IT Contractors UK Profile
Nikita Pathak
Test Automation Lead
Verified email
Founding Contractor · 2026
Contractor snapshot
Primary specialism
QA & Testing
Location / working location
Southampton
Current availability
Available within 1 month
Confirmed 18 Aug 2026
Profile status
Active contractor profile
Professional profile
ISTQB-certified Test Automation Lead with 16+ years' experience combining hands-on framework development with end-to-end automation ownership. I personally build and code automation frameworks (Playwright, Selenium, PySpark, Great Expectations), while also leading test strategy, tool evaluation, CI/CD integration and team mentoring. I'm best suited to roles where I can stay technical - managing the framework architecture while also owning delivery outcomes and guiding teams through complex migration and data quality challenges.
Core skills
UI Automation
API Automation
Data Automation
What I’m looking for next
Target roles: Automation Lead · Automation Engineer · SDET · Quality Assurance Lead
I am looking for a mid-to-senior level role where I can stay hands-on with test automation - building and coding frameworks (Playwright, Selenium, Databricks, PySpark) - while also owning automation strategy end-to-end, from tool evaluation through to CI/CD integration and stakeholder reporting.
Contract preferences
Working preferenceRemote · Hybrid · On-site
IR35 preferenceOutside IR35 · Inside IR35
Expected rate
£500–£750/day
SeniorityLead
Contract lengthAny contract length
IT experience16 years
Available from14 Sep 2026
Relevant work experience
Automation Lead at Planit (Specsavers account, Oct 2021–Current), owning end-to-end automation strategy across UI and data testing. Led the Sycle Classic to Auditdata Manage 8 migration, running a Playwright proof-of-concept and migrating the automation suite from Serenity BDD to Playwright. Built a data quality validation framework in Databricks using Great Expectations and PySpark, implementing automated reconciliation checks (record counts, field mappings, business rules) across raw/trusted/staging data layers. Extended the framework with SparksJDBC for database connectivity to verify data consistency during migration. Automated post go-live cutover verification using Selenium Grid 4.0 in distributed mode across 900+ stores. Led a team of 4 onsite automation engineers, mentored offshore QA resources, and delivered stakeholder reporting on quality and automation coverage. Currently leading data governance for the Manage 8 to Manage 11 upgrade. Previously, as Test Automation Analyst on Specsavers E-commerce/Digital (2017–2021), built the original UI and API automation framework using Selenium WebDriver and Rest Assured, implemented CI via Jenkins, and integrated SeeTest for cross-browser and mobile testing. Earlier roles at Mastek (NHS, Morrisons, Hitachi Healthcare) and Angel Broking covered mobile automation (Appium), performance testing (JMeter), ETL/data warehouse testing, and database testing across banking, healthcare, retail and finance sectors.
Experience & credentials
Certifications, sector experience and security clearance are self-declared unless specifically marked as independently verified by IT Contractors UK.
Sector experience
Banking · Healthcare · Retail · Finance · E-Commerce
Certifications
ISTQB-CTFL
Professional links
Contact details are controlled by the contractor and are not displayed automatically. Profile information is self-declared unless explicitly marked as verified.