Principal SDET

Job Title: Lead Test Engineer/Principal SDET
Location: Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle, UK
Job Type: Full-time contract, 12 months

Summary:
We are seeking a highly skilled Lead Test Engineer/Principal SDET to join a major digital trans-formation programme. You will play a key role in defining and embedding a scalable, automation-first test strategy across multiple delivery teams, supporting the transition from monolithic sys-tems to modern microservices architecture.
This is a hands-on technical leadership role, where you will influence engineering practices, set standards, and actively contribute to automation frameworks and testing solutions.

Key Responsibilities:
Test Strategy & Leadership
Define and implement an end-to-end test strategy aligned to microservices architecture
Establish standards, patterns, and best practices across multiple teams
Assess current testing approaches and drive continuous improvement
Embed testing strategy across teams, creating scalable frameworks and exemplars

Hands-on Engineering
Design, build, and maintain automated test frameworks
Work across different test levels: unit, integration, contract, system, and E2E
Lead automation efforts in Java-based environments
Support teams with implementation, not just direction

Collaboration & Governance
Partner with engineering teams and stakeholders to ensure alignment
Provide technical leadership and coaching to testers and developers
Ensure testing practices are consistently applied across teams
Maintain visibility of quality and delivery outcomes

Essential Skills & Experience:
Technical Expertise
Strong experience designing and implementing test strategies for microservices environments
Hands-on automation experience using:
o Java, Selenium, Rest Assured
o API, contract, and integration testing
Experience working with monolith and microservices systems

Knowledge of:
o CI/CD pipelines
o Spring Boot-based applications
o Performance testing fundamentals
Modern Testing Practices

Strong understanding of:
o Contract testing, API testing, and asynchronous messaging (eg Kafka)
o Non-functional testing (performance, accessibility)
Experience with non-relational databases (eg MongoDB)
Automation-first mindset with ability to build reusable, maintainable frameworks

Leadership
Experience operating at Lead/Principal level
Ability to influence stakeholders without direct authority
Strong communication skills across technical and non-technical audiences

Tools & Technologies:
Cloud: AWS
Test Frameworks: Selenium, Serenity BDD, Playwright
Contract Testing: Pactflow, Spring Cloud Contract
Messaging: Kafka
Databases: MongoDB
CI/CD & DevOps: GitHub, GitLab, Jenkins, Docker
Performance Testing: Gatling, K6
Observability: Grafana, Prometheus, Splunk

Special Note:
A hands-on technical leader who can set direction and deliver
Someone comfortable working across multiple teams and scaling best practice
A proactive problem-solver with a strong quality-first mindset