Set the quality engineering standard for a major cloud-modernisation programme, while staying genuinely hands-on with automation and testing.

Own test strategy across complex .NET, API and AWS-based products within a large-scale enterprise technology environment.

Build modern automation capability, influence engineering teams and make quality an integral part of how software is designed and delivered.

Principal Test Engineer – Automation & Quality Engineering

Manchester | Hybrid – 2 days onsite | Up to £85,000 + Bonus & Benefits

The Opportunity

We’re partnering with a major global technology-led organisation undergoing a significant transformation across its Product Engineering function.

As part of continued investment in its software platforms, the business is looking for a Principal Test Engineer to take technical ownership of quality engineering across a complex, modernising product environment.

This is not a traditional Test Manager position. You’ll remain highly hands-on, working closely with Software Engineers, Product, Architecture and DevOps while setting the direction for automation, test strategy and engineering quality.

The wider engineering environment is cloud-native in its approach and focused on building scalable, secure and resilient software using modern development and DevOps practices.

What you’ll be doing

• Define and drive the test automation and quality engineering strategy across complex software products.
• Remain hands-on designing, developing and improving automation frameworks.
• Champion quality throughout the SDLC rather than relying on testing at the end of delivery.
• Own approaches across API, integration, functional and automated testing.
• Work closely with Software Engineers to improve testability and identify quality issues earlier.
• Establish engineering standards, patterns and best practices across testing.
• Help teams increase automation coverage and reduce reliance on repetitive manual testing.
• Embed automated testing effectively within CI/CD pipelines.
• Test complex integrations, APIs, microservices and distributed systems.
• Influence technical decisions around tooling, frameworks and overall test architecture.
• Mentor Test Engineers and raise quality engineering capability across multiple teams.
• Work closely with Product, Engineering and Architecture to understand risk and ensure appropriate test coverage.
• Continuously improve the reliability, performance and quality of production software.

The Environment

You’ll be operating within a modern Product Engineering environment incorporating areas such as:

C#/.NET | AWS | REST APIs | Microservices | Automation Frameworks | API & Integration Testing | CI/CD | GitHub Actions | Docker | SQL | Event-Driven Systems | Cloud-Native Engineering

The organisation already employs senior test engineering capability in Manchester, with the wider engineering model centred around automation, APIs and modern cloud delivery.

What we’re looking for

You’ll be an experienced Principal Test Engineer, Lead Test Engineer, Senior SDET or Quality Engineer with significant experience building and influencing modern test automation.

We’re particularly interested in:

• Extensive commercial test automation experience.
• Strong experience designing and evolving automation frameworks.
• Excellent API and integration testing knowledge.
• Experience testing modern web applications, services and distributed systems.
• Strong understanding of testing across the complete software development lifecycle.
• Experience embedding automated tests into CI/CD.
• Cloud experience, ideally AWS.
• Experience working within modern Agile/Product Engineering teams.
• Strong understanding of test strategy, risk and appropriate levels of test coverage.
• Ability to influence Software Engineers, technical leadership and wider engineering teams.
• Experience mentoring other Test/Quality Engineers.
• A genuine engineering mindset towards quality rather than simply executing test cases.

Experience working alongside C#/.NET engineering teams, containerised applications, microservices and event-driven architecture would be particularly valuable.

Why join?

This is an opportunity to have Principal-level influence without moving away from hands-on engineering.

You’ll help determine how quality is engineered across an important suite of products, with the freedom to challenge existing approaches, improve automation and establish practices that can influence teams beyond your immediate product area.

Rather than owning a test phase, you’ll help create an environment where quality becomes everyone’s responsibility.

Package

Salary: Up to £85,000 depending on experience

Location: Manchester

Hybrid: 2 days per week onsite

Position: Permanent, Principal Test Engineer

Package: Bonus + additional company benefits

This should appeal to someone who wants to remain technically hands-on while having genuine Principal-level influence over automation, quality strategy and engineering standards.