Test Lead

Test Lead (UAT / Quality Assurance / Azure DevOps)

Location: Newcastle upon Tyne

Salary: £50,000 to £55,000

Type: Full-time

Overview

An established financial services organisation is looking to appoint an experienced Test Lead to support the delivery of technology projects and business change initiatives.

This is a leadership role within an evolving Quality Assurance function, with responsibility for planning, coordinating and governing testing activities across multiple projects.

You'll work closely with the Head of Test & Quality Assurance, Business Analysts, Product Owners, developers and business stakeholders to ensure testing is properly planned, executed and evidenced.

The organisation has recently established a QA Framework, creating an opportunity to help embed consistent testing standards, improve processes and influence how quality assurance operates across the wider business.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the planning and delivery of User Acceptance Testing (UAT), Regression Testing and deployment verification activities

• Coordinate Business Testers, including resource planning, onboarding, access and test readiness

• Develop Test Strategies, Test Plans, test scripts and supporting documentation

• Define testing scope, coverage and traceability against business requirements and identified risks

• Manage test cases, execution and reporting using Microsoft Azure DevOps

• Oversee defect management, including triage, prioritisation, retesting and resolution

• Produce Test Entry and Exit Reports, progress dashboards and testing metrics

• Provide clear reporting on testing progress, quality risks and release readiness

• Support evidence-based Go/No-Go decisions and coordinate post-deployment verification

• Help embed and continuously improve testing standards, governance and the wider QA Framework

Requirements

• Minimum 5 years of commercial software testing and/or UAT experience

• Minimum 2 years in Test Management, Test Leadership or a comparable senior testing position

• Proven experience leading testing activities across software projects and change initiatives

• Practical experience with Microsoft Azure DevOps, ideally including Azure Test Plans

• Strong experience developing Test Strategies, test plans, scripts and testing documentation

• Experience managing defects, test coverage, traceability and testing risks

• Experience coordinating testing resources and working with business and technical stakeholders

• Experience across Agile and Waterfall delivery environments

Desirable

• Experience within financial services or another regulated environment

• Experience implementing or improving QA Frameworks and testing standards

• Knowledge of testing tools such as Jira, Zephyr, TestRail or similar

• Experience with Postman, API testing or automated regression testing

• ISTQB, BCS or another recognised software testing qualification

What's on Offer

• Salary of £50,000 to £55,000

• Opportunity to take ownership of testing across important business change initiatives

• Work closely with an experienced Head of Test & Quality Assurance

• Influence how a newly established QA Framework is embedded across the organisation

• Exposure to a broad range of software, business systems and technology projects

• Opportunity to improve testing standards, processes and governance

Apply

This opportunity would suit an experienced Test Lead, UAT Lead, Test Manager or Senior Test Analyst who enjoys taking ownership of testing activity, coordinating people and ensuring projects are delivered with appropriate quality assurance.

We're particularly interested in candidates who combine strong testing experience with excellent organisation, stakeholder management and the ability to lead business testers through complex change initiatives.

Apply now or get in touch for a confidential discussion.