Test Manager Financial Services; Pan Euro ; Prospects

One of Europe’s largest Financial and Credit companies, with operations in the UK, Germany and Austria and a vision to be the best in its field in Europe.

Working closely with areas of IT, Change Management and acting as a liaison with the business, the Test Manager will be involved in setting a clear vision of the product, defining user stories, and prioritising user stories with the wider project team and key stakeholders.

The Test Manager will be responsible for a wide range of testing activities including defining test strategies, test plans, administrating the defect management process, and managing risks and issues. This will include identifying, tracking and removing impediments in each software release.

The Test Manager will be required to deliver improvements to current working practices and offering valuable input throughout the release cycle.

• Manage a team of system testers. Responsibilities include (but not limited to) resource planning, workload allocation, appraisals, coaching & mentoring, performance reviews and management, and leadership.
• Undertake a range of testing tasks such as test estimation, writing test plans and summary documents, define test cases and execute tests.
• Own and administer the defect management process
• Help develop the product vision
• Work closely with the business to analyse and document new user stories
• Maintain the product backlog for testing tasks
• Participate in sprint planning sessions
• Effectively communicate the business requirements to the project/scrum team
• Assist in release planning and deployment
• Track and remove impediments to progress/delivery
• Keep in constant communication with the business and other key stakeholders
• Facilitate and participate in daily stand-up/Scrum meetings
• Monitor and drive key performance indicator metrics to assess the quality and efficiency of delivery
• Manage the provisioning of test environments
• Facilitate User Acceptance Testing (UAT) with the business and/or end user
• Proactively ensure the continuous improvement using the PDCA cycle
• Establish and maintain trusted and lasting relationships with the business and customers.

• Proven Test Management experience
• Experience of managing a small-medium team of testers
• Strong stakeholder management skills
• Working knowledge of Visual Studio 2013 or later
• Evidence of having worked in an agile/scrum environment
• Previous experience of system testing
• Excellent relationship builder including the ability to influence others
• Able to work across departments and ability to co-ordinate work
• Experience of working within a structured IT delivery team
• Excellent interpersonal communication skills, written & verbal
• Demonstrate strong leadership skills

• Previous experience as a Scrum Master
• Experience in testing Caseflow CRM system
• Experience in testing web applications
• Exposure to Progress development
• Financial services experience

A relevant qualification in Test Management would be advantageous. For example;

ISTQB Certified Tester Advanced Manager

• Strong leadership with excellent people management skills
• Excellent communicator
• String technical testing skills
• Measured and co-operative
• Able to deal with stakeholders at varying levels
• Able to influence others
• Attention to detail
• Strong troubleshooting skills
• Logical thought process
• Ability to focus on deadlines and is results driven
• Independent; ability to operate effectively with minimal guidance

• Competitive salary with annual bonus
• Contributory pension
• 3% flexible benefits - including cycle to work, critical illness, dental insurance, childcare vouchers, travel insurance, dining club, retail discounts and the option to buy up to one week’s worth of holiday subject to start date
• Subsidised on-site restaurant
• Free on-site gym
• Excellent coaching and training