Senior Software Development Engineer in Test   Job Purpose Our Life Insurance Client is seeking a talented Senior Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET) who is passionate about Software Quality, has an Agile Tester mindset and a track record for building effective automation frameworks. Our SDETs have an in-depth knowledge of Testing Best Practices as well as a strong programming background with the ability to design and execute optimal test strategies that leverage our automation capabilities to maximum effect.  As a Senior SDET, this role will involve mentoring and supporting the more junior SDETS within the team and working closely with the Quality Practice Lead to ensure the optimal test tooling and approaches are being leveraged across the delivery teams. Key Accountabilities Define the test strategy for new functionality focusing on achieving the optimal test approach for all functional and non-functional scope Responsible for all areas of test automation, including building maintaining and documenting adopted Test Automation Frameworks Develop, automate and maintain highly effective test cases leveraging automation to optimise test cycle times and the lead time for delivery of new functionality Ensure comprehensive and transparent test coverage for new and existing product features Implement best of breed, scalable solutions according to defined patterns and practices  Responsible for application integration testing with all required systems, databases and services Works closely with the Software Engineers to understand the codebase and the unit test coverage and to ensure the testability for a given feature Responsible for working with the Product Owner to understand business requirements and carry out quality assurance checks on the developed solutions Work as part of a Scrum team using Agile practices and adhering to the values and principles Promote testing best practices within the Delivery team Researching test tools, methodologies, and trends and working on continuous process improvement initiatives within the Life insurance client Quality Practice Mentor the more junior SDETs within the team and ensure they are following testing and coding best practices Recommend, augment, and implement the usage of proven automation tools, technologies and techniques that can be leveraged across the Delivery teams in collaboration with the Quality Practice Lead Define and leverage stubbing/mocking approaches where feasible to ensure robust automation suites are in place that provide quick feedback Automation peer code reviews Key Strengths   Excellent database testing experience in the areas of functional, load, capacity and performance Analytical and can analyse unit test coverage reports and collaborate with the Software Engineers to ensure any unit test coverage gaps are identified and addressed  Proven ability to create robust and stable automated integration/functional/regression tests with transparent reporting on the automated coverage Strong programming background with Java (8 + preferable) with experience building automation frameworks for both API and UI tier validation Demonstrate experience working in a test-driven environment with continuous integration pipelines managing the orchestration of feature and regression test packaging & execution Demonstrate hands on experience of testing code quality & metric production & the implementation of quality gates Previous experience mentoring and providing guidance and support to the junior members of the team Agile tester mindset and approach that has experience defining test approaches that maximise the Return in Investment from automation and enable Continuous Delivery  Strong communication skills and the ability to influence the Delivery Team on Software Quality best practices and ensuring testable high-quality software Proven ability to assess inefficiencies in testing strategies and the successful execution of improvement initiatives  Technologies & Frameworks   Hands on experience of database script management using Redgate, Datical, MS SQL Server or other Relational Database Networking & Communication Protocols – DNS, TCPIP, UDP, HTTP HTTPS, SSL, FTP, SCP, SOAP & REST Languages – Java, MS SQL, Powershell & Bash Testing Frameworks/Tooling – BDD, Cucumber, TestNG, JUnit, NUnit, JQuery, Selenium, Serenity & Mockito OAuth, SAML, SMTP, MAPI  Version Control Systems – Azure Devops Git Build Automation Tools – Jenkins  Build & Dependency Management Tooling – Gradle, Ant & MSBuild   Essential Skills Experience of writing a test framework or at a minimum maintaining one. Experiencing owning and defining the test strategy for new features and breaking it down into the corresponding test types and building and executing an effective automation strategy for these Experience of using an automated maven build, to trigger tests Excellent knowledge of the maven lifecycle Good Java development Skills and experience of writing unit, integration and BDD Tests Experience of writing BDD Test suites with Gherkin, Cucumber and Junit Experience of best of breed practices in relation to test delivery Has worked in highly automated CI/CD environments Excellent java and git skills Has written automated tests using one of the following Frameworks/Libraries: Serenity, Selenium, Cucumber, Rest Assured  Strong written and verbal communication skills  Desired Skills Previous experience working in Financial Services Written and/or oral German language Has experience of using Jenkins, for build and release management Good knowledge of best of breed practices in relation to build management and release management Personal Strengths The candidate needs to be a self- starter and implement best of breed testing solutions within the boundaries of the integration patterns, architectural principles and guidelines provided. They must be a team player and provide guidance, training and assistance to other members of the team Passionate about Quality with a continuous drive for improvements   Necessary Qualifications / Skills   Minimum 5 years’ experience in a similar role 3rd level qualification (honours degree), preferably in a related discipline Behavioural Competencies   Communication and Influencing Leadership Problem Solving and Decision Making Planning and Organising Team Working and Cross Functional Collaboration