Staff Engineer - Test Automation

The Staff Engineer (SE) - Test Automation is a pivotal technical role responsible for aligning and driving modern quality assurance aligned to software engineering practices.  We are looking for an enthusiastic, inquisitive and passionate individual with experience of technical leadership and testing modern, modular, and high-performing frontend applications.  The SE performs as an individual contributor but will also support any QA activities helping squads deliver against project milestones. 

You will partner cross-functional teams, mentor QA engineers and champion best automation practices with a strong focus on shifting-left ensuring all deliverables meet the highest standard of reliability, scalability and performance. 

You will work with tools such as Playwright, Mockoon, Bruno, Artillery and Playwright amongst others to test both frontend and backend-for-frontend (BFF) solutions. With a DevSecOps mindset, you will provide quality assurance using automation and CI/CD. 

As a SE, you will lead by example - mentoring others, influencing technical decisions, and helping define best practices in frontend engineering and platform development. 

Main Duties 

Leadership 

• Act as a technical lead for initiatives involving MFEs and shared frontend platforms. 
• Provide mentoring and coaching to other engineers, promoting knowledge sharing and consistency across teams. 
• Contribute to the evolution of our QA approach for frontend and BFF, ensuring alignment with engineering goals and architectural direction. 
• Drive technical discussions, lead by example in engineering excellence, and participate in engineering governance. 
• Collaborate with product managers, developers, DevOps and other stakeholder to deliver high-quality solutions on time. 
• Build on existing best practices, standards and guidelines to enhance QA effectiveness and efficiency. 

Implementation & Delivery 

• Manage and scale existing automation framework(s) for microservices, APIs and front-end applications 
• Proactively identify gaps in automation coverage and implement effective solutions. 
• Ensure test suites are integrated into pipelines, providing rapid and reliable feedback on quality. 
• Continuously assess and improve existing QA processes 
• Monitor, measure and report on quality metrics, using data to drive process improvement. 
• Develop automated functional and non-functional tests, supporting squads as required. 
• Champion a shift-left mindset ensuring all test-types are executed as early as possible. 
• Lead root cause analysis of defects and systemic issues, collaborating with teams to implement corrective actions. 
• Contribute towards end-to-end testing strategies, ensuring comprehensive test coverage across the stack. 
• Actively contribute to Agile ceremonies and delivery processes, taking ownership of outcomes and blockers. 
• Identify, document, and reduce technical debt to ensure long-term maintainability and scalability. 

Collaboration & Communication

• Work closely with designers, engineers, and product teams to deliver quality assurance throughout the lifecycle. 
• Collaborate with architecture, development and platform teams to ensure alignment in engineering practices. 
• Champion a collaborative engineering culture through Chapters, Squads, and Guilds. 
• Communicate complex technical decisions clearly across technical and non-technical stakeholders. 

Experience Required

• Extensive experience in designing, building and maintaining automated test frameworks for microservices, APIs and front-end web applications. 
• Strong programming skills (Java/TypeScript). 
• Proven experience with automation frameworks and tools (Playwright, Artillery, RestAssured) 
• In-depth knowledge of software testing methodologies: unit, integration, component, system, performance and security testing. 
• Expertise in testing within a CI/CD environment, including experience with pipeline tools (e.g. GitLab, Azure) 
• Knowledge with contract testing, mocking/stubbing tools and test data management. 
• Solid understanding of microservices architecture, RESTful APIs and modern front-end frameworks. 
• Knowledge of containerisation and orchestration technologies such as Docker, Kubernetes, and Terraform. 
• Experience with cloud platforms, ideally GCP or Azure. 
• Familiarity with compatibility and accessibility testing (using e.g., Lambda, Axe) 
• Awareness of Guidewire platform integration is desirable but not required. 
• ISTQB Foundation Certificate in Software Testing (or equivalent). 
• Desirable Skills 
• ISTQB Advanced Test Automation Engineer (or equivalent). 

Admiral: Where You Can

We take pride in being a diverse and inclusive business. It's a place where you can Be You, and show up as you are. We’re committed to fostering a people-first culture where everyone is accepted, supported, and empowered to be brilliant. You can, Grow And Progress at a pace and direction that suits you, Make A Difference for our customers and each other, and Share in Our Future with all colleagues eligible for up to £3,600 of free shares each year after one year of service.

Everyone receives 33 days holiday (including bank holidays) when they join us, increasing the longer you stay with us, up to a maximum of 38 days (including bank holidays). You also have the option to buy or sell up to an additional five days of annual leave.

We’re proud of our people-first culture. In fact, we've been recognised as a Great Place to Work for Women, a Great Place to Work for Wellbeing, and an overall Great Place to Work for over 25 years! We’re fully committed to making sure your progression is not slowed or halted by barriers related to race, gender, age, sexuality or any of the protected characteristics.

Our fantastic benefits make sure our colleagues have a great work-life balance; You can view some of our other key benefits here.

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