Test Lead

Job Title: Test Lead Location: Leeds/Hybrid (x2 days in office) Salary: Competitive Salary

Responsibilities

• Lead the planning, coordination, execution and reporting of testing across projects, programmes and operational change
• Support the Test Manager in defining and improving test strategy, governance, standards and QA processes
• Oversee SIT, UAT, regression, end-to-end, performance and operational readiness testing, including OAT and non-functional testing
• Maintain an audit-ready testing framework aligned to regulatory, security and compliance requirements
• Manage defect triage, prioritisation, tracking and escalation
• Ensure test coverage across pensions administration systems, digital platforms, data migration and regulatory reporting
• Coordinate internal teams and third-party testing suppliers, escalating risks and deviations
• Drive test automation, shift-left and CI/CD integration
• Report clearly on progress, quality metrics, risks and defects to stakeholders
• Mentor and develop the testing team

Requirements

• Experience leading or coordinating testing in financial services - pensions, insurance, banking or other regulated environments
• Strong background in test planning, defect management, risk assessment and stakeholder engagement
• End-to-end testing experience across complex business and technology transformation programmes
• Hands-on with test management tools such as Jira, Zephyr, Azure DevOps or TestRail
• Technical testing skills across API and integration testing, mobile testing, data validation and reconciliation, and performance and load testing
• Experience working with third-party testing suppliers
• Working knowledge of Agile, Scrum, DevOps or hybrid delivery
• Exposure to test automation frameworks, CI/CD, SQL and cloud environments (Azure or AWS)
• ISTQB Foundation (or equivalent)
• Desirable: UK pensions administration experience (DB, DC or master trust), platform migration and data conversion, ISTQB Test Manager, PRINCE2/ITIL, or a pensions qualification