Principal QA - Apps

Reach plc believes diversity brings benefits for our customers, our business and our people. This is why we are committed to being an inclusive employer and encourage applications from all suitable applicants irrespective of background, circumstances, age, disability, gender identity, ethnicity, religion or belief and sexual orientation.

Reach’s customer value strategy places the customer experience at the heart of everything we do.

As a Principal QA Engineer, you will play a key role in embedding quality into every stage of the software development lifecycle. Acting as a technical expert and coach, you will champion a shift-left approach, promote best practices in automation and testing strategy, and work across teams to uplift quality standards without relying on traditional QA handoffs.

This role is central to building a culture where engineers own quality, tests are built into delivery pipelines, and risk is identified and mitigated early.

You will not own a specific squad, but will work across multiple teams to improve quality maturity and consistency. Your focus will be on coaching engineers, advising on test strategies, introducing quality tooling, and helping product and engineering teams make informed decisions about test coverage, automation, and release readiness

This role is specifically to strengthen the existing QA Principal team by bringing in someone with Mobile Apps experience. There are currently two teams that this role would support In Your Area (IYA) and Native Apps.

Structure and reporting relationship

• Reports to: Head of Delivery Excellence
• Works closely with: Engineers, Delivery Managers, SREs, and Product Managers
• Provides Quality Assurance mentorship to Engineers across the department

Job Dimensions

• Works across multiple squads to advise and support quality strategy
• Acts as the go-to subject matter expert on testing practices and tooling
• Supports the wider engineering function by identifying risks, gaps, and improvement opportunities
• Helps define, evolve, and champion quality standards, frameworks, and metrics

Key responsibilities and accountabilities

• Coach engineers on best-in-class testing practices and frameworks
• Promote a shift-left mindset — ensuring quality is considered from the earliest stages of delivery
• Lead test strategy discussions and support implementation of automation across all layers of testing (unit, integration, E2E, performance, accessibility, etc.)
• Introduce and maintain effective quality tooling and frameworks
• Identify risks and bottlenecks in the delivery pipeline and propose pragmatic, scalable solutions
• Define and track quality metrics to improve confidence, visibility, and release readiness
• Advocate for quality in architectural and delivery discussions, representing the voice of risk and customer impact
• Contribute to the evolution of the Software Development Lifecycle, ensuring testing is fully integrated into CI/CD pipelines
• Stay up to date with testing trends, tools, and techniques, introducing innovations where relevant

Skills

• Deep expertise in modern testing approaches including automation, CI/CD pipelines, exploratory testing, and risk-based testing
• Strong technical proficiency in at least one programming language used in testing
• In-depth understanding of software engineering practices and how quality fits into agile product development
• Excellent communication skills — able to influence engineers, product managers, and stakeholders
• Able to work autonomously, identifying opportunities for impact across teams
• Highly analytical, with a problem-solving mindset and strong attention to detail

Qualifications

• Experience leading or influencing test strategy in complex, high-scale software environments
• Proven track record in test automation frameworks and shift-left quality initiatives
• Strong experience in CI/CD environments with cloud-based infrastructure
• Experience mentoring or coaching engineering professionals