Test Lead

*** Applicants must be eligible to work in the United States as a 1099 contractor without VISA restrictions. This role does not offer employment sponsorship (e.g., H1-B, transfer or other work authorization support) ***

The ERP Test Lead / Cutover Lead will manage testing, defect governance, cutover planning, go-live readiness, and hypercare coordination for an ERP transformation program. This role works across business, IT, SI, data, integration, security, reporting, change, and support teams to ensure the solution is tested, users are prepared, cutover is controlled, and go-live decisions are made with clear readiness evidence.

• Develop and manage the overall test strategy, test plan, test calendar, test scope, entry/exit criteria, test script standards, and defect management process.
• Coordinate BPT, SIT, regression testing, UAT, integration testing, data validation, security/role testing, reporting validation, and mock cutover testing.
• Manage test script creation, review, approval, execution tracking, evidence collection, pass/fail reporting, and business signoff.
• Lead defect triage, severity definitions, aging reviews, ownership assignment, retesting, closure criteria, and escalation to project leadership.
• Develop and manage cutover plans, task owners, dependencies, sequencing, freeze periods, business blackout windows, data loads, system readiness, and command center coverage.
• Facilitate go/no-go readiness reviews with clear criteria, risk summaries, open defect status, unresolved decisions, and business readiness evidence.
• Coordinate hypercare support model, issue intake, triage process, daily war room cadence, escalation paths, and transition to steady-state support.
• Partner with change/training teams to ensure users understand changed processes and are ready for go-live.
• Provide executive-ready testing and cutover status reporting with risks, blockers, decisions, and recommended actions.

• 6+ years of SAP (S4/HANA) project experience, including formal testing, cutover, go-live readiness, or hypercare leadership.
• Experience with at least one full-cycle ERP implementation or major rollout.
• Strong understanding of test cycles, defect management, UAT coordination, business signoff, cutover planning, and go-live governance.
• Ability to build detailed trackers, test calendars, cutover runbooks, readiness dashboards, and executive status reports.
• Strong facilitation skills and ability to drive accountability across business users, technical teams, functional consultants, and leadership.
• Comfortable working under pressure during testing, cutover, go-live, and hypercare.

• Experience with SAP CALM, ALM, Jira, Azure Dev Ops, qTest, Tricentis, HP ALM, Smartsheet, or similar tools.
• Experience in manufacturing, distribution, CPG, retail, finance, or complex operational environments.
• Experience leading project recovery when testing or cutover quality is weak.
• PMP, Agile, ISTQB, SAP Activate, or similar certification is helpful.