MERITUS are recruiting for a QA & Test Automation Engineer (SFIA 4) to join a leading Central Government defence organisation in Portsmouth, supporting the assurance, automation, and validation of complex, mission critical software systems.
QA & TEST AUTOMATION ENGINEER (SFIA 4) - PORTSMOUTH - PERMANENT - UP TO £80,000 - ACTIVE DV CLEARANCE REQUIRED - 3 DAYS ONSITE
This role sits within a highly regulated engineering environment where software quality is critical to operational confidence and system reliability. You will be responsible for designing and maintaining automated test frameworks, strengthening regression coverage, and ensuring that every release is supported by clear, repeatable and auditable validation evidence. The work is hands on and technical, requiring a strong understanding of both functional and non functional testing in complex software environments.
Key Responsibilities
Own and maintain automated regression test suites across key system components
Design and implement functional and non functional testing approaches including robustness and results verification
Support user acceptance testing readiness aligned to agreed operational use cases
Ensure defects are clearly reproducible, properly tracked, and verified through to closure
Strengthen release confidence through structured test reporting and clear documentation
Embed quality assurance practices across the software lifecycle including testing, verification and validation standards
Ensure outputs meet customer acceptance criteria in regulated and security constrained environments
Work closely with developers and engineers to identify issues early and improve overall system quality
Contribute to continuous improvement of test processes, tooling and automation coverage
About You
Experience in a QA or test automation role within complex software environments
Strong understanding of automated testing frameworks and regression testing approaches
Experience working with defect tracking, test reporting and structured QA processes
Ability to design both functional and non functional test cases with a focus on reliability and robustness
Comfortable working in secure or regulated environments, ideally defence or government
Strong analytical mindset with attention to detail and a methodical approach to problem solving
Active DV clearance is essential for this role
This is a strong opportunity for a test engineer who wants to operate in a high trust environment, take ownership of automation strategy, and directly influence the quality and reliability of critical national systems.
