Test Lead (Manual & Automation)
Posted Today by Square One Resources
£475 Per day
Inside
Remote
Middlesbrough, UK
Summary: The Test Lead (Manual & Automation) will oversee a team of testers to ensure high-quality software testing across various projects. This role demands strong technical expertise in testing and proven leadership skills, with a focus on both manual and automated testing practices. The ideal candidate will have hands-on experience in automation and a solid understanding of Agile methodologies. The position is primarily remote with occasional on-site meetings in Middlesbrough.
Key Responsibilities:
- Lead the day-to-day activities of the testing team, providing technical guidance and mentoring.
- Define and maintain the overall test strategy, approach, and quality standards across projects.
- Oversee test planning, execution, and reporting for both manual and automated testing.
- Contribute to hands-on test automation (UI and API) when needed.
- Work closely with business analysts, developers, and project managers to ensure test coverage aligns with business requirements.
- Coordinate defect triage and ensure timely resolution of issues.
- Promote and implement best practices in automation, CI/CD integration, and Agile delivery.
- Manage stakeholder communication and ensure clear visibility of testing progress, risks, and outcomes.
- Foster a collaborative and continuous improvement culture within the testing team.
Key Skills:
- Extensive experience in software testing, including leadership or Test Lead responsibilities.
- Strong technical knowledge of test automation tools and frameworks (eg, Selenium, Playwright, SpecFlow, Cucumber, or Reqnroll).
- Proficiency in one or more programming languages used for test automation (eg, C#, Java, Python).
- Experience designing and maintaining test automation frameworks across UI and API layers.
- Strong understanding of structured data formats (XML, JSON, CSV) and validation techniques (XPath, JSONPath).
- Experience with REST API testing using tools such as Postman, Playwright API fixtures, or equivalent.
- Familiarity with version control (Git, GitHub, Azure Repos) and CI/CD tools (Azure DevOps, Jenkins, GitHub Actions).
- Proficient with test management tools (Zephyr, Jira, TestRail, Azure Test Plans).
- Excellent communication, leadership, and stakeholder management skills.
- Solid understanding of Agile delivery and software development life cycles.
- Ability to mentor junior testers and drive quality improvements across the team.
Salary (Rate): £475 daily
City: Middlesbrough
Country: UK
Working Arrangements: remote
IR35 Status: inside IR35
Seniority Level: Mid-Level
Industry: IT
Detailed Description From Employer:
Job Title: Test Lead (Manual & Automation)
Location: Remote (occasional on-site meetings possible - Middlesbrough office)
Day Rate: £450 - £475 (Inside IR35)
Start Date: November 2025
The Test Lead will be responsible for leading a small team of testers (manual and automation) to deliver high-quality software testing across multiple workstreams. This role requires both strong technical testing expertise and proven leadership experience. The ideal candidate will bring hands-on automation experience, a solid grasp of testing best practices, and the ability to coordinate resources and drive delivery within an Agile environment.
Job Responsibilities/Objectives
* Lead the day-to-day activities of the testing team, providing technical guidance and mentoring.
* Define and maintain the overall test strategy, approach, and quality standards across projects.
* Oversee test planning, execution, and reporting for both manual and automated testing.
* Contribute to hands-on test automation (UI and API) when needed.
* Work closely with business analysts, developers, and project managers to ensure test coverage aligns with business requirements.
* Coordinate defect triage and ensure timely resolution of issues.
* Promote and implement best practices in automation, CI/CD integration, and Agile delivery.
* Manage stakeholder communication and ensure clear visibility of testing progress, risks, and outcomes.
* Foster a collaborative and continuous improvement culture within the testing team.
Required Skills/Experience
The ideal candidate will have the following:
* Extensive experience in software testing, including leadership or Test Lead responsibilities.
* Strong technical knowledge of test automation tools and frameworks (eg, Selenium, Playwright, SpecFlow, Cucumber, or Reqnroll).
* Proficiency in one or more programming languages used for test automation (eg, C#, Java, Python).
* Experience designing and maintaining test automation frameworks across UI and API layers.
* Strong understanding of structured data formats (XML, JSON, CSV) and validation techniques (XPath, JSONPath).
* Experience with REST API testing using tools such as Postman, Playwright API fixtures, or equivalent.
* Familiarity with version control (Git, GitHub, Azure Repos) and CI/CD tools (Azure DevOps, Jenkins, GitHub Actions).
* Proficient with test management tools (Zephyr, Jira, TestRail, Azure Test Plans).
* Excellent communication, leadership, and stakeholder management skills.
* Solid understanding of Agile delivery and software development life cycles.
* Ability to mentor junior testers and drive quality improvements across the team.
If you are interested in this opportunity, please apply now with your updated CV in Microsoft Word/PDF format.
Disclaimer
Notwithstanding any guidelines given to level of experience sought, we will consider candidates from outside this range if they can demonstrate the necessary competencies.
Square One is acting as both an employment agency and an employment business, and is an equal opportunities recruitment business. Square One embraces diversity and will treat everyone equally. Please see our website for our full diversity statement.