Test Automation Manager (Airline Domain & AI)
Likely
Sponsorship likelihood
This employer has issued visas recently
Not disclosed
Salary
Not disclosed by employer
£41,700
Going rate
Skilled Worker going rate
This role likely qualifies for a Skilled Worker visa
SOC 2136 (99% match) is an eligible occupation, with a going rate of £41,700, and Cognizant is a licensed sponsor. That is our reading of the rules. Whether they issue a Certificate of Sponsorship is still their call.
In 2025, Cognizant assigned 352 or more Certificates of Sponsorship for SOC 2136 jobs, according to the Home Office.
New graduate or PhD holder? Pick one of the lower rates.
What each route needs for this job
| Occupation code | New entrant 70% of going rate | STEM PhD 80% of going rate | Relevant PhD 90% of going rate | Standard rate 100% of going rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
2136 IT quality and testing professionals Most likely code | £33,400 | £33,400 | £37,500 | £41,700 |
We use the lowest threshold across the plausible codes. Likelihood is Possible at most when the pay clears only a lower rate, or only under a less likely code. How the Home Office picks the code
About the role
Test Strategy & Automation
- Design, build, and maintain scalable automation frameworks across API, UI, and mobile layers of airline applications.
- Own end-to-end Test Strategy, test planning, test design & execution, and defect triage across functional, regression, and integration cycles.
- Integrate automation suites into CI/CD pipelines for continuous testing and fast release feedback.
- Use AI Test Generation Tools to auto-generate, prioritize, and maintain test cases/scripts from requirements and production logs, reducing manual authoring effort.
- Apply AI Assurance practices to validate the accuracy, bias, and reliability of AI/GenAI-driven features (chat assistants, recommendation engines, dynamic pricing).
- Conduct GenAI Testing of model-backed features — prompt/response validation, hallucination checks, and output regression across releases.
- Perform AI Impediment Detection to proactively flag model drift, degraded performance, data quality issues, or automation flakiness that could block release readiness.
- Evaluate and tune AI-generated test artifacts against human-authored baselines to close coverage gaps.
- Build and configure lightweight AI agents/copilots to automate repetitive QA tasks — test data generation, log triage, defect classification, self-healing locators, and result summarization.
- Collaborate with tooling and AI/ML engineering teams to embed AI agents into the QA pipeline, enabling autonomous or semi-autonomous test execution and reporting.
- Continuously refine agent prompts and workflows based on QA outcomes to improve accuracy and reduce false positives/negatives.
- Apply airline industry knowledge (PSS, GDS, NDC, reservations, ticketing, check-in, baggage, loyalty, crew/ops) to design realistic, high-value test scenarios.
- Validate airline-specific business rules, fare/schedule logic, and regulatory compliance requirements through automated and AI-assisted checks.
- Accountable for overall Test Management, Managing Risks and Issues, Escalation management
- Present AI-QA metrics, coverage insights, and impediment reports to stakeholders; recommend improvements to advance the AI-First Testing roadmap.
- Strong SDET background with hands-on test automation (Selenium/Playwright, Appium, or API automation frameworks).
- Working knowledge of REST/API testing tools and methodologies.
- Proven, hands-on experience with AI Test Generation Tools for authoring/maintaining and executing test assets.
- Exposure to GenAI Testing, Experience in AI Assurance, building agentic solutions.
- Programming proficiency in Python and/or Java for automation scripting.
- Airline domain QA experience (PSS, NDC, reservations, baggage, loyalty, or crew/ops systems).
- Familiarity with CI/CD tools (Jenkins, GitLab CI, Azure DevOps) and Git.
This description is the source posting as it read when we added it. We are not affiliated with Cognizant, so check their own site for the current details.
Where this offer sits in the market
IT quality and testing professionals (SOC 2136) · UK · ONS ASHE 2025 · basic pay · ~21k in sample- Middle half £36,972–54,860
- Median £45,656
- Going rate £41,700
- Threshold £41,700
- New entrant £33,400–37,100
Similar sponsored roles
See all UK visa jobsAbout sponsorship for this role
Does this job guarantee visa sponsorship?
Not necessarily. Cognizant holds a sponsor licence, but sponsorship for a specific hire is always the employer's decision. In 2025, Cognizant assigned 352 or more Certificates of Sponsorship for SOC 2136 jobs, according to the Home Office. Be upfront in your application that you'll require it.
What salary is needed for this role to be eligible?
The offer must clear both the general threshold and the SOC 2136 going rate of £41,700. New-entrant and shortage discounts can lower it.