Program Test Lead

**Job Title**: Program Test Lead **Rate**:£450pd
**Status**: Outside IR35
**Duration**:6 months rolling
**Location**: London/Remote** **Role**:
An opportunity to work with a world leading data analytics and brand consulting company, based in London, as a Program Test Manager, of which you will be responsible for various methods and practices around embedding programme test standards, strategy andframeworks improving the overall Test Strategy for numerous workstreams and varying go-live dates.

The primary objective of the Test Manager is to coordinate effective testing defined in partnership with business colleagues making sure their requirements are met. Test Managers manage their own workload of both internal and partner testing, ensuring theydeliver a cost-effective IT testing service that meets the current and future needs of the project.

As head of test takes ownership for establishing policy for the test team and setting the testing strategy. At this level, you: will own continuous improvement, research new technology and new techniques to implement change will make important decisionswill build the QAT community and provide organizational leadership may advocate test capabilities both internally and outside of government make sure that teams have the right capabilities

**Responsibilities**:

- Work closely with Technology colleagues (Project Managers, Product Managers, Business Analysts, Architects, and others) and a variety of business stakeholders to ensure required outcomes are achieved.
- Maintain close working relationships with business units and peers both onshore and offshore.
- Champion a consistent approach, including standard policies, processes, and templates, to project management across all projects
- Provide support to IT project and programme management to develop and maintain all reporting needs.
- Ensure project test strategies are adhering to PMO procedures and standards.
- Build professional and effective relationships with customers, suppliers, and partners.
- Effective management of the testing team and their progress ensuring business requirements are meet at all times
- Review and analyse data to provide accurate and informed management information that meets stakeholder test requirements and guides the business in programme and portfolio decision making
- Identify and produce KPIs that give meaningful insight in to the performance of Projects and the Portfolio, establishing an appropriate set of norms over time
- Track performance against quality assurance metrics such as defect counts, defect leakage, test coverage, possibly collating and analysing data for software delivery evaluation and improvement.
- Highlight potential issues indicated by the Management Information and escalate if necessary
- Manage and recommend required improvements to test methodologies.
- Model best practice in your own delivery, acting as a role model for other members of the test team and partner test resources. This includes consistently exceeding the defined Testing KPIs in your own delivery and supporting more junior members in thesame vein.
- Work closely with product managers, business analysts and developers to ensure effective test cases are created and then executed. This will include providing input on the definition of testable requirements and helping define the acceptance criteria.
- Plan own workload and coordinate the work of the test team and test partner resources (both on and offshore)
- Execute detailed test plans for projects and BAU deliveries.
- Create and maintain of both functional and non-functional test cases.
- Assist the planning and creation of appropriate automation tooling (e.g., test automation).
- Adhere to operational technical procedures and policies.
- Accountable for meeting allocated technical and/or project/supervisory objectives.
- Ensure the CAB process is adhered to and agreed processes are followed.
- Where appropriate, demonstrate the capabilities of a technical lead within projects and act as an SME for operational and project purposes.
- Execute agreed test cases across System Test, System Integration Test (SIT), Performance Test and Load Test, verifying that the delivered functionality fully meets the defined functional and non-functional requirements (evidenced by documented test outcomes)
- Delivery of factual, up to date test progress reports.

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE
- Desirable - Scrum Master Certification, Project Management qualification such as AgilePM, PMP or equivalent, or a PMO qualification such as AIPMO
- Desirable - Automation skills & tools (e.g., Selenium, Cucumber, Maven, Cypress, TypeScript/JavaScript)
- Performance and Stress testing skills & tools
- Data analysis and experience of developing MI reports
- Excellent Microsoft Excel skills and backlog mgmt. skills (or similar) i.e., Jira, Azure Dev Ops

**Key Behaviours**: Excellent Analytical, conceptual, and problem-solving abilities

Strong communicator in all its forms across all levels of the organisation

Able to work across multiple work streams and projects with competing priorities, prioritising where appropriate and clarifying deadlines if required

Decisive, 'can do' attitude whilst maintaining a clear focus on problem solving and seeing action through to delivery

Excellent attention to detail, particularly in terms of data analysis and presenting management information

Must be comfortable to work on new initiatives and build from start