Automation Test Engineer

Contract Automation Test Engineer (SDET)

• Location: Bristol, 1-2 days a month
• Role: Contract
• Rate: £350-£400 per day
• Length: 3 months
• Start: ASAP
• IR35: Outside (Small Company Exemption)

F5 are delighted to be partnering with an innovative and rapidly growing Agentic AI Cyber Security startup that is revolutionising the way organisations secure and manage their environments through AI technology.

Following a period of significant growth, the business is looking for an experienced Automation Test Engineer to join on a contract basis and build their automated testing and release validation capability from the ground up.

This is a truly greenfield opportunity where you'll take ownership of designing and implementing the frameworks, tooling and processes required to automate testing across a modern software platform.

Experience Required

• Proven experience building end-to-end automated testing frameworks from scratch.
• Experience building release engineering or testing capabilities within a scaling technology business.
• Strong background in software test automation, release validation and deployment testing.
• Hands-on experience with automation tools such as Selenium, Cucumber, Playwright or similar frameworks.
• Experience implementing automated testing within CI/CD pipelines.
• Strong understanding of software release lifecycles and deployment processes.
• Experience testing containerised applications and environments.
• Knowledge of Docker and container-based testing approaches.
• Experience designing automated validation processes for software upgrades, patching and rollback scenarios.
• Strong troubleshooting and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to work independently and drive delivery within a fast-paced startup environment.

Desirable Experience:

• Experience within Cyber Security, SaaS or software product organisations.
• Exposure to AI-driven applications and the challenges associated with testing non-deterministic systems.
• Linux administration and scripting experience.
• Windows infrastructure and deployment experience.
• Experience supporting customer-managed on-premise deployments.
• Knowledge of DevOps practices and Infrastructure as Code.

Why work for this company?

Greenfield opportunity with significant autonomy and ownership
Flexible working arrangements
Opportunity to create and shape the organisation's testing and release strategy
Work with cutting-edge Agentic AI and Cyber Security technologies

Candidates will ideally come to their Central Bristol office on a hybrid basis, aiming for twice a month, but this is negotiable.

If you're interested, please apply with your latest CV and we will be in touch!

RSG Plc is acting as an Employment Business in relation to this vacancy.