Lead Test Engineer / Principal SDET

<p><strong>Inside IR35 </strong></p><p><strong>£640/day max (Umbrella, dependent on experience)</strong></p><p><strong>12-month contract</strong></p><p><strong>SC Clearance required</strong></p><p><strong>Locations: Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle (60% hybrid)</strong></p><p> (No London-based candidates)</p><p><br><br>Do not wait to apply after reading this description a high application volume is expected for this opportunity.<br></p><p><strong>Overview</strong></p><p>We are seeking an experienced <strong>Lead Test Engineer / Principal SDET</strong> to support a major digital transformation programme within a large government environment.</p><p>You will play a key role in shaping and embedding a <strong>scalable, automation-first test strategy</strong> across multiple engineering teams, supporting the transition from monolithic systems to a modern <strong>microservices-based architecture</strong>.</p><p><br></p><p>This is a <strong>hands-on technical leadership role</strong>, combining strategic influence with active contribution to automation frameworks and engineering practices.</p><p><br></p><p><strong>Key Responsibilities</strong></p><p><strong>Test Strategy & Leadership</strong></p><ul><li>Define and implement an end-to-end test strategy aligned to microservices architecture</li><li>Establish testing standards, patterns, and best practices across multiple teams</li><li>Assess existing testing approaches and drive continuous improvement</li><li>Embed scalable testing frameworks and reusable solutions across engineering teams</li></ul><p><strong>Hands-on Engineering</strong></p><ul><li>Design, build, and maintain robust automated test frameworks</li><li>Deliver testing across all levels: unit, integration, contract, system, and end-to-end</li><li>Lead automation efforts within Java-based environments</li><li>Actively contribute to code and framework development, not just governance</li></ul><p><strong>Collaboration & Governance</strong></p><ul><li>Work closely with engineering teams and stakeholders to ensure alignment on quality</li><li>Provide technical leadership, mentoring, and coaching to engineers and testers</li><li>Promote consistent application of testing practices across delivery teams</li><li>Maintain visibility of quality metrics and delivery outcomes</li></ul><p><strong>Essential Skills & Experience</strong></p><p><strong>Technical Expertise</strong></p><ul><li>Strong experience defining and implementing test strategies in <strong>microservices environments</strong></li><li>Hands-on automation experience using:</li><li><strong>Java, Selenium, Rest Assured</strong></li><li>Strong experience in <strong>API, integration, and contract testing</strong></li><li>Experience working across both <strong>monolithic and distributed systems</strong></li><li>Solid understanding of:</li><li>CI/CD pipelines</li><li>Spring Boot-based applications</li><li>Kafka or similar event-driven messaging systems</li></ul><p><strong>Modern Testing Practices</strong></p><ul><li>Experience with contract testing (e.g. Pact, Spring Cloud Contract)</li><li>Strong API testing and service-level testing experience</li><li>Awareness of non-functional testing (performance, accessibility)</li><li>Experience with NoSQL databases such as MongoDB</li><li>Ability to build scalable, maintainable, reusable automation frameworks</li></ul><p><strong>Leadership</strong></p><ul><li>Experience operating at <strong>Lead or Principal SDET level</strong></li><li>Ability to influence across teams without direct authority</li><li>Strong communication skills across technical and non-technical stakeholders</li><li>Proven ability to drive engineering quality in complex environments</li></ul><p><strong>Desirable Skills</strong></p><ul><li>AWS experience</li><li>Playwright / Serenity BDD</li><li>Performance testing tools (Gatling, K6)</li><li>Observability tools (Grafana, Prometheus, Splunk)</li><li>Docker and modern DevOps practices</li></ul><p><strong>Tools & Technologies</strong></p><ul><li>AWS</li><li>Java, Selenium, Rest Assured</li><li>Serenity BDD / Playwright</li><li>Pactflow / Spring Cloud Contract</li><li>Kafka</li><li>MongoDB</li><li>Jenkins / GitHub / GitLab</li><li>Docker</li><li>Gatling / K6</li><li>Grafana / Prometheus / Splunk</li></ul><p><strong>About You</strong></p><p>You are a <strong>hands-on technical leader</strong> who can define direction while actively contributing to delivery. You thrive in complex, multi-team environments and are passionate about building scalable, reliable, automation-first testing solutions. xwzovoh </p><p>You are equally comfortable writing automation code as you are shaping strategy and influencing senior stakeholders.</p>