Lead Performance Tester

We are seeking a Lead Performance Tester to provide end-to-end ownership of performance testing and performance assurance across complex digital services.

This role acts as the performance authority, accountable for defining strategy, leading delivery, mentoring the performance team, and providing formal recommendations on production readiness.

The role will be particularly important as we progress through the Gatling migration and into the next phase of performance engineering and capability development.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the performance testing strategy for assigned services or programmes.
  
• Lead the end-to-end delivery of performance testing activities, ensuring agreed timelines, quality standards, and outcomes are achieved.
  
• Lead volumetric analysis, performance risk assessment, and test scoping.
  
• Define entry/exit criteria, success measures, and acceptance recommendations.
  
• Provide performance engineering expertise, including architectural input and recommendations.
  
• Lead and coordinate load, stress, soak, scalability, and resilience testing activities.
  
• Lead, mentor, and support performance testers, helping to develop technical capability and promote best practices.
  
• Support the migration to Gatling, helping define adoption approaches, technical standards, reusable frameworks, and best practices.
  
• Drive the continued development of performance engineering capability, tooling, automation, and engineering practices.
  
• Oversee integration of performance testing into CI/CD pipelines.
  
• Analyse results and lead root-cause analysis of systemic performance issues.
  
• Produce and sign off Test Completion Reports and readiness assessments.
  
• Engage with senior stakeholders, architects, delivery teams, and governance forums.
  
• Support Operational Acceptance Testing (OAT) and live readiness.
  
• Drive continuous improvement, innovation, and best practices across performance testing.
  

Essential Skills & Experience

• Extensive experience leading performance testing for large-scale systems.
  
• Strong background in performance engineering, not just tool execution.
  
• Proven ability to make design and architectural recommendations.
  
• Demonstrable experience leading and mentoring performance testing teams.
  
• Experience delivering performance testing within complex and high-pressure environments.
  
• Experience with Gatling and/or experience migrating performance testing capability between tools/frameworks.
  
• Strong understanding of performance engineering principles, automation, and modern testing practices.
  
• Experience with cloud platforms, especially AWS.
  
• Deep understanding of:
  • Distributed systems
    
  • Microservice architecture
    
  • Scalability, resilience, and capacity planning
    
  • Performance analysis and engineering
    
• Confident stakeholder engagement at technical and leadership levels.
  
• Strong communication and leadership skills.
  
• Experience operating in governed or regulated environments.
  

Desirable

• Public-sector or government programme experience.
  
• Experience leading or supporting a Gatling migration or performance tooling transformation.
  
• Experience with APM, monitoring, observability, or AI-assisted analysis.
  
• Familiarity with GDS or enterprise assurance frameworks.
  
• Experience establishing performance testing standards, frameworks, and reusable approaches.
  

Scope & Accountability

• Accountable for end-to-end performance testing outcomes.
  
• Owns performance risk, strategy, and assurance for assigned services.
  
• Provides formal recommendations on test exit and production readiness.
  
• Leads, mentors, and develops performance testers across engagements.
  
• Acts as the senior escalation point for performance-related issues.
  
• Supports the team's transition and adoption of Gatling as part of the wider performance testing strategy.
  
• Helps shape and deliver the next phase of performance testing capability, including improvements to tooling, automation, processes, and technical practices.
  
• Represents performance capability in governance and assurance forums.
  

Our Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion

At Scrumconnect Consulting, we believe that diversity drives innovation. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone is respected, valued, and supported. We actively encourage applications from women, people with disabilities, individuals from underrepresented communities, and those seeking flexible working arrangements.

As a Disability Confident Level 1 employer, we provide reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process and employment to ensure equal opportunity for all.