Job Description

QA / Test Engineer – Data (Outside IR35 Contract)

Department: Data & Technology

Location: Manchester (Hybrid – 3 days per week onsite)

Reporting to: Engineering Delivery Lead

Contract Type: Outside IR35 - 6 months initial

Day rate: £(Apply online only) per day

Direct Reports: None

About the Business

Our client is a well-established international consumer brand operating across multiple global markets, serving millions of customers every year through a high-volume retail and digital ecosystem.

As part of a significant business-wide transformation, they are investing heavily in modernising their data estate to become a more customer-centric, digitally enabled organisation. This is a key opportunity to join during a major phase of growth and transformation.

About the Programme

This role sits within a large-scale data modernisation programme focused on replatforming and transforming enterprise-wide reporting and analytics capabilities.

Over the next 9–12 months, the business is migrating from legacy on-premise data warehouses to a modern cloud-based architecture built around Snowflake, dbt, Fivetran, and Azure. The programme spans multiple international markets and is business-critical, with strong visibility from senior leadership.

The environment is fast-paced, highly collaborative, and focused on delivering a scalable, reliable data platform.

The Role

The QA / Test Engineer will play a key role in ensuring the accuracy, reliability, and integrity of the new data platform.

This is a specialist data testing role rather than traditional application or UI testing. The focus is on validating data pipelines, transformations, reconciliations, and automated quality frameworks across a modern cloud stack.

Working closely with Data Engineers, Business Analysts, and stakeholders, you will design and implement robust testing frameworks covering dbt models, data reconciliation, regression testing, and CI/CD integrations.

The fixed-term route will focus heavily on parallel running and migration cutover activities.

Key Responsibilities

Design and execute testing strategies across the modern data platform, including unit, regression, reconciliation, and data quality testing.

Build and maintain dbt test frameworks (generic, singular, and custom tests).

Develop automated reconciliation suites comparing outputs between legacy warehouse environments and new cloud-based outputs at row, column, and aggregate levels.

Embed testing into CI/CD pipelines to prevent defects reaching production.

Define and own the wider data quality framework, including monitoring, alerting, and remediation processes.

Translate business requirements into testable and automated validation criteria.

Investigate and document data quality issues identified through monitoring or business users.

Maintain regression coverage for critical business reporting datasets.

Promote testing best practices across engineering teams, improving test coverage and code quality.

Support release sign-off and contribute to go/no-go deployment decisions.

Partner with business stakeholders during UAT cycles to ensure successful delivery.Skills & Experience Essential

3+ years’ experience in QA, Test Engineering, or Data Quality Engineering within data platform environments.

Strong SQL skills, including complex query writing for reconciliation and validation.

Experience building automated testing frameworks in modern data stacks (e.g. dbt, Great Expectations, Soda, Python-based frameworks).

Hands-on experience with at least one modern cloud data warehouse (Snowflake preferred).

Experience integrating tests into CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps, or similar).

Strong understanding of data validation, transformation testing, and reconciliation methodologies.

Comfortable working with Git-based workflows and pull request processes.

Strong written communication and defect documentation skills.

High attention to detail with a pragmatic, delivery-focused mindset.

Must have the right to work in the UK without sponsorship.Desirable

Experience supporting data migration or modernisation programmes.

Background in reconciling legacy warehouse platforms (MSSQL, Oracle, Teradata) with cloud-based platforms.

Python for test automation.

Experience testing downstream BI outputs (Power BI or similar).

ISTQB or equivalent certification.

Exposure to data observability tools (Monte Carlo, Bigeye, Elementary).

Experience in retail, hospitality, e-commerce, or other high-volume transactional environments.Why Apply?

Genuine opportunity to own and shape data quality within a major transformation programme.

Work with a modern data stack: Snowflake, dbt, Fivetran, Azure.

High-impact work supporting critical reporting for finance, operations, and commercial teams.

Opportunity to influence engineering best practices in a growing data function.

Competitive salary and benefits package.

Hybrid working model based in Manchester