Head of Product Test

Overview

We are looking for a Head of Product Test to drive a major transformation across our technology portfolio. This is a pivotal role at the heart of our delivery organisation, responsible for shaping and executing the end-to-end test strategy across 10‑12 products and multiple large‑scale programmes. You will lead a sizeable test organisation, modernise our approach through automation and AI, and act as the single point of accountability for solution quality at every stage of delivery.

This is an opportunity to influence senior stakeholders, uplift engineering capability, and accelerate how we deliver change across a complex, enterprise‑scale environment.

• Ownership of the end‑to‑end test strategy, covering Unit, Functional, SIT, Regression, UAT, OAT, Performance, Volume and Pre‑Production testing.
• Delivery of a robust, scalable testing function that supports informed go/no‑go decisions for major programmes (£3‑50M+).
• Transformation of testing practices using automation, AI‑driven tooling, and modern quality engineering approaches.
• Leadership of a 70‑80‑person test organisation, including suppliers, contractors, and internal staff.
• Definition and governance of formal quality sign‑off processes across the portfolio.
• Collaboration with architects, engineering leads, product teams, and vendors to ensure full test coverage and technical readiness.
• Championing Agile ways of working and supporting teams transitioning from Waterfall to iterative delivery.
• Acting as the single point of contact for solution quality, ensuring risks are understood, communicated, and mitigated.

• Extensive experience in Testing & Quality Assurance leadership within large, complex, and highly governed organisations.
• Deep expertise in Performance Testing, Performance Engineering, and Tuning.
• Proven track record leading large integration programmes and managing multiple test streams simultaneously.
• Strong understanding of test automation, modern tooling, and the role of AI in accelerating quality.
• Technical competence across UNIX, APIs, middleware, web services, and database technologies.
• Experience managing external suppliers, offshore teams, and multi‑vendor environments.
• Strong Agile and Waterfall delivery skills: planning, estimation, risk management, reporting, and financial oversight.
• Ability to influence senior stakeholders and operate confidently at Senior Manager level.
• Experience supporting organisations through testing and delivery transformation.

Competitive salary plus car allowance, healthcare, 18% annual bonus potential, 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays rising with service, and a company pension scheme with highly competitive contribution rates.

Additional benefits include:

• Family friendly support – enhanced maternity pay, paternity leave, adoption leave and shared parental leave.
• Supportive and generous company sick pay.
• Funded dental – manager‑eligible employer funded dental insurance.
• Health assessment – manager‑eligible employer funded health assessment every 2 years.
• Benefits account – personal benefits account on the ‘My Bundle+’ platform with more than 800 retail offers.
• Wellbeing – 24/7 access to services and tools for physical, mental, financial and social support and advice (free for all employees).
• Availability – role is available only to permanent employees.