Quality Engineering Lead / Test Lead

Number of positions: 1

Location: Remote – UK based

Contract: Inside IR35

Duration: 1 October 2026 – 31 March 2027

PAYE rate: £463 per day, inclusive of holiday pay

Umbrella equivalent: £537 per day

CPL is supporting a client with the appointment of an experienced Quality Engineering Lead / Test Lead to take ownership of testing across complex business and technology initiatives. The role will lead the testing approach from requirements and test planning through execution, defect management, production acceptance and hypercare.

Key Responsibilities

• Understand high-level initiatives and detailed requirements, translating these into appropriate test scenarios.
• Lead testing across SIT, Business UAT and technical data synchronisation.
• Coordinate testing of operational processes to ensure ongoing stability.
• Support Production Acceptance Testing and Hypercare.
• Develop and present a strategic testing approach covering technical and business use cases across multiple systems.
• Identify testing risks and obstacles, escalating issues and proposing practical solutions.
• Define clear test scenarios and scripts that can be executed by both business and technical teams.
• Plan, prioritise and manage testing activity across preparation and execution phases.
• Define appropriate user stories to support testing activity on a sprint-by-sprint basis.
• Run meetings with business and technical stakeholders to drive requirements and detailed testing activity.
• Lead test and defect-triage calls.
• Oversee junior test execution and provide direction where required.
• Track and communicate testing progress, scope and risks to relevant stakeholders.

Skills & Experience

• Strong experience operating as a Test Lead, Quality Engineering Lead or Senior Test Manager within complex enterprise environments.
• Proven experience across SIT, UAT, integration/data synchronisation and production acceptance testing.
• Ability to establish and manage an end-to-end testing strategy across multiple systems and stakeholder groups.
• Strong defect management and triage experience.
• Experience managing testing within Agile/Sprint-based delivery environments.
• Ability to work autonomously, identify testing scope and drive activity through to completion.
• Strong stakeholder management skills across both business and technical audiences.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, including the ability to explain complex testing concepts clearly to non-technical stakeholders.