Test Manager

About the role

We are a new startup seeking a Test Manager to lead quality assurance and testing across software delivery projects while managing a small team of 2–5 people. This hands-on leadership role combines project management, QA management, and the ability to read source code to support testing and troubleshooting. You will help establish our QA practices, coordinate testing delivery, and ensure our products meet agreed quality standards. The role suits someone who enjoys building processes, taking ownership, and adapting to changing priorities in a startup environment.

Key responsibilities

• Plan and manage testing schedules, resources, deliverables, and dependencies.
• Estimate testing effort and align milestones with project timelines.
• Track progress, manage risks, and communicate status to stakeholders.
• Coordinate with developers, product owners, and business stakeholders to resolve blockers.
• Establish and maintain test strategies, test plans, QA processes, and quality standards.
• Oversee functional, integration, system, regression, and user acceptance testing.
• Manage defect triage, prioritisation, retesting, and closure.
• Lead, coach, and manage a team of 2–5 QA professionals.
• Read and interpret source code to understand application logic and assess the impact of changes.
• Support the integration of testing into development workflows and CI/CD processes.

About you

• Experience in software testing and quality assurance, including a Test Lead, QA Lead, or Test Manager role.
• Demonstrated project management skills covering planning, estimation, resource allocation, and risk management.
• Experience leading and developing a small team.
• Strong understanding of testing methodologies, defect management, and the software development lifecycle.
• Ability to read and understand source code in at least one language, such as Java, C#, JavaScript/TypeScript, or Python.
• Experience with test management and issue-tracking tools.
• Working knowledge of test automation, API testing, SQL, version control, and CI/CD practices.
• Strong analytical, organisational, and communication skills.
• A relevant degree or equivalent practical experience.