My client is a market-leading SaaS provider in the UK Care sector, currently undergoing a major evolution in how they build and deliver critical software. As they scale their platform to support the organisations and vulnerable individuals who depend on them, they are seeking a Quality Engineering Lead to bridge the gap between manual testing and a modern, automated future.This is a high-impact, hands-on leadership role. You won’t just be maintaining an existing framework; you will be the architect of a "shift-left" culture, defining the automation strategy from the ground up and mentoring a dedicated team through a significant technical transition.The OpportunityReporting to the Head of Software Engineering, you will be responsible for defining and implementing a test automation strategy suitable for a .NET and Azure-based stack. This role is essential to ensuring the platform can scale in line with ambitious product development goals.Key ResponsibilitiesStrategy & Ownership: Define the automation roadmap and select the appropriate tooling (Playwright, Selenium, Cypress, etc.) for a .NET, MVC, and React environment.Framework Building: Build and maintain robust, scalable automated test suites covering UI, API, and integration testing layers.Performance Engineering: Define and implement performance and load testing to ensure the platform meets defined benchmarks.Mentorship: Lead and upskill an existing team of offshore manual testers, coaching them into Quality Engineering roles.Shift-Left Advocacy: Collaborate with onshore and offshore development teams to ensure testability is considered from the earliest stages of feature development.What You’ll Need to SucceedProven Leadership: Extensive experience in a senior or lead automation role, with a track record of implementing strategies from scratch in a SaaS.Technical Excellence: Strong programming skills with the ability to write clean, maintainable test code.Tooling Expertise: Hands-on experience with automation frameworks and API testing (Postman, RestSharp, or equivalent).DevOps Integration: A solid understanding of CI/CD principles, specifically within Azure DevOps pipelines.Strategic Thinking: The ability to define and track quality metrics, providing clear reporting on test coverage and automation ROI.