Test & Environments Manager in Exeter

We are seeking an experienced Test & Environments Manager to take ownership of our end-to-end testing and non-production environment strategy across key business platforms including Salesforce (CRM), ServiceNow (ITSM), and Eclipse (ERP).

This role is responsible for establishing and driving the testing agenda, working closely with our Systems Integrator (SI), Product Owners, Business Analysts, and technology teams to improve delivery quality and reduce risk before solutions reach User Acceptance Testing (UAT).

The successful candidate will champion best practice across the software delivery lifecycle, ensuring that requirements, user stories, acceptance criteria, system testing, and environment management are designed and executed to a consistently high standard. The ultimate goal is to improve quality upstream, reduce defects entering UAT, and increase confidence in solution delivery.

Key Responsibilities:

• Test Strategy & Governance:
  • Own and develop the organisation's testing strategy, standards, and governance framework.
  • Define what "good" looks like across the testing lifecycle and embed best practices throughout delivery teams.
  • Establish clear quality gates and testing entry/exit criteria.
  • Drive a culture of quality ownership across business and technology functions.
  • Create and maintain testing KPIs and reporting for senior stakeholders.
• Environment Management:
  • Take ownership of all non-production environments across Salesforce, ServiceNow, Eclipse, and associated integrations.
  • Develop an environment management roadmap to improve environment stability, availability, and utilisation.
  • Coordinate environment planning, provisioning, refreshes, and releases.
  • Ensure environment dependencies and conflicts are proactively managed across projects and programmes.
  • Work with technical teams to improve release predictability and reduce deployment-related risks.
• Quality Improvement & UAT Risk Reduction:
  • Identify opportunities to improve testing maturity and reduce defects reaching UAT.
  • Ensure system testing, integration testing, and regression testing are robust and effective.
  • Drive root cause analysis for recurring defects and promote continuous improvement.
  • Implement processes that shift quality assurance earlier into the delivery lifecycle.
  • Work with teams to improve defect prevention rather than defect detection.
• Product & Delivery Collaboration:
  • Partner with Product Owners and Business Analysts to improve the quality of requirements and user stories.
  • Ensure acceptance criteria are clear, testable, measurable, and aligned to business outcomes.
  • Coach Product Owners on best practices for backlog refinement and quality ownership.
  • Challenge and support delivery teams to adopt a "quality by design" approach.
  • Facilitate collaboration between business users, technology teams, and the SI.
• Systems Integrator (SI) Management:
  • Act as the primary testing and environment management lead with the SI partner.
  • Hold delivery partners accountable for testing standards, outcomes, and quality measures.
  • Review and challenge testing approaches, plans, and results provided by the SI.
  • Ensure testing deliverables meet the organisation's expectations and quality standards.
  • Drive collaborative working practices between internal teams and external partners.

Skills & ExperienceEssential:

• Proven experience as a Test Manager, Test & Environment Manager, QA Manager, or similar leadership role.
• Strong understanding of end-to-end software delivery lifecycles and testing methodologies.
• Experience establishing testing governance, processes, and quality frameworks.
• Demonstrable success improving testing maturity and reducing production or UAT defects.
• Experience managing complex non-production environments across multiple systems.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, including senior business and technology leaders.
• Experience working with and managing third-party delivery partners or Systems Integrators.
• Ability to influence, challenge, and coach Product Owners and delivery teams.
• Excellent analytical, planning, and problem-solving skills.

Desirable:

• Experience with Salesforce CRM.
• Utilities experience.
• Experience with ServiceNow ITSM.
• Experience with Eclipse ERP or similar ERP platforms.
• Exposure to Agile, Scrum, SAFe, or hybrid delivery models.
• Experience with test automation strategies and tooling.
• Knowledge of release management and DevOps practices.