Lead QA Engineer - FTC; office locations

Genomics England is a global leader in enabling genomic medicine and research, focused on creating a world where everyone benefits from genomic healthcare. Building on the 100,000 Genomes Project, we support the NHS’s world‑first national whole genome sequencing service and run the growing National Genomic Research Library, alongside delivering numerous major genomics initiatives. By connecting research and clinical care at national scale, we enable immediate healthcare benefits and advances for the future.

Our mission is to provide the evidence and digital systems so that by 2035 genomics could play a role in up to half of all healthcare interactions, whilst securing the UK’s position as the best place to discover, prove and benefit from genomic innovations. We are accelerating our impact and working with patients, doctors, scientists, government and industry to improve genomic testing and help researchers access the health data and technology they need to make new medical discoveries and create more effective, targeted medicines for everybody.

This is a senior, hands‑on Lead QA role, responsible for strategy, frameworks, and raising QA standards across multiple squads.

As a Lead QA Engineer at Genomics England with deep Java expertise, you’ll own the technical direction of quality across the organisation, tackling complex testing challenges and driving best practice s role is about influence and expertise rather than people management, combining strategic thinking with strong technical delivery.

You’ll confidently and expertly design, build, and evolve automation test frameworks, act as a trusted authority across tribes, and mentor engineers/teams to raise skills and standards. Working closely with engineering leadership and product squads, you’ll take ownership of ensuring our systems are resilient, performant, and secure.

Everyday responsibilities include:

• Act as a cross‑tribe source of expertise in automation, performance, resilience, and security testing
• Design, build, and maintain robust test frameworks with a strong emphasis on Java and Playwright
• Guide squads in embedding automated, performance, and security testing into CI/CD pipelines
• Mentor QA engineers and developers, raising skills and confidence across teams
• Produce clear, practical documentation and “golden paths” that help squads adopt best practice
• Lead initiatives to improve test tooling, documentation, and knowledge sharing
• Collaborate with engineering leadership to embed test practices into CI/CD pipelines and shift testing left
• Define, track, and report on testing effectiveness metrics
• Stay current with new tools and techniques, bringing fresh thinking into our QA strategy

• Strong hands‑on programming with both Java and Playwright
• Demonstrable experience designing and maintaining automation frameworks (e.g. Selenium Web Driver, JUnit, TestNG, REST‑assured)
• Proven track record in performance testing (e.g. JMeter, Locust)
• Confident with security testing tools (e.g. OWASP Zap, Snyk)
• Experience embedding QA into CI/CD pipelines (e.g. Git Lab, Jenkins)
• Proven experience designing and implementing scalable test automation strategies and frameworks across multiple projects
• AWS/cloud‑based testing experience (Terraform, containers, serverless, monitoring)
• Experience mentoring, coaching, and leading on QA strategy

• Contract or mock API testing (e.g. PACT, Wire Mock)
• Accessibility testing tools (e.g. Axe‑core)
• Knowledge of data privacy, compliance, and auditability in testing
• Familiarity with bioinformatics, scientific, or healthcare data is a strong plus

Relevant, demonstrable experience operating at Lead QA level. No formal qualifications are required.

Salary From: £58,800
Closing Date: Monday 19th January 2025 at 23:00 (UK time)

• Generous Leave: 30 days’ holiday plus bank holidays, additional leave for long service, and the option to apply for up to 30 days of remote working abroad annually (approval required).
• Family‑Friendly: Blended working arrangements, flexible working, enhanced maternity, paternity and shared parental leave benefits.
• Pension &…