QA Automation Engineer Team Lead

Job Description

What We’re All About at Kroo

At Kroo Bank, we’re building a better bank from the ground up. One that puts customers first, treats money responsibly, and uses technology to make everyday banking simpler, fairer and more transparent. We’re a fully regulated UK bank, backed by long-term investors, with a growing customer base and big ambitions. We move fast, think carefully, and hold ourselves to high standards, whether that’s how we build products, manage risk, or look after our people.

How you will contribute and key responsibilities:

As a QA Automation Engineer Team Lead, you will play a crucial role in defining and implementing the automation strategy to ensure the reliability, efficiency, and integrity of our mobile banking applications across iOS and Android platforms. This role involves designing and building robust test automation frameworks, leading the team in automation creation and execution, and driving the adoption of best practices in Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD). You will work closely with our development team and third-party providers to ensure seamless integration and the highest quality user experience. Other responsibilities include:

• Lead Automation Strategy and Team: Act as the primary technical leader, defining and driving the overall QA Automation strategy, framework development, and testing methodologies for mobile and integration platforms. Coach and mentor team members in advanced automation engineering principles.

• Design and Build Automation Frameworks: Architect, develop, and maintain scalable, reliable, and efficient automated test frameworks (e.g., using Typescript, Python, Java, or Kotlin for mobile automation). Drive the team to achieve high test coverage through code.1

• Drive Continuous Automation and CI/CD Integration: Oversee the execution and maintenance of automated end-to-end test suites for mobile applications (iOS/Android) and backend services. Ensure automation runs efficiently as part of the CI/CD pipeline, and optimize test selection for faster feedback loops.1

• Manage Bugs and Automation Reporting: Oversee the logging, management, and triage of bugs, including analysis of failures generated by automated test runs. Provide clear reporting on automation metrics, testing progress, and quality risks.1

• Collaborate on Technical Quality Standards: Work closely with cross-functional engineering teams and architects to align automation practices, tooling, and coding standards, ensuring high quality is built into the development process from the start.1

• Advance Testing Capabilities: Beyond functional tests, champion and implement automated testing for performance, load, stress, and security aspects to ensure system resilience and compliance

• Lead Quality Assurance Efforts: Act as the primary point of contact for all QA-related matters within the team, driving our QA strategy and fostering a culture of quality and continuous improvement. Innovate in testing methodologies and tools to elevate our QA processes.

• Develop Test Cases and Scripts: When necessary, create detailed test cases and scripts for both manual and automated testing. Your goal is to ensure all functionalities and user scenarios are thoroughly covered.

• Execute End-to-End Test Plans: Take the lead in executing comprehensive end-to-end test plans for our mobile banking applications on both iOS and Android platforms. This includes conducting integration testing with third-party providers to ensure every app aspect meets our rigorous quality standards.

• Log and Manage Bugs: Efficiently log and manage any bugs or issues discovered during testing. Provide clear and concise descriptions to facilitate swift resolution by the development team, and meticulously prioritise and track each issue to resolution.

• Collaborate and Communicate: Maintain close collaboration with development teams, product managers, and external partners to ensure QA processes are seamlessly integrated with project timelines and objectives. Effectively communicate testing progress, challenges, and outcomes across all relevant teams and stakeholders.

• Champion Continuous Improvement: Constantly seek out opportunities to improve QA workflow efficiency and effectiveness. Stay updated with the latest trends and technologies in quality assurance and testing to adopt best practices and enhance our testing capabilities.

• Ability to leverage technologies: Drives technology adoption, guides the team in selecting and integrating technologies, and pioneers the introduction of cutting-edge tools.

• Ability to scope effectively: Leads scoping discussions for major initiatives, manages project roadmaps, and aligns scope with business goals.

• Ability to deliver against plans: Ensures project execution aligns with business priorities, proactively manages risks, and orchestrates cross-team collaborations to achieve objectives.

• Ability to make well-considered decisions: Drives decision-making processes for critical architectural choices, considers broader organisational impact, and coaches others in effective decision-making.

• Ability to utilise efficient processes: Designs and implements efficient workflows for the team, introduces automation, and aligns processes with industry standards.

• Ability to demonstrate broad technological knowledge: Displays deep expertise across a wide range of technologies, contributes to technology strategy discussions, and serves as a technical mentor.

About Our Process:

We can be flexible with the structure of our interview process if someone’s circumstances or timescales require it but our general structure is:

• 30-minute meet and greet with our talent acquisition specialist via google hangouts.
• 1-hour technical interview with the hiring manager via google hangouts.
• 30-minute culture champion interview via google hangouts.

Please let us know if you have any specific requirements or need assistance so we can be as accommodating as possible for you.

What we offer:

At our cutting-edge fintech company, we know that attracting and retaining the best talent means offering top-notch benefits that help our employees thrive both in and outside of work. Check out what we currently offer:

• Generous holiday time: 25 days annual leave, 8 bank holidays, 1 Kroo bank holiday (June 24th), and 1 day off during the week of your birthday.
• Personal days: We know that life can be unpredictable, so we offer 3 personal days to use as needed.
• Employer-sponsored volunteer program: We’re passionate about giving back to our community, and we support our employees in doing the same with up to 4 hours per month of employer-sponsored volunteer time.
• Mental health support: We care about the mental health of our team members and offer access to Spill, our mental health support partner.
• Workplace pension: We want you to feel secure about your future, so we offer a workplace pension with a 5% employee contribution and a 3% employer top-up.
• Top-notch equipment: We provide top-of-the-line equipment necessary for smooth hybrid work, including a MacBook laptop. Additionally, we also offer support in establishing your home office by contributing towards your setup if required.
• Modern office: When you’re in the office, you’ll enjoy access to our modern, bustling workspace in Farringdon, Central London, which includes a full gym.
• Cycle to Work scheme: We encourage sustainable transportation with our Cycle to Work scheme.
• Electric Car scheme: We’re committed to reducing our carbon footprint, and our Electric Car scheme makes it easy for our employees to do the same.
• Enhanced parental leave: We know that family comes first, and we offer an enhanced parental leave policy to support our employees in starting and growing their families.
• Room for growth: As a fast-paced, high-growth start-up, we’re dedicated to providing our employees with room to grow and excel.
• You get full healthcare for you and your nuclear family via Vitality.

Hybrid Working:

At Kroo Bank, this is a hybrid role with most of the work done remotely. You would usually only be expected to attend our London office once or twice a month. The role is Monday to Friday, and there is no requirement to be office based full time.

Diversity and Inclusion:

We wholeheartedly uphold our commitment to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace. Every employee is highly regarded, respected, and supported without any form of judgement or prejudice. We consider Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion as fundamental pillars guiding our path in all aspects of our bank. We also ensure that reasonable adjustments are made available to all candidates throughout the recruitment process.

To all Recruitment Agencies:

At Kroo Bank, agency resumes are strictly prohibited. Do not submit agency resumes or forward them to our job advertisements or Kroo Bank employees. Be aware that Kroo Bank will not assume any responsibility for fees incurred due to unsolicited resumes.

To ensure a fair and efficient application process, all candidates are kindly requested to submit their applications directly through the advertised platform. We kindly ask that you refrain from reaching out to the company or its employees via email, LinkedIn, or any other communication channels for inquiries or updates. Please note that any attempts to contact us through these channels will not receive a response. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.