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Engage (Solutions Group)

Automation QA Lead

Hybrid

Manchester, United kingdom

£ 80,000 /year

Senior

Full Time

16-03-2026

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Skills

Communication Leadership Jira CI/CD Test Selenium Test Automation Scrum laravel AWS api testing Postman Agile CI/CD Pipelines

Job Specifications

Engage Solutions Group is a UK-based SaaS company focused on solving a real communication challenge inside organisations: how to keep employees and customers connected, informed and part of a community.

We didn’t start in SaaS - the company originally came from print media. But in 2015–16, we made an early pivot into mobile apps as we recognised how quickly everything was moving to smartphones. In 2017, two new owners with strong SaaS backgrounds led the shift towards a product-led business, and in 2019 we brought in a new Head of Engineering to help shape the modern platform.

Fast forward to today: we now work with 60+ customers across sectors like retail, automotive, legal, and professional services, with impressive revenue - all organically grown. We compete with large general-purpose platforms, but win when organisations want something more focused, practical, and supported by people who genuinely understand their needs.

We’re at a pivotal stage. The product works, the customer base is growing, and design is the biggest opportunity we have to elevate the entire experience.

Why This Role Is So Exciting!!

This isn’t a “maintain what already exists” QA role - you’ll define how quality is built, scaled and embedded across the product.
You’ll report directly to our Head of Engineering and work closely with product and engineering leadership.
You’ll own quality end to end, with real influence over release confidence, automation strategy and engineering best practice.
You’ll balance hands-on automation work with leadership and mentoring, shaping a modern, scalable QA function.
You’ll work in a team that already values automation and quality, with the mandate to evolve and improve how we test across web and mobile.
As the business grows, you’ll have the opportunity to build and lead a larger QA team and set long-term quality standards.

If you’re ready for a role with ownership, technical depth and the ability to make a visible impact on product quality, this is a strong fit.

Overview of the Role

You’ll lead our QA function, reporting into the Head of Engineering and partnering closely with engineering and product teams to ensure quality is embedded throughout our development lifecycle.

This is a hands-on leadership role. You’ll own our testing strategy and automation roadmap while remaining actively involved in writing, maintaining and improving automated tests across web and mobile platforms.

We already have a solid automation foundation in place and are committed to continuing that investment. You’ll evolve our approach, improve reliability and execution speed, and ensure testing scales as the platform and team grow. As we scale, you’ll line-manage and develop the QA team, building a high-performing quality function.

Key Responsibilities

Quality Leadership & Strategy

Define and own the overall QA and test automation strategy
Represent quality in sprint planning, technical discussions and release decisions
Build a scalable automation roadmap that supports frequent releases
Improve test coverage, execution speed and confidence in releases
Line-manage and mentor QA engineers, supporting growth and development

Hands-On Automation & Testing

Write, maintain and improve automated tests using Playwright (web) and Appium (mobile)
Improve test stability, reliability and CI/CD integration
Manage test planning and execution using TestRail, ensuring clear visibility of coverage and results
Work closely with engineers to embed quality early in the development process
Support testing across development, sandbox and production environments

Collaboration & Process

Partner closely with engineering and product teams day to day
Support the QA team in managing TestRail and JIRA integration
Help drive improvements to release processes and test environments
Champion quality standards and best practice across the organisation

What You’ll Work On (First 6–12 Months)

Reduce customer-found defects by strengthening test coverage and earlier detection
Optimise automated test execution time and CI/CD reliability
Evolve the automation framework across web and mobile platforms
Improve visibility of quality metrics and test results
Introduce a more strategic, long-term vision for QA as the product and team scale

What We’re Looking For

Essential

Significant commercial experience in Automation QA
Strong commercial hands-on experience with modern web automation frameworks (Playwright, Cypress, Selenium)
Good commercial experience with mobile automation tools (Appium, Detox or similar)
Proven experience line-managing or mentoring QA engineers
Experience working in agile / scrum environments
Familiarity with test management tools such as TestRail
Strong communication skills and confidence advocating for quality

It’d Be Nice If You Have

Experience integrating automated testing into CI/CD pipelines
API testing experience (Postman, REST Assured or similar)
Experience testing multi-tenant SaaS products
Exposure to Laravel, AWS

About the Company

Engage is an engagement platform that creates thriving colleague and customer communities. We combine an unmatched understanding of engagement in business with consumer-grade technology. Know more