Lead Test Automation Engineer - SC required in Bristol

Location: Remote (1 onsite meeting per month in London area)

Duration: 12 month contract

Rate: £82.50ph UMB (Inside IR35)

Active SC clearance required!

Role details:
We are looking for an SC cleared Test Automation Specialist to join our defence client on a contract basis. The role will focus on developing robust automated testing solutions across web applications, APIs and cloud-based environments.

• Design, build and maintain scalable automation frameworks for web UI and API testing using Playwright
• Translate user stories and acceptance criteria into clear Gherkin feature files in collaboration with Product Owners and Business Analysts
• Implement Cucumber step definitions, hooks and scenario outlines to support effective BDD testing
• Integrate automated test suites into CI/CD pipelines, including GitHub Actions, Jenkins or Azure DevOps
• Automate REST API testing using tools such as Postman, Newman or REST Assured, covering authentication, payload validation and negative scenarios
• Validate back-end data using SQL to confirm that UI and API results match the system of record
• Investigate and resolve flaky tests through root-cause analysis, while managing repeatable and isolated test data across environments
• Triage and track defects through to resolution, reporting quality metrics and release readiness to stakeholders

• Active SC clearance
• Significant hands-on experience building and maintaining end-to-end automation frameworks in Playwright using TypeScript or Java
• Strong knowledge of fixtures, Page Object Model design and parallel cross-browser execution
• Proven experience writing BDD scenarios in Gherkin and implementing Cucumber step definitions
• Experience managing test cases, test runs and results reporting in TestRail, including traceability to requirements
• Practical experience testing within AWS environments, including services such as EC2, S3, Lambda and CloudWatch
• Proficiency in at least one of TypeScript, JavaScript, Java, C# or Python
• Solid understanding of functional, regression, integration, smoke and end-to-end testing
• Experience with Git and Agile/Scrum delivery environments, alongside strong communication and collaboration skills

• Experience using Docker and Kubernetes for containerised test execution
• Knowledge of performance testing with JMeter
• Understanding of accessibility standards, including WCAG
• AWS certification
• Experience working in regulated sectors such as financial services or healthcare

If you are an experienced Test Automation Engineer with strong Playwright, Cucumber and AWS knowledge, this contract opportunity offers the chance to contribute to high-quality software delivery within the defence and security sector. Apply now to be considered.