Senior Test Engineering Manager (Automation-First)
Posted 1 day ago by Salt
£500 Per day
Outside
Remote
London, UK
Summary: The Senior Test Engineering Manager (Automation-First) role involves hands-on engineering leadership with a focus on defining and delivering test strategies for mission-critical software. The position emphasizes automation leadership and engineering maturity over healthcare experience. The manager will lead teams in building scalable automation to enhance quality and reduce risk in software delivery. Key responsibilities include developing test strategies, mentoring engineers, and embedding automated testing into CI/CD pipelines.
Key Responsibilities:
- Define, develop, and write test strategies aligned to business risk and system architecture
- Own the end-to-end quality engineering approach, from unit testing through E2E and production validation
- Introduce and scale modern test automation frameworks across teams
- Embed automated testing into CI/CD pipelines so quality is continuous and enforced
- Upskill and mentor test engineers and software engineers in automation, test design, and quality engineering
- Establish quality standards, best practices, and governance without slowing teams down
- Reduce manual testing, flaky automation, and release risk
- Partner with engineering leadership to raise overall engineering maturity
- Influence system and API design to improve testability, resilience, and maintainability
Key Skills:
- A software engineer at heart with senior test engineering leadership experience
- Proven track record of creating and evolving test strategies, not just executing them
- Experience building and scaling test automation in complex, distributed systems
- Strong people leadership experience, including coaching and developing engineers
- Background in sell-side or mission-critical platforms (fintech, SaaS, infrastructure, high-availability systems)
- Deep understanding of automation strategy, CI/CD, and modern delivery practices
Salary (Rate): £500 daily
City: London
Country: UK
Working Arrangements: remote
IR35 Status: outside IR35
Seniority Level: Senior
Industry: IT
Detailed Description From Employer:
Senior Test Engineering Manager (Automation-First)
This is not a people-only management role.
This is hands-on engineering leadership with ownership of test strategy.
We're looking for a Senior Test Engineering Manager to define, document, and deliver test strategy while transforming how quality is engineered across mission-critical software. Healthcare experience isn't important - engineering maturity and automation leadership are.
You'll set direction, write clear test strategies, and lead teams in building scalable automation that reduces risk and increases delivery confidence.
Deliverables
- Define, develop, and write test strategies aligned to business risk and system architecture
- Own the end-to-end quality engineering approach, from unit testing through E2E and production validation
- Introduce and scale modern test automation frameworks across teams
- Embed automated testing into CI/CD pipelines so quality is continuous and enforced
- Upskill and mentor test engineers and software engineers in automation, test design, and quality engineering
- Establish quality standards, best practices, and governance without slowing teams down
- Reduce manual testing, flaky automation, and release risk
- Partner with engineering leadership to raise overall engineering maturity
- Influence system and API design to improve testability, resilience, and maintainability
Essential experience
- A software engineer at heart with senior test engineering leadership experience
- Proven track record of creating and evolving test strategies, not just executing them
- Experience building and scaling test automation in complex, distributed systems
- Strong people leadership experience, including coaching and developing engineers
- Background in sell-side or mission-critical platforms (fintech, SaaS, infrastructure, high-availability systems)
- Deep understanding of automation strategy, CI/CD, and modern delivery practices
*Rates depend on experience and client requirements