Quality Assurance for Software & IT
Quality assurance within software and IT environments focuses on reliability, security and performance rather than physical product compliance. QAagency specialises in recruiting Quality Assurance professionals for software and IT-led organisations across the UK, supporting businesses where system stability, data integrity and user experience are critical.
Quality Assurance roles in software and IT typically sit within development, engineering or product teams. These roles are often office-based or hybrid and involve close collaboration with developers, product owners and technical leads. Responsibilities usually include test planning, defect management, release validation and ensuring systems meet functional, regulatory and security requirements, particularly where software supports regulated or safety-critical operations.
In most organisations, QA professionals report into a QA Manager, Engineering Manager or Head of Technology. The focus is on preventing defects before release, maintaining consistent testing standards and supporting continuous delivery pipelines, rather than post-release inspection.
Roles we recruit for within software and IT QA
We recruit across a range of quality-focused roles within software and IT environments, including QA Testers responsible for functional and regression testing, QA Analysts and Automation Testers supporting test strategy and tooling, Senior QA Engineers leading test frameworks and release processes and QA Managers overseeing quality standards across multiple products or teams.
These roles often operate within Agile or DevOps environments and may involve tools and frameworks such as Selenium, Cypress, Jira, Azure DevOps and CI/CD pipelines.
2026 salary insight: software and IT quality assurance roles
Based on QAagency 2026 salary benchmarking, average UK salaries for software and IT QA roles are:
QA Tester (0–2 years experience): £31,600
QA Engineer or Automation Tester (3–5 years experience): £41,900
Senior QA Engineer (5–10 years experience): £52,400
QA Manager or Head of QA: £67,200
Salary progression within software QA is influenced by automation capability, exposure to modern development environments and responsibility for release quality across multiple products. Automation and CI/CD experience typically commands a clear salary premium over manual-only testing roles.
Market and hiring trends in software and IT QA
Demand for software and IT QA professionals has remained strong through 2025 and into 2026, driven by continued digital transformation and increased reliance on stable, secure systems. Many organisations have shifted QA earlier in the development lifecycle, increasing demand for engineers who can work closely with development teams rather than operating as a separate testing function.
Year on year salary growth from 2025 to 2026 has typically ranged between 4.5% and 5.1%, with the strongest growth seen in automation and senior roles. Over the past five years, senior software QA salaries have increased by approximately 20%, reflecting the growing complexity of systems and delivery pipelines.
Employers are increasingly seeking QA professionals who can balance technical testing capability with communication and risk awareness. Experience in regulated or security-sensitive environments, such as fintech, health tech or defence-related software, continues to attract higher salaries.
Location and salary variation
London and the South East continue to offer the highest salaries for software and IT QA roles, particularly for automation engineers and QA managers within scale-up or enterprise environments. However, remote and hybrid working has significantly reduced regional salary variation, with many roles now offering near-London salaries across the UK.
Candidates with strong automation skills or experience supporting complex release environments tend to command consistent salary levels regardless of location, reflecting national rather than regional demand.