QA Manager

Job Title: QA / QE Manager Automation & Quality Engineering LeadJob SummaryWere looking for an experienced and forward-thinking Quality Engineering (QE) Manager to lead the transformation of our existing QA function into a modern, automation-first QE team. This is a new strategic and hands on leadership role in our Engineering team, where youll drive the adoption of an SDET model, champion engineering practices across the quality lifecycle, and provide clear visibility into test coverage and release readiness for stakeholders across the business.We are evolving from a traditional QA setup to a Quality Engineering model and were looking for someone who can lead this journey through modernising tooling, redefining team culture and aligning our quality efforts with agile delivery and continuous deployment.This role will help shape not only how we test, but how the business experiences quality; bringing clarity, speed, and confidence to every release.The QA team is based out of our Timisoara, Romania office. This is a hybrid role and we are open to hiring a strong QA/QE Manager based in Belfast and willing to travel to the Timisoara office when beneficial.ResponsibilitiesLead the evolution of our QA team into a modern Quality Engineering function, strengthening automation, engineering discipline, and test strategy.Champion automation-first practices across UI, API, integration and regression layers, evolving our framework.Design and implement test strategies tightly integrated with CI/CD pipelines.Evaluate and adopt emerging technologies including AI-assisted and Playwright MCP-style tools to improve efficiency and coverage.Build visibility and confidence through meaningful metrics, coverage dashboards and release-readiness reports that clearly show whats been tested and why it matters.Partner with Developers, DevOps, and Product Owners to embed testing early in the SDLC (shift left) and integrate security and compliance testing into delivery pipelines.Mentor and develop QA engineers into SDET-style professionals with coding and automation skills.Optimise testing effort balancing manual, automated and AI-driven testing to reduce repetition and increase speed.Drive continuous improvement through retrospectives, data-led insights and practical process refinement.Advocate for quality across the organisation, ensuring QA/QE is seen as a proactive partner, not a gatekeeper.Required10+ years in a QA role within a web development environment5+ years leading QA teams, transforming teams through automation and modern QE practicesStrong technical knowledge and hands-on experience with (or similar modern JS-based testing frameworks)Proven experience designing and implementing test automation frameworks and strategies within CI/CD pipelinesConfident using test coverage tools, dashboards and reporting tools to improve visibility for stakeholdersSolid JavaScript knowledge and ideally some exposure to PHP or Laravel-based backends preferredStrong understanding of agile and lean methodologies (Scrum, Kanban)Proven ability to mentor, coach and grow QA engineers into SDETs and lead cultural changeExperience in exploratory, cross-browser and accessibility testingExcellent written and verbal communication skills in EnglishWilling to travel occasionally to our Belfast HQDesirableExperience implementing Playwright MCP, test orchestration, or similar AI-augmented frameworks.Familiarity with Jenkins, or AWS CodePipeline for test automation integration.Exposure to observability tools (e.g. Grafana, Kibana, Datadog) to link production data to test coverage insights.ISTQB or equivalent certificationExperience in fintech, e-commerce, or online comparison environmentsCompany Values - can identify with and commit to our company values:SMART: We are innovative and strategic, we find better ways to do thingsEFFICIENT:We maximise productivity and value for money, we minimise waste and duplicationOPEN:We are one team diverse, loyal and respectful, we welcome new ideas, challenge and changePASSIONATE:We are ambitious, positive and driven, we celebrate the success of our company and colleaguesACCOUNTABLE:We are responsible, trustworthy and dependable, we do what we say we willRemuneration: Seopa offers a competitive salary & comprehensive benefits package:Private medical insuranceLife assurancePension with annual reviewHealth cashback planHybrid working arrangementsAnnual travel card loanAdditional service-related holidays and option to buy moreCycle-to-work schemeFull access to online learning systemWide-ranging discount reward schemesAbout SeopaFounded in 2003 with branches in Belfast (Head Office) and Timisoara, we are an industry leader in creating and hosting insurance, finance and utility price comparison engines. In addition to providing our software and systems to other companies, we also operate our own insurance comparison brands - andUsed by millions of people each year, our systems enable insurance and utility providers to secure business within their target markets and empower consumers to easily identify providers who meet their financial product requirements at market-leading prices. Our Affinity Partnerships enable other companies to offer additional financial services on their websites and increase their revenues. Our products are used by over 400 financial partners in the insurance, finance and utilities industry.Our success is recognised by a series of awards including six consecutive Deloitte Technology Fast 50 awards, a Deloitte EMEA Technology Fast500 award, several prestigious Deloitte Best Managed Companies awards (2017, 2018 & 2019), three Gold Standard Best Managed Companies award status (2020, 2021 and 2022) and Platinum Standard Best Managed Companies award 2023, 2024 and 2025.SkillsQA Javascript Automation PHP Laravel CI/CD Agile