Shape the Future with the National Wealth Fund. At the National Wealth Fund, our mission is to swiftly and effectively mobilise trusted sector insights and investment expertise to unlock billions in private finance for projects across the United Kingdom.
Location: Hybrid working with a minimum of 3 days per week in the Leeds office. Salary: Up to £55,000.
Job Purpose
This is an exciting opportunity to help shape the recently formed Quality Assurance function at the National Wealth Fund. You will be joining a small team and will be instrumental in shaping automation across the application estate with a specific focus on our Dynamics 365 platform in this greenfield function. The Principal Automation Test Specialist will report into the QA Test Manager and will be solely responsible for building upon and maintaining our recently established Playwright automation framework, predominantly (though not restricted to) our Dynamics 365 application.
Core Responsibilities
- Design, develop, and maintain automated test suites using Playwright with C#.
- Build automation for Dynamics 365 and Power Apps experiences (model‑driven and/or canvas), including navigation, form behaviours, validations, role‑based UI differences, and critical user workflows.
- Translate user stories, acceptance criteria, and process maps into low‑code automated test scenarios and reusable components aligned to our D365 and other business processes.
- Build and maintain regression packs and smoke test suites to support frequent releases and platform updates.
- Assess automation candidates for sprint testing to reduce manual overhead within sprints.
- Integrate and execute automated tests within Azure DevOps pipelines, ensuring quality gates and reliable reporting.
- Manage test execution results, analyse failures, and improve script resilience (e.g., handling dynamic UI, waits, test data stability).
- Identify, log, and manage defects using Azure DevOps, including clear reproduction steps and evidence such as screenshots, videos, and traces.
- Collaborate with developers to triage failures, distinguish defects from test issues, validate fixes and prevent regression issues.
- Improve test stability by implementing robust locator strategies, resilient waits, and controlled retries, reducing flaky tests over time.
- Ensure automation adheres to maintainable standards (page‑object patterns, fixtures, shared utilities, naming conventions).
- Support test data setup and environment readiness across DEV/TEST/UAT, including secure handling of credentials and configuration.
- Produce clear QA artefacts: execution reports, coverage summaries, defect trend insights, and release readiness updates suitable for a blended audience.
- Contribute to continuous improvement of test practices, tooling choices, and automation strategy.
- Ensure compliance with quality assurance processes and governance standards.
- Provide mentorship or guidance to other team members where required.
- Work closely with key stakeholders to set standards and influence organisational decisions on test techniques, tooling, design and execution.
- Manage stakeholder expectations, focusing on complex problem solving and influencing senior team members across Data, Information Security and Technology Act autonomously.
- Participate in and contribute to Agile ceremonies, being a key player in 3Amigos and other ceremonies, leading and guiding on improvements in ways of working.
- Support the QA Test Manager in introducing and embedding improvements and helping shape and continuously improve the QA function.
Essential Knowledge and Experience
- Experience within the Financial Services industry.
- Expert level understanding of all test phases across the SDLC and the application of them.
- ISTQB tester accredited, with significant testing experience in both manual and automation testing.
- Excellent working knowledge of Agile and Scrum methodologies.
- Expert level experience in leading automation testing activities, able to build upon, maintain and run an automation framework alone.
- Proficient using Playwright as a test automation tool.
- Strong C# fundamentals relevant to automation; async/await patterns, LINQ for data‑driven testing, clean code principles and SOLID basics.
- Experience structuring automation frameworks in .NET; reusable helper libraries, extension methods, configuration management.
- Knowledge of test pyramid principles: when to automate UI vs API vs component/integration tests.
- Understanding of positive/negative testing, boundary analysis, equivalence partitioning, risk‑based testing and prioritisation for automation coverage.
- Experience in Behaviour‑Driven Development (BDD) and use of Gherkin syntax language.
- Experience with test frameworks and automation design patterns (e.g., Page Object Model).
- Understanding of API and integration testing, including REST/SOAP services.
- Strong knowledge of test automation principles: test design, reliability, maintainability, avoidance of flaky tests.
- Knowledge of SQL or data querying for backend validation and troubleshooting.
- Experience using testing tools such as Azure DevOps (Test Plans, Repos), Jira or ALM to capture testing artefacts, results and integrate automated tests into CI/CD pipelines.
- Awareness of industry best practices for automation, maintainability and scalability.
- Experience in both Agile and Waterfall deliveries, with demonstrable hands‑on experience of participating and contributing to Agile ceremonies and Waterfall project meetings.
- Knowledge of defect management practices and quality metrics (severity/priority, trends, and release risk reporting).
Desirable Knowledge
- Knowledge of MS Azure and 4th Generation Banking platforms.
- Knowledge and understanding of business processes associated with Corporate Banking.
- Knowledge or experience in Microsoft Power Platforms and testing Dynamics 365 modules (ideally Customer Engagement, Sales and Real‑time Marketing).
- Knowledge of utilising Agentic AI capabilities within the automation testing space.
Mandatory Skills
- Hands‑on experience building automation in Playwright with C# (including structured test projects and reusable components).
- Strong communication, stakeholder engagement and influencing skills, with the ability to communicate findings and influence both technical and non‑technical colleagues.
- Excellent problem‑solving skills and ability to articulate technical solutions in a business context.
- Excellent attention to detail.
- Ability to build and maintain strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders and third‑party suppliers, especially where testing occurs across multiple parties and vendors.
- Ability to confidently deal with challenging situations.
- Self‑motivated, well‑organised and comfortable with continuous improvement, working to agreed objectives, targets and timescales with minimal supervision and able to prioritise own work effectively.
- Proven ability to interpret requirements and produce high‑quality test scenarios aligned to business outcomes.
Benefits
A career with us offers a unique opportunity to make a lasting impact and work on cutting‑edge technologies that will drive the UK’s future. We value diversity in our people and inclusion is at the heart of what we do. We offer competitive benefits and unique learning opportunities from combining both private and public sector skills and experience. Please note that referencing and background checks are carried out for all roles here at the National Wealth Fund.
Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
The National Wealth Fund encourages a diverse workforce and welcomes applications from all suitably qualified people. Inclusion is at the heart of what the Fund does.
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