Senior QA / Test Lead - Automation / Playwright - Birmingham / Solihull

Senior QA / Test Lead / Test Manager / Senior Test Analyst / Tester / Automation / Playwright / Integration / API / CI/CD / Azure / JavaScript / TypeScript / Automation Strategy / Test Plans / Based in Solihull / Birmingham / £50,000 - 70,000 + bonus + benefits.

One of our leading clients is looking to recruit a Senior QA / Test Lead - Automation.

You will be responsible for design, developing the test strategy and implementing the Automation framework for the organisation. This role is working for a fast-moving Tech / Software company so any experience in this or similar environment would be beneficial.

This is a hands-on leadership role where you'll set strategy and also write tests, build frameworks, and integrate testing into CI/CD pipelines. You will be responsible for:

• Define and own the QA strategy with a focus on automation-first testing across UI, integration and regression suites.
• Design, build and maintain automated test frameworks (Playwright) and integrate them into CI/CD pipelines.
• Lead hands-on testing, including writing automated tests, performing manual exploratory testing, and triaging defects.
• Collaborate with Product, Development and Support teams to create test plans, acceptance criteria and release gates.
• Implement automated UI and API/integration tests to ensure robust regression coverage for critical user journeys.

Experience:

• Strong hands-on experience with Playwright (preferred) or similar UI automation frameworks (Selenium, Cypress).
• Solid understanding of integration and API testing, regression strategy, and CI/CD integration (Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions).
• Practical coding experience writing automated tests in JavaScript/TypeScript or Microsoft-aligned languages (.NET/C#).
• Experience defining QA strategy, test plans, acceptance criteria, and using metrics to measure outcomes.
• Ability to lead a small team, mentor others, and take ownership for delivery quality.