Test & Quality Assurance Manager

The Role:

Are you ready to shape the future of quality assurance in a fast-growing, innovative business? We are looking for a highly skilled and technically astute Test and Quality Assurance Manager to lead the way in modern, automation-first testing strategies across our technology platforms.

In this pivotal role, you will drive the development of a robust test automation roadmap, mentor and guide a talented QA team, and champion continuous improvement to deliver quality at speed. Your expertise will ensure scalable, efficient, and future-ready testing practices that support rapid deployment cycles, digital innovation, and platform resilience.

Your leadership will be instrumental in building a best-in-class QA function—one that enhances product reliability, strengthens customer satisfaction, and keeps us at the forefront of technological excellence.

Here at Agria Pet Insurance, we work to a hybrid model and all attend the Aylesbury office once a week, every Wednesday.

What you’ll be doing:

·        Define and deliver a strategic, automation-led test approach that supports both legacy and cloud-native platforms, aligned with business objectives and agile delivery methods.

·        Design and manage comprehensive test campaigns – covering scope, resource estimation, risk mitigation, and progress tracking using tools like burn down charts and dashboards.

·        Lead the selection, implementation, and optimisation of automated test tools and frameworks (e.g., Selenium, Cypress, Playwright) to improve coverage, reduce cycle times, and support CI/CD pipelines.

·        Champion the shift-left testing mindset, embedding quality early in the software development lifecycle through close collaboration with developers, analysts, and process owners.

·        Build and maintain strong test environments, automation suites, and test data strategies, in collaboration with DevOps and IT teams.

·        Ensure effective and consistent QA delivery across Unit, Integration, System, Regression, Performance, and UAT phases.

·        Provide hands-on leadership to a growing QA team, fostering high standards of execution, accountability, and technical excellence.

·        Act as a trusted QA advisor across project and product teams, supporting test planning, requirement definition, risk analysis, and defect triage.

·        Monitor and report on test metrics, automation coverage, quality KPIs, and potential risks to senior stakeholders.

·        Drive a culture of innovation by continuously reviewing and improving QA practices, and upskilling the team in test automation and advanced QA tools.

·        Lead the defect lifecycle process—from identification and logging to resolution and retesting.

·        Ensure testing practices comply with internal policies, regulatory requirements, and best-in-class industry standards.

·        Champion technical excellence, ensuring the QA function is capable of supporting scaling business demands, including AI initiatives and emerging digital platforms.

·        Lead and own administrative tasks, including generating and maintaining test reports, tracking progress, and ensuring accurate documentation for quality assurance activities. Additionally, take full ownership of preparing month-end reports to track and communicate testing outcomes.

What we’re looking for:

·        Extensive experience managing end-to-end testing cycles, with a strong track record in automation-led testing strategies.

·        Deep technical expertise with tools such as Selenium, Cypress, TestRail, JIRA, and integration with CI/CD pipelines (e.g., Jenkins, Azure DevOps).

·        Strong understanding of modern testing methodologies (e.g., TDD, BDD, exploratory testing) and quality engineering principles.

·        Demonstrable experience in leading automation frameworks development and scaling across multiple products and teams.

·        Experience in Agile and DevOps environments, ideally within a regulated or financial services setting.

·        Excellent analytical and diagnostic skills with a structured, data-driven approach to QA problem-solving.

·        Skilled communicator and collaborator, with a proven ability to influence cross-functional stakeholders and translate technical insights into business outcomes.

·        High levels of adaptability, prioritisation, and strategic thinking to manage complex, multi-stream projects.

·        Knowledge of the pet insurance industry or wider financial services is a bonus.

What we offer:

• 25 days annual leave which increases with service, plus bank holidays
• Opportunity to buy/sell up to 5 days annual leave per calendar year
• Pension and Life Assurance scheme
• Access to 25% off insuring your pet with Agria. Friends and family are also entitled to a discount too
• We aim to support the health and wellbeing of all our colleagues so you’ll have access to a Health Cash Plan, mental health support and health and wellbeing platforms, including Headspace