Quality Engineering Lead - 8 month contract / Day rate negotiable / Hybrid working
We have an exciting opportunity for a Quality Engineering Lead to join us on an 8 month contract with hybrid working where you must be willing to travel to our Reading office at least 1-2 days per week or alternatively we will accept candidates who can work from our Dublin office and work in those offices at least 1-2 days per week.
Position Overview:
We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced individual to lead our quality engineering and test transformation initiatives. The successful candidate will be responsible for overseeing the quality assurance processes across the company landscape and driving the transformation of our testing practices, with a focus on standardization, automation, and continuous improvement. This role requires both strategic leadership and hands-on involvement, fostering collaboration across teams, and ensuring that quality assurance processes are aligned with organizational goals.
Key Responsibilities:
Leadership & Strategy
1. Develop, maintain and implement test strategy aligned with Tech strategy and supporting Primark 2030 framework.
2. Lead and manage the quality engineering and test teams, mentoring and providing guidance to both internal and supplier resources.
3. Develop and implement quality assurance strategies and test frameworks for both functional and non-functional testing.
4. Collaborate with cross-functional teams to define quality standards, metrics, and a central test service that aligns with organizational goals.
5. Re-establish and enforce consistent ways of working across teams to improve collaboration and communication.
Quality Assurance Processes & Automation
1. Establish and maintain quality assurance processes, methodologies, and best practices, ensuring compliance with industry standards, regulations, and internal policies.
2. Champion the adoption of test automation and embed automated testing into the overall test framework, promoting the use of appropriate tools and frameworks.
3. Collaborate with engineering to integrate automated testing into CI/CD pipelines and standardize environment management practices.
4. Define and enforce test tool usage guardrails to ensure consistency across programs.
Continuous Improvement & Collaboration
1. Identify areas for process improvement and lead initiatives to enhance product and test quality.
2. Foster a culture of continuous improvement and quality ownership across the organization.
3. Drive cross-functional collaboration to ensure clear ownership of quality across teams, reducing reliance on key project resources.
4. Facilitate regular forums and meetings to ensure alignment, governance, and effective communication across all teams involved in testing.
Test Environment & Governance
1. Standardize environment management practices and improve test data refresh and build processes.
2. Implement governance controls to ensure test processes are followed and quality standards are consistently met.
3. Drive the adoption of test automation across teams and standardize test management tools to reduce duplication of effort.
Reporting & Metrics
1. Develop and maintain test effectiveness metrics and reporting systems to track the success of the test transformation.
2. Communicate test progress, tool adoption, and effectiveness to senior leadership and stakeholders.
3. Monitor adherence to SLAs, KPIs.
Stakeholder Engagement
1. Act as the primary point of contact for quality-related issues, ensuring clear communication with senior leadership and all teams involved in the testing lifecycle.
2. Engage with product management, engineering, and operations teams to align quality requirements and expectations.
Training & Development
1. Develop training programs to enhance the quality knowledge and skills of team members and the broader organization.
2. Stay current with industry trends, emerging technologies, and advancements in quality engineering practices.
Qualifications & Preferred Skills:
1. Proven experience in quality engineering or quality assurance, with a focus on software development (12+ years preferred).
2. Strong experience in test transformation, including the development and implementation of centralized test frameworks for functional and non-functional testing.
3. Expertise in test automation and CI/CD integration; familiarity with tools such as Selenium, JUnit, and similar.
4. Strong leadership skills and experience managing teams in a multi-supplier environment.
5. Certification and experience with Agile, Scrum, and DevOps methodologies, and familiarity with test management tools and processes.
6. Excellent communication, interpersonal, and stakeholder management skills.
7. Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities, with the ability to analyze quality data and identify trends and areas of risk.
8. Knowledge of regulatory requirements relevant to the industry, particularly in retail.
9. Certification in quality management (e.g., Six Sigma, ISO) is a plus.
10. ISTQB Advanced level test manager cert.
11. ITIL foundation.
12. Certification in automation tooling.
13. Experience in managing large-scale environments, including test data management and standardization of testing tools.
This contract offers the opportunity to play a pivotal role in driving strategic improvements in testing and quality assurance processes across the organization. If you are passionate about leading transformation initiatives and making a significant impact, we would love to hear from you!
Please note, to be considered for this role we can only accept candidates who are happy to work through an umbrella company; this is non-negotiable.
If the above is of interest to you, then please apply and we can discuss the next steps in detail.
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