digital transformation programme.
You will play a key role in defining and embedding a scalable, automation-first test strategy across multiple delivery teams, supporting the transition from monolithic systems to modern microservices architecture.
This is a hands-on technical leadership role, where you will influence engineering practices, set standards, and actively contribute to automation frameworks and testing solutions.
Key Responsibilities:
Test Strategy & Leadership
Define and implement an end-to-end test strategy aligned to microservices architecture
Establish standards, patterns, and best practices across multiple teams
Assess current testing approaches and drive continuous improvement
Embed testing strategy across teams, creating scalable frameworks and exemplars
Hands-on Engineering
Design, build, and maintain automated test frameworks
Work across different test levels: unit, integration, contract, system, and E2E
Lead automation efforts in Java-based environments
Support teams with implementation, not just direction
Collaboration & Governance
Partner with engineering teams and stakeholders to ensure alignment
Provide technical leadership and coaching to testers and developers
Ensure testing practices are consistently applied across teams
Maintain visibility of quality and delivery outcomes
Essential Skills & Experience:
Technical Expertise
Strong experience designing and implementing test strategies for microservices environments
Hands-on automation experience using:
- Java, Selenium, Rest Assured
- API, contract, and integration testing
Experience working with monolith and microservices systems
Knowledge of:
- CI/CD pipelines
- Spring Boot-based applications
- Performance testing fundamentals
Modern Testing Practices
Strong understanding of:
- Contract testing, API testing, and asynchronous messaging (eg Kafka)
- Non-functional testing (performance, accessibility)
Experience with non-relational databases (eg MongoDB)
Automation-first mindset with ability to build reusable, maintainable frameworks
Leadership
Experience operating at Lead/Principal level
Ability to influence stakeholders without direct authority
Strong communication skills across technical and non-technical audiences
Tools & Technologies
Cloud: AWS
Test Frameworks: Selenium, Serenity BDD, Playwright
Contract Testing: Pactflow, Spring Cloud Contract
Messaging: Kafka
Databases: MongoDB
CI/CD & DevOps: GitHub, GitLab, Jenkins, Docker
Performance Testing: Gatling, K6
Observability: Grafana, Prometheus, Splunk
What We're Looking For:
A hands-on technical leader who can set direction and deliver
Someone comfortable working across multiple teams and scaling best practice
A proactive problem-solver with a strong quality-first mindset