Programme Test Manager London, England
Howden Group Holdings
Full Time
London, England
10.56 - 12.04 GBP Today
Job description
From day one, our mission has been to create an independent business with a unique culture – one that is controlled by the people who work for it. Finding the most talented and entrepreneurial people has always been key to our success.
People come to Howden Group Holdings for lots of different reasons, but they stay for the same one: our culture. That’s what sets us apart, and why we nurture and retain the best talent in the market. Whatever your priorities – work/life balance, career progression, sustainability, volunteering - you’ll find like-minded people driving change at Howden Group.
ROLE PURPOSE:
To enable increased operational efficiency through the delivery of an end-to-end sustainable Broking Platform solution, using technology to optimise the insurance processing lifecycle and applications within it.
The job holder will assure the testing activities across the programme, managing the testing processes and increasing quality.
This is a Testing leadership role, not a hands-on testing role – it is leading the various teams and projects to assure quality across the programme
KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES
Planning and Strategy:
- Assure there is a cross programme test strategy that is clear and understood by all stakeholders
- Be accountable for all QA activities across the programme, from development through UAT & operational acceptance
- Determine appropriate scope and approach that is achievable and enables clear entry & exit criteria for each stage
- Provides relevant management information to stakeholders on key areas of responsibility
Technical:
- Management of software development testing, through system, integration, regression, user & operational acceptance
- Leading cross programme test activities including manual and automated testing to ensure the functionality & non-functional products are fit for purpose via both structured and exploratory testing, raising defects and new feature requests where expected / actual behaviours differ
- Risk analysis and decision making: manage how the testing function operates with a high degree of autonomy
- Representing the test function in programme & project meetings where required: including backlog review, sprint planning, entry/exit meetings. This may include agile activities such as sprint closure, collating stats and sprint retrospectives
- Assure the creation of, and where necessary create: Programme/Project Test Plans, Scenarios and Reports; Release notes including defect information; measuring test coverage and prioritising tests using a Risk based approach; design specifications; requirements documentation and user stories
- Determine appropriate test tooling is in place and being used correctly to meet desired outcomes this may include JIRA / Azure Boards:
- Work with cross-programme teams: to ensure quality throughout the software development & implementation lifecycle
- Reporting: progress updates to internal and external Stakeholders
Knowledge and Experience
- Though this is not a hands-on role the successful candidate will have significant hands-on experience earlier in their career and have come through the software testing ranks to become a Programme Testing Lead and have lead Testing for at least two multi-year programmes
- Leading Testing in a regulated business; preferably Insurance Broking
- Lead Testing of a large global software implementation programme
- Lead Testing of a large global programme involving significant business operational change
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Demonstrable knowledge and experience in the following areas:
- Test plans should include e.g. Scope, Resource, Schedule, Entry & Exit Criteria
- Creation of scenarios, cases & scripts and execution of the same
- System Testing, Integration Testing, Regression Testing, UAT & OAT
- Various SDLC techniques and approaches
- Stakeholder management including matrix cross-functional teams and end clients
- Have recognised qualification(s) in Software Testing e.g. ISTQB
- Practical release management experience of when and how releases are implemented
- Agile and Scrum experience and understanding
- Able to build and sustain the confidence of senior CxO level stakeholders
Policy, Process and Procedures:
- Keep informed of all legal and regulatory developments relevant to the Company/Group
- Interprets instructions and issues arising, and then implement actions according to policies and procedures
Environment, Customer Focus and Relationships:
- Consistently deliver an excellent and comprehensive service
- Develop strong relationships with programme colleagues, plus key contacts within the business
- Behave with all clients (both internal and external) fairly and ethically
- Shares information that could be beneficial to the Operating Entity/Group
People Management/Personal Development:
- The job holder does not have direct reports
- Actively undertakes personal development to ensure up to date knowledge and understanding of best practice
- Remains aware of external, industry, legal and regulatory developments (where this is relevant to the job role) to ensure practice and outputs are of a sufficiently high standard
- Keeps informed of all legal and regulatory developments relevant to the Operating Entity/Group
Regulatory and Compliance:
The Board of each Operating Entity requires the highest standards of corporate governance, operational excellence and financial reporting throughout the Group from all its employees. Specific responsibilities are listed below. Reference to team (below) is only applicable where the job holder has direct line management responsibilities:
- Ensures compliance of self and team (as appropriate if the job holder has line management responsibilities) with all applicable legal, fiscal and regulatory obligations in the form of policies and procedures
- Ensures correct authorisation is obtained and processes followed when required by the Operating Entity and/or Group
- Ensures performance, HR and T&C records are up to date and meet the Operating Entity and/or Group’s requirements (which will include those of direct reports if the job holder has line management responsibilities)
- Maintains accurate records and deal with correspondence appropriately
- Operates in an honest, professional and ethical manner
- Strictly adheres to the Group Employee Code of Conduct
- Completes all relevant regulatory training
- Ensure they remain competent to carry out role (this will include team members where job holder has direct reports)
What do we offer in return?
A career that you define.
Yes, we offer all the usual rewards and benefits - including great healthcare provision, a wide variety of wellbeing offers, competitive salary, generous pensions and more - but we know you expect all that.
What you might not expect is a job where everyone has a voice, where volunteering in the community is part of the day job, and where everyone is encouraged to play a part towards our sustainability goals. We want people who want to make a difference - not just in the workplace, but in the industry and in the wider community.
Our Culture: People First
We are proud to be at the global table, but we are most proud of our culture. It has been built on a single and constant set of principles over more than 25 years, and it has helped us become:
- An international group with independence and people at its heart
- A home for talent with a unique culture: the biggest small company in the world
The focus on being a People First business has always been at the very heart of the Group. David’s vision was to create an independent business with a unique culture; one that would survive and thrive as a business controlled by the people working for it. Finding the most talented and entrepreneurial people to join the Group has been and will continue to be key.
Diversity & Inclusion
At Howden Group Holdings we consider our people our chief competitive advantage and as such we treat colleagues, candidates, clients, and business partners with equality, fairness and respect, regardless of their age, disability, race, religion or belief, gender, sexual orientation, marital status or family circumstances.
Additional Job Details
Worker Type:
Permanent
