Test Lead in Manchester

Job description

• Test Lead - **Active SC Clearance Required””
• £500/day – Inside IR35
• Hybrid Working - Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Blackpool
• 3–6 Months (with strong extension potential)

We’re seeking a hands-on Test Lead to join a major public sector programme driving large-scale, data-led transformation. This role combines technical leadership with active delivery—you’ll be leading test strategy, managing a small team, and directly contributing to the testing of complex ETL processes, data warehouses, and large-scale data systems.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Leading and managing a test team: overseeing day-to-day activities, allocating work, and ensuring quality delivery across multiple streams.
• Providing mentorship and coaching to junior and mid-level testers, raising capability, and embedding best practices.
• Hands-on testing of Big Data, ETL workflows, APIs, and UIs—personally executing test cases and validating data accuracy and transformations.
• Designing, building, and maintaining manual and automated test suites using tools like Playwright, Pytest, and Behave.
• Developing and managing comprehensive test plans, scripts, and reports, ensuring traceability back to requirements.
• Driving quality across Agile teams by reviewing user stories, defining test conditions, and ensuring both functional and non-functional coverage.
• Promoting a culture of continuous improvement and knowledge sharing, encouraging collaboration across delivery teams.

What You’ll Bring

• Proven experience managing and leading testers in Agile delivery environments, including workload management and coaching.
• Strong hands-on expertise in Big Data, Data Warehousing, and ETL testing—comfortable interrogating data and validating complex transformations.
• Solid Python skills, with experience applying frameworks like Pytest and Behave to build scalable automation.
• A balance of strategic leadership and practical delivery—able to plan, coordinate, and lead, while also directly executing tests when required.
• Demonstrated ability to foster a team culture of quality, accountability, and professional development.
• You will need active SC Clearance for this role - Unfortunately unable to accept any other applications for this role.

This is an ideal role for someone who enjoys leading from the front—balancing management responsibilities with direct technical contribution.

Extra information

Status

Open

Education Level

Secondary School

Location

Manchester

Type of Contract

Part-time jobs

Published at

02-09-2025

Full UK/EU driving license preferred

No

Car Preferred

No

Must be eligible to work in the EU

No

Cover Letter Required

No

Languages

English