QA Lead / Test Manager

Role Overview

This position sits at the centre of quality assurance for a mobile banking programme, with direct ownership of end-to-end system integration testing and a wider mandate to safeguard quality across every delivery phase. Day to day, the role involves coordinating test cycles alongside active development, chairing triage sessions, and translating complex test outcomes into clear go/no-go recommendations for senior stakeholders. The ultimate purpose is to ensure that the mobile banking application is thoroughly validated before user acceptance testing begins, and that no critical defect slips through to production.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and continuously refine the master test strategy as programme scope, risks, and architectural decisions evolve.
• Run a daily defect triage board, enforcing consistent severity ratings and ensuring each issue is traced back to a root cause before closure.
• Maintain a complete requirements-to-test-to-defect traceability matrix, enabling auditors and stakeholders to verify coverage at any moment.
• Produce weekly progress reports with RAG status indicators and a concise risk summary for the CTO and product owner.
• Formally assess and approve exit criteria for system integration testing, providing written sign-off that unlocks the user acceptance testing phase.
• Oversee user acceptance testing execution led by a dedicated UAT coordinator, including the coordination of business participants from partner organisations.
• Provide quality oversight across non-SIT workstreams such as customer experience reviews, migration planning, performance and load testing, security penetration testing, compliance validation, environment stabilisation, and go-live readiness.
• Evaluate and manage vendor-supplied specialists in security, architecture, code review, performance engineering, and DevSecOps, ensuring their outputs meet programme standards.
• Chair a weekly cross-phase coordination meeting where every workstream owner reports progress, risks, and dependencies.

Requirements & Qualifications

• At least five years of experience in QA or test management within digital banking, fintech, or another highly regulated financial services environment.
• Proven experience with continuous or concurrent testing models, where test activities run in parallel with active development rather than waiting for a code freeze.
• A demonstrated ability to switch between hands-on test execution and high-level quality oversight across multiple teams in the same engagement.
• Strong track record of managing vendor and contractor relationships for specialised technical roles, including defining scopes of work and validating deliverables.
• Hands-on proficiency with test management tools and defect tracking systems such as Jira, including dashboard creation, workflow configuration, and reporting.
• Deep understanding of release governance, including stage gates, exit criteria, and sign-off processes.
• Excellent stakeholder communication skills, with the ability to present technical risk information to C-level executives and non-technical business owners.
• Specific knowledge of mobile banking domains, including authentication flows, payment integrations, push notifications, and device-specific behaviour.