At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead testing strategies for Duck Creek or Guidewire upgrades and ensure quality delivery.
- Company: Join a leading IT services firm transforming the General Insurance sector.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, flexible working hours, and opportunities for professional growth.
- Why this job: Make a significant impact on large-scale transformation projects in a dynamic environment.
- Qualifications: Experience in General Insurance testing and strong automation skills required.
- Other info: Collaborate with diverse teams and enhance your career in a supportive culture.
The predicted salary is between 48000 - 72000 £ per year.
Seeking an experienced Test Manager with deep General Insurance domain knowledge and proven experience leading large-scale transformation programmesāspecifically upgrades of Duck Creek or Guidewire platforms. The role owns test strategy and delivery across multiple test streams (functional, regression, integration, UAT, non-functional), defines automation and test data strategies, manages risk and stakeholders, and brings an engineering mindset to accelerate quality through automation (including Playwright), shift-left practices, and continuous testing.
Key Responsibilities
- Define and own the end-to-end test strategy for Duck Creek or Guidewire upgrade programmes, aligning to programme timelines, release trains, and business priorities.
- Lead test planning, estimation and scheduling across multiple teams and workstreams to ensure on-time delivery.
- Drive a risk-based testing approach; identify, assess and mitigate testing risks, and maintain a living test risk register.
- Design and implement the Automation Strategy focusing on UI and API automation; champion tools, frameworks, CI/CD integration, and reusable libraries.
- Define and lead Non-Functional Testing (NFT) strategy covering performance, load, scalability, security, and accessibility testing; coordinate with platform and infra teams for environments and tooling.
- Define Test Data Management (TDM) strategy: data profiling, synthetic data generation, masking, subset selection, and environment refresh cadence to support all test stages.
- Drive test environment strategy, including environment provisioning, configuration management, and service virtualization/mock services for dependent integrations.
- Implement a Test Engineering mindset: promote shift-left testing, testability by design, contract testing, continuous feedback, and test-driven development where applicable.
- Manage stakeholder relationships across business, product owners, solution and integration architects, infrastructure teams, vendors (Duck Creek/Guidewire integrators), and third-party suppliers.
- Coordinate vendor/supplier test activities, validate vendor deliverables (fixes, patches), and ensure vendor acceptance testing artifacts meet programme standards.
- Oversee defect management lifecycle and ensure effective triage processes; implement quality gates and release criteria.
- Establish metrics and reporting for test progress, quality, coverage, defect trends and automation ROI; present status and risks to senior stakeholders and steering committees.
- Coach, mentor and build test capability across the programme; recruit and lead distributed QA teams, including test leads, automation engineers, performance engineers and TDM specialists.
- Execute regression and upgrade-specific testing activities: baseline regression packs, compatibility testing, data migration validation, cutover rehearsals, and post-go-live verification.
Required Technical & Domain Skills
- Extensive experience in General Insurance testing and functional understanding of policy, billing, claims, rating and endorsement workflows.
- Proven delivery experience on Duck Creek or Guidewire upgrade projects (major version upgrades, line-of-business migrations, or large patch-upgrades).
- Strong automation knowledge across UI and API layers; experience with modern frameworks, asynchronous testing, test harness creation, and integration with CI/CD tools (Jenkins, Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, etc.).
- Experience with API testing tools and frameworks (Postman, RESTāassured, or similar) and service virtualization approaches.
- TDM experience: data masking, subsetting, synthetic data generation, and TDM approaches.
- Non-functional testing experience: performance/load testing tools (JMeter, LoadRunner or similar) and security testing awareness.
- Familiar with modern test tooling ecosystem: test case management, defect tracking (JIRA), reporting, and test orchestration.
- Experience integrating automated tests into CI pipelines for continuous validation and release gating.
- Familiarity with cloud environments, containerization and infrastructure-as-code concepts that impact test environments.
- Demonstrated experience leading testing within large transformation programmes (multiple streams, multi-vendor ecosystems, and geo-distributed teams).
- Strong stakeholder management and communication skills, with experience presenting to executive-level steering committees.
- Proven ability to build and scale testing capability, institute best practices, and transform legacy QA approaches into engineering-led continuous testing models.
Desired Certifications & Qualifications
- Relevant degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent experience.
- Certifications are advantageous: ISTQB (Advanced/Expert), Agile Testing, Certified ScrumMaster or Kanban, Duck Creek/Guidewire product certifications (if available).
- Playwright training or proof of large-scale Playwright implementation is highly desirable.
Success Criteria & KPIs
- Reduction in production defects related to upgraded modules and integrations.
- Increase in automated test coverage for critical business flows (UI and API) and measurable automation ROI.
- Timely completion of regression cycles and successful cutover rehearsals with minimal rollbacks.
- Effective mitigation of identified test risks and smooth stakeholder sign-off for releases.
- Shorter feedback loops through CI integration and higher proportion of automated gate checks.
Seniority Level: MidāSenior level
Employment type: Fullātime
Job function: Quality Assurance
Industries: IT Services and IT Consulting
Test Manager in London employer: Falcon Smart IT (FalconSmartIT)
Contact Detail:
Falcon Smart IT (FalconSmartIT) Recruiting Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice š¤«
We think this is how you could land Test Manager in London
āØTip Number 1
Network like a pro! Get out there and connect with folks in the industry. Attend meetups, webinars, or even just grab a coffee with someone whoās already in the game. You never know when a casual chat could lead to your next big opportunity.
āØTip Number 2
Show off your skills! If youāve got experience with Duck Creek or Guidewire, make sure to highlight that in conversations. Share specific examples of how youāve led testing strategies or tackled challenges in past projects. Itās all about making an impression!
āØTip Number 3
Donāt be shy about following up! After interviews or networking events, drop a quick thank-you note or message. It keeps you on their radar and shows youāre genuinely interested in the role. Plus, itās a great way to reinforce your enthusiasm for the position.
āØTip Number 4
Check out our website for job openings! Weāre always looking for talented individuals like you. Applying directly through our site not only makes it easier for us to find your application but also shows youāre keen on joining our team. Letās get you on board!
We think you need these skills to ace Test Manager in London
Some tips for your application š«”
Tailor Your CV: Make sure your CV is tailored to the Test Manager role. Highlight your experience with Duck Creek or Guidewire upgrades and any relevant automation strategies you've implemented. We want to see how your skills align with our needs!
Craft a Compelling Cover Letter: Your cover letter is your chance to shine! Use it to explain why you're passionate about the role and how your background in General Insurance testing makes you a perfect fit. Let us know what excites you about working with StudySmarter.
Showcase Your Achievements: Donāt just list your responsibilities; showcase your achievements! Include metrics or examples of how youāve improved testing processes or reduced defects in previous roles. We love seeing tangible results!
Apply Through Our Website: We encourage you to apply through our website for a smoother application process. It helps us keep track of your application and ensures you donāt miss out on any important updates from us!
How to prepare for a job interview at Falcon Smart IT (FalconSmartIT)
āØKnow Your Test Strategies
Make sure youāre well-versed in the end-to-end test strategies for Duck Creek or Guidewire upgrades. Be ready to discuss how you would align testing with programme timelines and business priorities, as this will show your understanding of the role's key responsibilities.
āØShowcase Your Automation Skills
Prepare to talk about your experience with automation tools like Playwright, and how you've implemented CI/CD integration in past projects. Highlight specific examples where your automation strategies improved testing efficiency or quality, as this is crucial for the role.
āØDemonstrate Stakeholder Management
Be ready to share examples of how you've managed relationships with various stakeholders, including product owners and vendors. Discuss your communication strategies and how youāve ensured alignment across teams, as strong stakeholder management is essential for success in this position.
āØPrepare for Non-Functional Testing Discussions
Brush up on non-functional testing strategies, especially around performance, load, and security testing. Be prepared to explain how you would coordinate with platform and infrastructure teams to ensure comprehensive testing, as this will demonstrate your holistic approach to quality assurance.