IT Test Manager in Leicester

TESTQ Technologies is an IT services and solutions company delivering innovative, scalable, and cost-effective solutions across diverse industry sectors. Leveraging strong technical, domain, and process expertise, we empower organizations to enhance quality, reduce risk, and ensure successful delivery of technology solutions.

We are seeking an experienced IT Test Manager to lead and manage end-to-end testing activities across complex IT projects and programs. The ideal candidate will be responsible for defining test strategies, managing test teams, ensuring quality assurance standards, and delivering high-quality software solutions aligned with business and regulatory requirements.

Main Duties and Responsibilities:

• Define and implement comprehensive test strategies, frameworks, and methodologies (Agile, Waterfall, Hybrid).
• Lead end-to-end testing lifecycle including test planning, design, execution, defect management, and reporting.
• Develop and maintain test plans, test cases, test scripts, and test data management strategies.
• Manage multiple testing phases including Unit Testing, SIT, UAT, Regression, Integration, Performance, and Security Testing.
• Coordinate with business analysts, developers, project managers, and stakeholders to ensure quality deliverables.
• Establish and enforce QA standards, best practices, and testing governance across projects.
• Manage and mentor testing teams including manual and automation testers.
• Oversee defect tracking, triaging, prioritization, and resolution processes using tools like Jira, ALM, or Azure DevOps.
• Ensure traceability of requirements through RTM (Requirement Traceability Matrix).
• Drive test automation initiatives using tools such as Selenium, Cypress, Playwright, or similar frameworks.
• Implement CI/CD-integrated testing processes within DevOps pipelines.
• Monitor and report test progress, quality metrics, and KPIs to stakeholders.
• Conduct risk-based testing and ensure mitigation strategies are in place.
• Ensure compliance with regulatory standards and security protocols.
• Manage environment setup, test data provisioning, and release validation activities.
• Coordinate User Acceptance Testing (UAT) with business users and stakeholders.
• Conduct performance and load testing using tools such as JMeter, LoadRunner, or Gatling.
• Oversee API and integration testing using tools like Postman, REST Assured, or SoapUI.
• Validate data integrity and perform database testing using SQL.
• Lead root cause analysis and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Participate in release management, change control, and deployment validation.
• Ensure quality assurance in cloud, web, mobile, and enterprise applications.
• Maintain comprehensive QA documentation and audit readiness.

Key Skills, Qualifications and Experience Needed:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field.
• 6-10+ years of experience in software testing, with at least 3+ years in a Test Manager or Lead role.
• Proven experience managing large-scale, complex testing programs.
• Strong understanding of Software Testing Life Cycle (STLC) and SDLC methodologies.
• Expertise in manual and automated testing frameworks.
• Hands-on experience with test automation tools (Selenium, Cypress, Playwright, TestNG, JUnit).
• Experience with API testing and tools (Postman, REST Assured, SoapUI).
• Strong knowledge of performance testing tools (JMeter, LoadRunner, Gatling).
• Experience with CI/CD tools (Jenkins, GitLab CI, Azure DevOps).
• Proficiency in defect management and test management tools (Jira, HP ALM, TestRail, Zephyr).
• Knowledge of cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and cloud-based testing strategies.
• Familiarity with microservices architecture and distributed systems testing.
• Experience in security testing and vulnerability assessment (OWASP guidelines).
• Strong understanding of DevOps and Shift-Left/Shift-Right testing approaches.
• Experience in Agile/Scrum environments and test-driven development (TDD/BDD).
• Understanding of accessibility testing and usability standards.
• Experience in data migration and ETL testing.
• Strong knowledge of regulatory and compliance standards where applicable.

Other Key Skills:

• Strong leadership and team management capabilities.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to manage multiple projects and priorities simultaneously.
• High attention to detail and quality-focused mindset.
• Risk identification and mitigation expertise.
• Strong decision-making and conflict resolution skills.
• Proactive and self-driven approach.
• Excellent documentation and reporting skills.
• Ability to mentor, train, and upskill team members.
• Strong client-facing and interpersonal skills.
• Adaptability in fast-paced and evolving environments.
• Strategic thinking with continuous improvement mindset.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree or above in the UK or equivalent.
• (ISTQB Advanced/Expert Level or equivalent testing certifications are highly desirable.)

Salary: GBP 55,000 to 65,000 per annum

Job Type: Full-time, Permanent (Part-time and Fixed Term options available)