QA Lead

Daintta are a rapidly growing, values-driven team of specialists who work with government and private sector clients across Cyber Security, National Security, Law Enforcement and Telecommunications. The QA Lead is responsible for leading and delivering quality assurance activities across client engagements while contributing directly to hands-on testing and quality engineering activities where required. The role combines leadership, delivery oversight, and practical testing capability, operating across Agile and DevOps delivery environments in technically complex or high-assurance systems. The successful candidate will help improve delivery confidence, reduce quality risk, and support the growth of Daintta’s Quality Engineering capability through pragmatic leadership, modern quality engineering practices, and effective collaboration across teams and stakeholders. Key Responsibilities Lead and coordinate day-to-day QA activities across internal projects and client engagements Define and apply pragmatic, risk-based testing approaches Own and coordinate QA activities across assigned projects or workstreams, ensuring effective delivery aligned to client and strategic expectations. Support test planning, execution, governance, and reporting activities Contribute directly to hands-on testing and quality engineering activities where required, including functional, integration, API, exploratory, and operational testing. Assist with test and defect lifecycle management Support automation adoption and CI/CD testing practices Embed and mature quality engineering practices Validate complex integrations, workflows, and operational scenarios Mentor junior QA practitioners and contribute to capability growth Support internal capability initiatives, bids, proposals, and continuous improvement activities Engage with technical teams, delivery leads, clients and stakeholders to communicate quality risks and recommendations Support development of reusable QA approaches, templates, and tooling Contribute to test strategy, planning, estimation, and governance activities Apply Daintta QA frameworks, maturity models, and demand-based approaches Skills/Knowledge The role requires the following key skills / knowledge, non-exhaustively: Strong experience delivering QA across complex projects or programmes Hands-on testing experience across UI, API, integration, system, usability and exploratory testing Experience working within V-Model, Agile and DevOps environments Practical knowledge of automation frameworks, CI/CD testing approaches and modern test tooling Strong professional communication and stakeholder engagement skills Pragmatic, collaborative, adaptable and delivery-focused problem solver Able to balance leadership responsibilities with hands-on delivery Experience working in multi-team or multi-vendor delivery environments Strong understanding of risk-based testing approaches Comfortable working in ambiguity and fast-moving consultancy environments Experience in defense, public sector, or high-assurance environments Exposure to cloud platforms (AWS / Azure) Experience contributing to test strategy or QA governance Location? Hybrid, with 2-3 days working from Daintta office (London or Cheltenham) or on client site as required. Benefits We believe in supporting our people both professionally and personally. Here’s what you can expect when you join us: Time Off: 25 days annual leave, plus bank holidays Up to 5 days annual training leave with a dedicated training budget Up to 3 days annual volunteering leave - give back to the community Competitive maternity, paternity, shared parental leave & compassionate leave Health & Wellness: Comprehensive Private Health Insurance Employee Assistance Programme - 24/7 support services £2,000 Flex Cash Allowance, paid pro-rata over the year Financial Benefits: 5% pension contribution Discretionary company awards and bonuses, based on performance and company targets Access to Electric Vehicle (EV) Salary Sacrifice scheme Professional Development Up to £1,000 annual training budget (access to additional training and development budget via business case) Up to 5 days annual training leave 1 professional membership paid annually Up to £200 of additional IT budget for new joiners Perks Free breakfast every Tuesday in the London office Fortnightly drinks – in London Regular social events, quizzes, and guest workshops Huckletree perks – including gym and restaurant discounts Employee referral programme Monthly breakfast club in our Cheltenham office Security Information Due to the nature of this position, you must be willing and eligible to achieve a minimum of SC clearance. To qualify, you must be a British Citizen and have resided in the UK for the last 5 years. For more information about clearance eligibility, please see https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/united-kingdom-security-vetting