Head of Quality Assurance

We are looking for a Head of QA to lead and evolve our QA Practice across the entire SiXworks organisation.

With a team of 10 QAs currently working across a diverse range of projects, this role demands a dynamic leader who is not only strategic but also willing to get hands-on when needed.

You will be responsible for the leadership and expansion of the QA team, ownership of the QA Practice, all QA recruitment and resourcing, and ensuring the right QA capabilities are in place for upcoming projects.

This includes line management, mentoring, and supporting the professional growth of the team.

We’re seeking someone who thrives in a fast-paced, evolving environment and is passionate about driving quality and innovation.

You’ll need to influence stakeholders at all levels, champion best practices, and embed a culture of continuous improvement.

At SiXworks, we aim to disrupt how development is done within Defence, so we value candidates who bring fresh perspectives and proven practices from a variety of industries.

Our teams work on a variety of projects for multiple clients within the Defence industry, including production systems, proofs of concept, and prototypes. Our QA team includes Functional, Infrastructure, and Automation QA Engineers.

Responsibilities:

• Lead and evolve the QA Practice across the organisation.
• Be hands-on when necessary and able to dive into testing, tooling, or process improvement directly.
• Drive and influence change across teams and stakeholders to embed quality-first thinking.
• Recruit, manage, and develop a high-performing QA team.
• Collaborate with customers and internal teams to define QA needs for new and existing projects.
• Shape and expand QA and Agile working practices across the organisation.
• Work across multiple complex systems and applications.
• Define and apply functional, non-functional, infrastructure, and exploratory testing strategies.
• Provide education, training, mentoring, and support across the QA team and wider Engineering department.
• Champion automation and CI/CD integration where appropriate.

Requirements and Skills:

• A passion for QA and testing, with a strong belief in quality as a team responsibility.
• Proven leadership experience across multiple industries and organisational types.
• Comfortable being hands-on and leading by example.
• Strong influencing skills with the ability to drive change and challenge the status quo.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Deep expertise in Agile testing, with knowledge of other methodologies.
• Broad knowledge of testing types, tools, and techniques.
• Experience in line management, recruitment, and team development.
• Familiarity with test automation frameworks and test management tools.
• Analytical mindset with strong problem-solving skills.
• Organised, adaptable, and able to manage multiple priorities.
• Experience working in compliance-based or regulated industries.
• Willingness to undergo Security Clearance.

We have modern offices in Cody Technology Park and have well established remote working arrangements.

For potential employees we offer an attractive range of benefits, including:

• Exciting and interesting work
• Bonus scheme
• Casual dress
• Free hot and cold drinks in our own, modern kitchen/break-out
• Secure, on-site parking, cafe, restaurant and gym facilities
• Company events & social hours
• Professional Development Opportunities
• Perkbox Employee Benefits system
• Bike to Work scheme
• Competitive Salary & Benefits Package
• Contributory Pension Scheme
• Maternity / Paternity Pay
• Friendly & Supportive Team

Our SiXworks team is a fusion of brilliance, featuring senior operational, technical, and business leaders from various industries and the armed forces.

We're also powered by a league of extraordinary IT engineers, architects, developers, and project managers.

Together, we're an unstoppable force of innovation!

SiXworks’ expertise includes secure-by-design, cloud computing and services, advanced network, platform and infrastructure design, rapid application development, cross-security domain systems, multi-source data platforms, cyber vulnerability mitigation and intelligence systems.

SiXworks provides supplier-agnostic, technical and business consultancy to customers, and champions opensource and best of breed technologies.

To date we have worked exclusively in the Defence and Security Sector, providing IT innovation projects and programmes, analysis and output-based consultancy.

SiXworks is an IBM subsidiary which has been acquired by IBM and will be integrated into the IBM organisation. SiXworks will be the hiring entity. By proceeding with this application, you understand that SiXworks will share your personal information with other IBM subsidiaries involved in your recruitment process, wherever these are located. More Information on how IBM protects your personal information, including the safeguards in case of cross-border data transfer, are available here: https://www.ibm.com/privacy

To be eligible for the role, you must hold UK nationality (British Citizenship).

It would be advantageous if you have sole UK nationality, but if you hold dual nationality with one being British, you will still be considered.

Please could other nationalities held be disclosed.