QA jobs in Manchester, United Kingdom
Manchester is a tier a hub in United Kingdom. It has 10 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 £54k gross a year here, set from the national median with the A-tier pay index of 96.
Media, e-commerce, gaming and the largest tech scene outside London.
Index vs London = 100. 4% below London. Estimated from tier, not measured.
Open QA roles in Manchester
10 roles based in Manchester, newest first. Pay is shown upfront.
Senior QA Engineer
Embedded QA Specialist - Subtitle & Narrative (English)
QA Lead
Junior Security QA
Embedded QA Specialist - Subtitle & Narrative (English)
Software Developer In Test / Automation tester
What is hiring in Manchester
Share of the 10 listings in Manchester.
- QA Automation Engineer4 40%
- Manual QA Tester4 40%
- QA Lead / Manager1 10%
- Security / Penetration Tester1 10%
Pay in Manchester
Mid-level gross pay in GBP, from the United Kingdom median with a pay index of 96.
| Role | P10 | Median | P90 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manual QA Tester | £30k | £37k | £45k |
| QA Automation Engineer | £44k | £54k | £66k |
| SDET | £48k | £58k | £71k |
| QA Lead / Manager | £40k | £49k | £60k |
Country figures: United Kingdom salary snapshot · QA Automation Engineer pay in United Kingdom.
Working hours from Manchester
Manchester 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.
Manchester 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.
Manchester as a QA market
A Tier A city has steady QA listings and a deep talent pool. Media, e-commerce, gaming and the largest tech scene outside London.
Manchester has about 569,000 residents (city-proper estimate, GeoNames). It is the 4th 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 10% of the listings based in Manchester.
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 Manchester: jobs and pay
Open a role for local openings and the pay by level in Manchester.
Manual QA Tester
Mid-level median £37k
QA Automation Engineer
Mid-level median £54k
SDET
Mid-level median £58k
QA Lead / Manager
Mid-level median £49k
Mobile QA Engineer
Mid-level median £47k
Performance Test Engineer
Mid-level median £66k
Security / Penetration Tester
Mid-level median £81k
Game QA Tester
Mid-level median £29k
Accessibility Tester
Mid-level median £44k
Business / Test Analyst
Mid-level median £40k
Data / ETL QA Engineer
Mid-level median £45k
Localization QA Tester
Mid-level median £21k
AI / LLM Evaluation QA
Mid-level median £46k
Release / DevOps Engineer
Mid-level median £64k
Technical Writer (QA / Docs)
Mid-level median £40k
QA jobs in Manchester: FAQ
How much does a QA automation engineer earn in Manchester?
A mid-level QA Automation Engineer in Manchester earns about £54k gross a year, with a p10 to p90 band of £44k to £66k. Junior roles start near £41k and senior roles reach £69k. This applies a pay index of 96 (anchor city = 100) to the United Kingdom median.
How many QA jobs are open in Manchester?
Manchester has 10 open QA roles today, 1 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 Manchester have with US and European teams?
On a 09:00-17:00 day in Manchester (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. Manchester 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 Manchester compared with London?
Our approximate cost-of-living index for Manchester is 95 against London at 100, and the pay index is 96. 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 Manchester and how does it rank as a QA talent pool?
Manchester has about 569,000 residents (city-proper estimate, GeoNames). It is the 4th largest of the 20 United Kingdom cities we list. Population alone does not set pay: the pay index of 96 comes from the city tier, and the 10 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.