QA jobs in Cardiff, United Kingdom
For QA work, Cardiff counts as a tier c market in United Kingdom. It has 4 open QA roles, and United Kingdom has 185 in total. The country's busiest listing hub is London with 61 roles. A mid-level QA Automation Engineer earns about £45k gross a year here, set from the national median with the C-tier pay index of 80.
Index vs London = 100. 20% below London. Estimated from tier, not measured.
Open QA roles in Cardiff
4 roles based in Cardiff, newest first. Pay is shown upfront.
Tester
SDET
Senior QA Automation Engineer
Junior WCAG Auditor
What is hiring in Cardiff
Share of the 4 listings in Cardiff.
- Manual QA Tester1 25%
- SDET1 25%
- QA Automation Engineer1 25%
- Accessibility Tester1 25%
Pay in Cardiff
Mid-level gross pay in GBP, from the United Kingdom median with a pay index of 80.
| Role | P10 | Median | P90 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manual QA Tester | £25k | £30k | £37k |
| QA Automation Engineer | £37k | £45k | £55k |
| SDET | £40k | £49k | £59k |
| QA Lead / Manager | £34k | £41k | £50k |
Country figures: United Kingdom salary snapshot · QA Automation Engineer pay in United Kingdom.
Working hours from Cardiff
Cardiff is on UTC+1 (BST). A 09:00-17:00 day here shares 8 h with London (09:00-17:00 local), 3 h with US East, 0 h with US West, 8 h with London and 7 h with Central Europe.
Cardiff changes its clocks: UTC+0 in winter and UTC+1 in summer. Today it is on UTC+1 (BST). Europe moves its clocks on 25 Oct 2026 and the US on 1 Nov 2026. For that week US East and London overlap 4 h on a 09:00-17:00 day, against 3 h today.
Cardiff as a QA market
A Tier C city is an emerging market. We list it so remote and nearby roles are easy to find.
Cardiff has about 372,000 residents (city-proper estimate, GeoNames). It is the 10th largest of the 20 United Kingdom cities we list.
Population: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). City-proper figures are not comparable across countries.
Employers in United Kingdom hire QA mostly in AI / ML, SaaS, E-commerce. Listings name Jira, Playwright, Selenium most often. 26 of 185 United Kingdom roles are remote, against 75% of the listings based in Cardiff.
A deep QA market centred on London, with strong hubs in Manchester, Edinburgh and Cambridge across fintech, gaming and public-sector software.
Hiring in United Kingdom
- Contracts
- Permanent employee, Fixed-term employee, Contractor (limited company or umbrella)
- Notice
- Statutory minimum notice starts at one week after a month of service and rises with tenure. Contracts for QA roles typically specify one to three months.
- Paid leave
- Statutory minimum is 5.6 weeks including bank holidays. Many employers add days.
- Working week
- 37.5 to 40 hours. The 48-hour weekly cap can be opted out of in writing.
Typical values only. Full hiring guide for United Kingdom. Flex work from United Kingdom is open: how Flex works.
QA roles in Cardiff: jobs and pay
Open a role for local openings and the pay by level in Cardiff.
Manual QA Tester
Mid-level median £34k
QA Automation Engineer
Mid-level median £51k
SDET
Mid-level median £55k
QA Lead / Manager
Mid-level median £46k
Mobile QA Engineer
Mid-level median £44k
Performance Test Engineer
Mid-level median £61k
Security / Penetration Tester
Mid-level median £76k
Game QA Tester
Mid-level median £28k
Accessibility Tester
Mid-level median £41k
Business / Test Analyst
Mid-level median £37k
Data / ETL QA Engineer
Mid-level median £42k
Localization QA Tester
Mid-level median £20k
AI / LLM Evaluation QA
Mid-level median £43k
Release / DevOps Engineer
Mid-level median £60k
Technical Writer (QA / Docs)
Mid-level median £38k
QA jobs in Cardiff: FAQ
How much does a QA automation engineer earn in Cardiff?
A mid-level QA Automation Engineer in Cardiff earns about £45k gross a year, with a p10 to p90 band of £37k to £55k. Junior roles start near £35k and senior roles reach £57k. This applies a pay index of 80 (anchor city = 100) to the United Kingdom median.
How many QA jobs are open in Cardiff?
Cardiff has 4 open QA roles today, 3 of them remote, and United Kingdom has 185 in total. Remote roles in the same time zone are open to candidates here.
How much time-zone overlap does Cardiff have with US and European teams?
On a 09:00-17:00 day in Cardiff (UTC+1 (BST)), the overlap is 3 h with US East, 0 h with US West, 8 h with London and 7 h with Central Europe. Cardiff changes its clocks: UTC+0 in winter and UTC+1 in summer. Today it is on UTC+1 (BST).
What does it cost to live in Cardiff compared with London?
Our approximate cost-of-living index for Cardiff is 78 against London at 100, and the pay index is 80. Both are tier-based estimates, not measured prices.
Which industries hire QA testers in United Kingdom?
In United Kingdom listings, the most common industries are AI / ML, SaaS, E-commerce. The tools named most often are Jira, Playwright, Selenium.
How big is Cardiff and how does it rank as a QA talent pool?
Cardiff has about 372,000 residents (city-proper estimate, GeoNames). It is the 10th largest of the 20 United Kingdom cities we list. Population alone does not set pay: the pay index of 80 comes from the city tier, and the 4 local listings show how much QA hiring is visible today. Remote roles in the same time zone widen the pool for candidates here.
What notice period and paid leave should I expect in United Kingdom?
Statutory minimum notice starts at one week after a month of service and rises with tenure. Contracts for QA roles typically specify one to three months. Statutory minimum is 5.6 weeks including bank holidays. Many employers add days. These are typical values, not legal advice.