Test Manager

SMBC: A trusted partner for the long term 

 

Here at SMBC Group, we want to help you find the next step in your career so read on to discover if this opportunity is the one for you. We like to recognise potential in our people, so we welcome your application even when your experience doesn’t perfectly align with the job description. Whilst we’ll always strive to be better, we’re proud of our inclusive culture, and encourage our applicants and colleagues to be their authentic, unique selves. 

 

 

Who we are

United by a sense of purpose towards our customers – to be a trusted partner for the long-term – and our universal banking platform in EMEA, SMBC Group has an international growth agenda and award-winning products, meaning we provide exciting opportunities to work on a diverse range of projects and initiatives. We deliver a full suite of corporate finance products and solutions to our customers as well as investment banking and advisory services, and a range of innovative solutions in global capital markets. Read on to find out how you could enhance your skills and gain valuable experience, by joining us to support our clients transition to a sustainable future.

Role Summary

The Head of Test Automation will provide strategic, technical and organisational leadership for the bank’s test automation and quality engineering capability across Sales and Trading technology business platforms.

The role will define and execute the test automation strategy, establish engineering standards and frameworks, and lead teams responsible for delivering scalable automated testing across trading, risk, pricing, P&L, market data, eTrading and other critical financial systems.

A key responsibility will be to establish industry practices such as Behaviour-Driven Development (BDD) with tools like Cucumber, to improve collaboration between Technology, Business and Product teams and ensure that automated tests are aligned with business requirements and critical trading workflows.

• Strong software engineering background, ideally with 15+ years in software development, quality engineering or test automation, with significant experience in financial services or other complex, highly regulated environments.
• Proven experience building and leading enterprise-scale test automation across UI, API, services, messaging and data layers.
• Strong hands-on understanding of Java and/or other modern programming languages, with the ability to review automation frameworks and provide technical direction.
• Extensive experience with BDD and Cucumber, including defining executable specifications and integrating BDD into the SDLC.
• Experience designing and implementing automation frameworks using tools such as Selenium/Playwright, REST/API testing frameworks, Cucumber and contract/service testing.

Strong understanding of CI/CD and DevOps, including Jenkins/GitHub Actions, Docker, Kubernetes / OpenShift and automated quality gates.

• Leading a team of 10+ quality assurance testers / test automation engineers, including automation engineers, manual testers and vendor resources.
• Key interface will be with other team members, development leads, and other development managers across multiple regions.
• Automation coverage: target 95%+ automation of repeatable regression testing, with higher coverage for critical business processes.
• CI/CD: Automation executed through enterprise pipelines using tools such as GitHub Actions, Docker / Kubernetes / OpenShift.

Frameworks: establish and maintain enterprise-standard automation frameworks, including Java, Selenium / Playwright, REST/API testing, and BDD/Cucumber.

Compensation

The anticipated salary range for this role is £108,000 - £162,000, with the final offer determined based on the candidate’s skills, experience, role scope, location, and relevant market factors. In addition to base salary, the role may be eligible for a discretionary incentive award and a competitive benefits package, including core benefits such as pension provision.

Position Description

Test Automation Strategy

• Define the test automation strategy, roadmap, operating model, and engineering standards across Sales & Trading Business Platforms.
• Drive the shift from manual regression to automated continuous testing across functional, API, integration, end-to-end, performance, and resilience testing.
• Embed automation throughout the SDLC, with measurable targets for coverage, quality, defect leakage, and efficiency.

BDD & Cucumber

• Lead adoption of BDD using Cucumber and Gherkin, establishing common standards and best practices.
• Ensure business-readable scenarios link requirements and acceptance criteria to automated tests and production behaviour.
• Establish reusable automation components and governance for feature files, scenarios, and test maintenance.
• Integrate BDD into CI/CD pipelines, quality gates, and reporting.

Technology & Engineering Leadership

• Lead reusable, scalable test automation frameworks, tooling, test data, and environment management.
• Promote collaboration across Product, Business Analysis, Trading, Development, and Quality Engineering.
• Drive engineering excellence through code reviews, standards, automation, and technical governance.
• Evaluate and introduce appropriate testing technologies and tools.

Leadership & People Management

• Lead and develop manual testing, automation, and BDD engineers.
• Build a high-performing Quality Engineering organisation with clear career and development frameworks.
• Recruit and retain strong engineering talent while promoting quality, automation, and continuous improvement.

Essential

• Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent.
• Investment banking / Markets Technology experience
• Significant Quality Engineering, test automation, or software engineering experience.
• Director/Senior Engineering Manager experience leading distributed technology teams.
• Extensive experience designing enterprise test automation frameworks.
• Strong Java, BDD, Cucumber and Gherkin expertise.
• Strong CI/CD, DevOps, Agile, SDLC, and engineering governance experience.
• Experience testing distributed systems, APIs, microservices, and mission-critical platforms.
• Strong ability to influence senior Business and Technology stakeholders.

Technical skills

• Automation : Cucumber, Gherkin, Selenium, Playwright, REST/API automation
• Programming : Python, Java, C#
• DevOps : Jenkins, GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps, Docker, Kubernetes, OpenShift
• Architecture : Kafka, WebSockets, microservices, event-driven systems
• Tooling : Jira, Xray/Zephyr, Git, automated reporting and quality dashboards

• Desirable

• Experience with eTrading, order management, market data, pricing, risk or P&L systems.
• Experience with high-volume, low-latency systems, with performance and resilience testing.
• Experience implementing enterprise-wide Quality Engineering transformation.

There will at times be the need to balance multiple projects so utilising their time efficiently will be key.

Competencies

Customer FocusDriving ChangeDriving ResultsEmbraces DiversityEnterprise LeadershipJudgement and Decision MakingRisk ManagementStrategic and VisionaryTrust and Integrity

What we offer

For all the expertise and experi