QA Engineer

What they do

• Design and write test cases (manual and automated)
• Execute tests and report defects with clear reproduction steps
• Automate tests using tools like Selenium, Cypress, or Playwright
• Work with developers to understand features and edge cases
• Participate in release processes and sign-off

Entry pathways

Ways to get into this role in the UK:

• Degree in Computer Science, IT, or related subject
• Software testing apprenticeship (Level 4)
• ISTQB Foundation certification
• Moving from support, development, or technical roles
• Bootcamp with QA/testing focus

A day in the life

The development team shipped new code overnight, so your morning starts with running the automated test suite and checking the results. Two tests failed—you investigate, reproduce the bugs, and log clear defect reports with step-by-step instructions for the developers. Mid-morning you write new test cases for a feature coming up in the next sprint, thinking through every way a user might interact with it, including the edge cases developers often miss. After lunch you sit with a developer to walk through a bug fix together, then re-run your tests to confirm it's resolved. The afternoon is spent updating the test plan and preparing for tomorrow's regression test.