diff --git a/.github/workflows/startproject.yml b/.github/workflows/startproject.yml
index 72b5e60..2eadaed 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/startproject.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/startproject.yml
@@ -50,25 +50,8 @@ jobs:
             libffi-dev \
             libpq-dev
 
-          # Playwright System Dependencies
-          sudo apt-get install -y \
-            libnss3\
-            libnspr4\
-            libatk1.0-0\
-            libatk-bridge2.0-0\
-            libcups2\
-            libdrm2\
-            libxkbcommon0\
-            libatspi2.0-0\
-            libxcomposite1\
-            libxdamage1\
-            libxfixes3\
-            libxrandr2\
-            libgbm1\
-            libasound2
-
           # Base Python tooling
-          pip install poetry django
+          pip install invoke poetry django
 
       - name: Create test project
         run: |
@@ -80,8 +63,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Install test project
         run: |
           cd test_project
-          poetry install
-          poetry run playwright install
+          poetry run invoke install
 
       - name: Check test project is valid
         run: |
diff --git a/template/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/template/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 560004f..9808760 100644
--- a/template/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/template/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ jobs:
     - name: Install dependencies
       run: |
         pip install invoke poetry
-        poetry install
+        invoke install --skip-install-playwright
 
     - name: Run linting and formatting
       run: |
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ jobs:
     - name: Install dependencies
       run: |
         pip install invoke poetry
-        poetry install
+        invoke install --skip-install-playwright
         cp example.env .env
 
     - name: Run type-checking
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ jobs:
     - name: Install dependencies
       run: |
         pip install invoke poetry
-        poetry install
+        invoke install --skip-install-playwright
 
     - name: Build the documentation
       # When running the ci locally using act, MkDocs build fails at "make html" with
@@ -72,3 +72,101 @@ jobs:
       # NOTE: it runs fine when pushing to Github, but unfortunately not in act.
       # link to issue on act repository: https://github.com/nektos/act/issues/1853
       run: TZ=UTC poetry run invoke build-docs
+
+  run-system-tests:
+    name: Run System Test Suite
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+
+    services:
+      postgres:
+        image: postgres:14
+        env:
+          POSTGRES_USER: dev
+          POSTGRES_PASSWORD: dev_password
+        options: >-
+          --health-cmd pg_isready
+          --health-interval 10s
+          --health-timeout 5s
+          --health-retries 5
+        ports:
+            # Allows us to use the same env config used locally by mapping to port to
+            # the test runner container.
+            - 5432:5432
+
+    steps:
+    - name: Checkout code
+      uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+    - name: Set up Python
+      uses: actions/setup-python@v5
+      with:
+        python-version: '3.12'
+
+    - name: Install dependencies
+      run: |
+        sudo apt-get update
+
+        # Project System Dependencies
+        sudo apt-get install -y \
+          build-essential \
+          libffi-dev \
+          libpq-dev
+
+        pip install invoke poetry
+        invoke install --skip-install-playwright
+        cp example.env .env
+
+    - name: Run the system test suite
+      run: poetry run invoke test --suite=system
+
+  run-functional-tests:
+    name: Run Functional Test Suite
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+
+    services:
+      postgres:
+        image: postgres:14
+        env:
+          POSTGRES_USER: dev
+          POSTGRES_PASSWORD: dev_password
+        options: >-
+          --health-cmd pg_isready
+          --health-interval 10s
+          --health-timeout 5s
+          --health-retries 5
+        ports:
+            # Allows us to use the same env config used locally by mapping to port to
+            # the test runner container.
+            - 5433:5432
+
+    steps:
+    - name: Checkout code
+      uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+    - name: Set up Python
+      uses: actions/setup-python@v5
+      with:
+        python-version: '3.12'
+
+    - name: Install dependencies
+      run: |
+        sudo apt-get update
+
+        # Project System Dependencies
+        sudo apt-get install -y \
+          build-essential \
+          libffi-dev \
+          libpq-dev
+
+        pip install invoke poetry
+        invoke install
+        cp example.env .env
+
+      # Since there are separate jobs for running system and functional tests independently,
+      # and we use different ports to access the database, the following configuration sets up
+      # the environment variable to point to the correct database URL.
+    - name: Set DATABASE_URL for functional tests
+      run: echo "DATABASE_URL=postgres://dev:dev_password@localhost:5433/dev" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+
+    - name: Run the functional test suite
+      run: poetry run invoke test --suite=functional
diff --git a/template/tasks.py b/template/tasks.py
index c09e2a4..b5be320 100644
--- a/template/tasks.py
+++ b/template/tasks.py
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ def help(ctx):
 
 
 @invoke.task
-def format(ctx, check:bool = False) -> None:
+def format(ctx, check: bool = False) -> None:
     """
     Apply automatic code formatting tools
 
@@ -138,9 +138,6 @@ def test(ctx, name="", verbose=False, suite=None):
     """
     Runs the test suite
     """
-
-    ctx.run("poetry run playwright install")  # ensure we have a playwright browser
-
     title_suffix = "S"
     args = ["poetry run pytest"]
     if verbose:
@@ -227,6 +224,22 @@ def run_docs(ctx):
     ctx.run("poetry run mkdocs serve")
 
 
+@invoke.task
+def install(ctx, skip_install_playwright: bool = False):
+    """
+    Install system dependencies necessary for the {{ project_name }} project.
+
+    This task optionally skips the installation of Playwright dependencies,
+    which is useful for CI pipelines where Playwright is not needed,
+    thereby improving the build performance.
+    """
+    _title("Installing Dependencies")
+    ctx.run("poetry install")
+
+    if not skip_install_playwright:
+        _title("Installing Playwright Dependencies")
+        ctx.run("poetry run playwright install --with-deps")
+
 ###########
 # HELPERS #
 ###########