Senior QA Engineer
We are seeking an experienced and collaborative Senior QA Engineer to drive quality practices within a delivery team. This role reports directly to the team’s Engineering Manager. You will work closely with Software Engineers, Product, and Designers to ensure tests are applied at the right level of the testing pyramid, focusing on effective coverage, risk mitigation, and exploratory testing to uncover issues that automated or scripted tests may miss. You will champion shift-left testing by ensuring testability is considered early in designs and features, embedding quality from the start and helping the team validate functionality before it reaches production. You will promote observability-led quality, using monitoring, metrics, and logging to measure system reliability, performance, and user experience in production. By leveraging these insights, you will help the team identify risks early, make informed decisions, and continuously improve delivery outcomes. You will exercise strong judgment in balancing risk, speed, and coverage, mentor QA colleagues, and drive initiatives that elevate quality, consistency, and effectiveness within the team. You will also actively identify opportunities for continuous improvement in processes, practices, and standards to ensure the team evolves and delivers higher-quality outcomes over time. Your expertise will ensure confident releases and a culture of quality-first engineering.
- Expertise in applying QA strategies and best practices within a delivery team to ensure high-quality outcomes.
- Expertise in applying tests at the right level of the testing pyramid, balancing unit, integration, and end-to-end testing for effective risk mitigation.
- Expertise in shift-left testing, embedding quality early in the development lifecycle and ensuring testability is considered in designs and features.
- Expertise in conducting exploratory testing to uncover defects and validate real-world usage scenarios.
- Experience in promoting observability-led quality, leveraging monitoring, metrics, logging, and alerts to measure system reliability, performance, and user experience.
- Experience of identifying, assessing, and communicating risks early to support informed decision-making and continuous improvement of delivery outcomes.
- Experience of driving continuous improvement by refining QA processes, practices, and standards within the team.
- Experience of mentoring and guiding QA colleagues and engineers, sharing best practices, and fostering a culture of quality-first engineering.
- Experience of collaborating with Product, UX, Tech Leads, and Engineering Managers to ensure QA practices are consistently applied and aligned with team goals.
- Experience of automation strategies, ensuring the right tests are automated for maximum coverage and value.
- Knowledge of tracking and reporting quality metrics, trends, defect patterns, and risk to support team and organizational decision-making.
- Knowledge of balancing risk, speed, and coverage to enable confident releases without compromising quality.
- Shift left testing (required)
- Testability (required)
- Shift right testing (required)
- Agile ways of working (required)
- Exploratory testing (required)
- SQL (required)
- API testing (required)
- Automation (preferred)
- Open API (preferred)
- A competitive rate of pay and pension contribution ( £40,000 -£50,000)
- Generous discretionary bonus schemes, incentives and competitions
- An annual leave entitlement that increases with length of service
- Access to an online GP 24/7, 365 days a year for you and your immediate family.
- Employee wellbeing support through our Employee Assistance Programme
- Enhanced Maternity & Paternity Pay
- Long Service Recognition
- Access to a pay day savings scheme, financial coach and up to 40% of your earned wage ahead of payday, through Wagestream.
Betfred is a betting and gaming company that has operated for over 50 years, founded by Fred and Peter Done. It runs more than 1,300 betting shops and employs around 9,500 people, combining a large retail estate with online sports betting and gaming. In 2019 it entered the US sports betting market as Betfred Sportsbook, now operating in several states, and has established a presence in South Africa, where it holds a majority stake in the online betting company LottoStar. Headquartered in Warrington, England, Betfred emphasises customer service and responsible gambling across its operations.