Principal QA Tester

We're looking for a Principal QA Tester to serve as a quality domain expert across Sage HCM Localisation in Barcelona. This is a senior individual contributor role for an experienced QA professional who operates across multiple teams rather than within a single squad - raising quality standards, shaping test strategy,
and providing deep expertise across complex payroll, HR, and compliance workflows.
You'll work without line management authority, so your impact comes from your expertise, your ability to coach and influence, and your track record of making quality measurably better. If you thrive in complex, data-heavy product environments and enjoy being the person others turn to on hard quality problems, this role is for you.

This is a hybrid role requiring 3 days per week in our Barcelona office.

First 90 Days

30 Days: Audit the current state of QA across Sage HCM Localisation: test coverage, regression suites, automation maturity, defect trends, and release practices. Build relationships with QA engineers, developers, product owners, and delivery stakeholders across the teams you'll support. Form a clear view of where quality risks are highest and where the biggest opportunities for improvement lie.

60 Days: Begin delivering tangible improvements: refining regression strategies, identifying automation gaps, supporting teams through complex test analysis on active delivery work, and coaching QA engineers on risk-based and exploratory testing approaches. Contribute to release readiness assessments and help teams articulate quality risk clearly to stakeholders.

90 Days: Own the QA strategy across your product areas. Quality metrics are visible and moving in the right direction. Coaches and engineers are applying better practices. You are the recognised quality authority for Sage HCM Localisation - consulted on architectural decisions, release confidence, and incident reviews - and your improvement roadmap has clear momentum.

Meet the Team
You'll work across the Sage HCM Localisation engineering organisation, which includes multiple cross-functional delivery teams covering payroll, HR, compliance, integrations, and reporting. The product has a large installed base and operates in a complex regulatory environment, which makes quality rigour genuinely important rather than a box-ticking exercise.

This is an influence-led role with no direct reports. You'll partner closely with QA engineers, developers, solution designers, and delivery leads, as well as engaging with Engineering, Product, and Support stakeholders on quality strategy and incident learnings. The team is distributed and has a strong engineering culture - you'll find colleagues who care deeply about doing things well.

How Success Will Be Measured

Measurable improvement in quality indicators: escaped defects, regression confidence, test coverage, and release stability

Adoption of improved testing practices, automation strategies, and quality gates across the teams you support

Quality of test strategies, risk assessments, and release readiness recommendations you provide

Impact of your coaching - QA engineers and developers visibly growing in quality capability

Positive feedback from engineering, product, and delivery stakeholders on your contribution to quality outcomes

Qualifications

7+ years of QA experience across manual and automated testing in complex software product environments

Deep expertise in test analysis, risk-based testing, exploratory testing, regression strategy, defect prevention, and release readiness assessment

Strong hands-on experience with automation frameworks such as Selenium, Playwright, Cypress, or comparable tooling

Good understanding of API testing, integration testing, data validation, SQL, and test data management

Experience defining test strategies across multiple teams, products, or streams rather than only within a single delivery squad

Ability to analyse quality trends and use data to drive measurable improvements in engineering and release outcomes

Strong stakeholder communication and influencing skills — able to drive quality decisions without relying on line management authority

Proven ability to mentor QA engineers and support developers in building quality into delivery from the start

Fluency in English

Nice to Have

Experience testing payroll, HR, HCM, ERP, finance, or other compliance-heavy products

Experience improving quality practices in distributed teams or during product modernisation programmes

Familiarity with observability tools, log analysis, production diagnostics, or quality metrics dashboards

Knowledge of performance, security, accessibility, or localisation testing

Russian, Ukrainian, or Polish language skills would be beneficial but are not essential

Want to know more about our Product?: https://hcm.sage.com/

At Sage, we offer you an environment where you can grow professionally without compromising your personal well-being. Our benefits package is designed to provide stability, flexibility, and balance:

Medical and dental insurance: Fully funded medical and dental insurance.

Flexible benefits: Exchange part of your salary and make tax savings on meal and transport vouchers, childcare, and training.

Well-being: Free access to the Calm app (for up to 5 users), 24/7 counselling, and emotional support from our Healthy Mind Coaches. We also offer self-care and parenting resources through the Cleo app.

Flexible working: flexibility of working one hour in, one hour out, shortened workdays on Fridays and during the summer, and the opportunity to work from over 40 countries for up to 10 weeks per year through our Work Away program.

Annual leave: 23 working days of vacation, 5 paid days per year for volunteering.

Extended leave: 7 extra days of maternity leave and 5 extra days of paternity leave, on top of the legal allowance, available after one year of service.

Financial support: Life and disability insurance, salary advances of up to 3.5 times your net monthly pay, a €300 net marriage bonus, and access to Sage's employee stock purchase plan at a discounted rate.

Learning and development: Free premium subscription to external learning platforms

Health and Safety Responsibilities

Fostering the safety culture, by leading with your own example.

Following established safety procedures and reporting potential hazards promptly helps maintain a secure and efficient workplace.

Participating in safety training sessions and adhering to preventive guidelines and procedures, the objective is minimizing risks and protecting yourself and the rest of your colleagues.

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