Lead Automation Test Architect

Role Title: Lead Automation Test Architect
Location: Sheffield Hybrid Remote/Sheffield ; 3 days in office
Duration: 11-Dec-26
Rate £600

Role Description:

At the clients?we're?redefining Identity and Access Management (IAM) on a global scale?and launching a transformational programme?to?bridge?modern IAM technology?and solutions?with big bank scale and complexity. The IAM Transformation program is?forecast?to be 5 years plus with?significant change?to be designed, planned and implemented globally.?The?transformation encompasses all?aspects?of IAM from Authentication through to elevated access and will cover human and non-human identities.??
Key Responsibilities

Create an overall testing strategy where the focus is Automation First with minimal manual effort required.
Plan, develop, execute, maintain and improve Automated Test Framework and Automated Test Scripts for Web and Graph Database applications
Jenkins pipeline creation and management for running automated tests, generating reports and notifying team about test results to streamline the CI/CD process.
Lead, mentor, and manage other engineers within the team
Able to develop and execute test plans, test cases, test data, test scenarios, and other testing related plans and documentation based on the requirements and technical specifications
Test data generation
Accurately report and track testing related defects and issues, by writing or automating, effective and thorough bug reports, attend triage meetings and verify bug fixes
Identify process and application issues and provide suggestions to improve
Learn new technologies and adapt to them as needed
Communicate progress regularly to senior stakeholders and programme leads, understanding the level of information relevant to the recipient
Generate regulatory evidence as needed
FR / NFR traceability
Identification and collating test entry and exit criteria
Test case review/QA for coverage and traceability to requirements/design
Liaison with business areas/technical leads re SIT/OAT/UAT scenario definitions as required
Analysis of design and other documents for testability
Testing functions and decision points ""As Code"", such as Policy as code
Strong technical leadership and process improvement - Establish automation testing standards, best practices, and governance frameworks across the organizationSkills required:

Extensive experience within Identity and Access Management
Solid experience of at least 5 years in a lead automation role, skilled in creating frameworks with strong coding experience e.g Java, Playwright, Python, Typescript, Cypher, Scala and API tooling (such as Insomnia, Apidog or Postman)
Deep IAM domain knowledge
Testing functions and decision points ""As Code"", such as Policy as code
Graph and event-driven validation
Automation-first test experience
Layered test architecture
Risk-based test prioritisation
RBAC / ABAC / ReBAC / PBAC
OPA / Rego policy testing
Policy explainability validation
REST API automation, API Gateway testing, Batch ETL testing
Consumer-driven contract testing
Idempotency testing
Replay and reprocessing testing
Graph data validation (Neo4j)
Containerised test execution
Excellent verbal and written communications skills and stakeholder engagement at all levels
Experience of using a range of automation tools and experience of test tool selection/recommendations based on assessment of the environment/landscape.
Experience in creating an overall test strategy that fully defines the approach, environment, scope, risks and resources required.
Experience of delivering within an Agile methodology.
Cloud testing approaches and methodology, especially GCP, but also AWS, Azure, Entra, Ali Cloud and other systems such as ServiceNow, AD, ADLDS
Some knowledge of JMeter, Gatling, LoadRunner, NeoLoad or similar tools for load, stress, and volume testing including any licensing requirements, configuration, dashboards and reporting
Experience of testing graph database management systems (GDBMS) Graph platform engineering, Neo4j Basics
GDBMS Performance Analysis
Extensive experience using JIRA and Xephyr tooling
Good experience of executing defined test plans including coordination, tracking and reporting
Positive team player working as part of the overall test team,
Any exposure to SailPoint IdentityIQ, Identity warehousing, and working with protocols and formats for data ingestion such as SCIM, REST API, LDAP, OIDC and CSV
Team Leadership & Management - Proven ability to lead, mentor, and manage other engineers within the team
DevOps & CI/CD Integration - Experience of GitOps Repos. Ability to integrate automation tests into GitLab CI/CD pipelines and implement shift-left testing practices
Pub Sub and MQ