Test Lead – Pensions (Hybrid or Remote with regular travel to Preston)
Salary circa £65K DOE
A glance at the role
A brand‑new opportunity for an experienced Test Lead to join our growing Change Team and collaborate with passionate change professionals. As a senior member of the Change Team, you will be the primary architect and guardian of test quality, designing the testing roadmap while supporting project delivery. You will set the strategic testing direction to deliver first‑class member services and manage the full testing lifecycle to ensure all products, applications and systems function correctly prior to release. You must champion exceptional testing practices across LPPA, demonstrating best‑in‑class behaviours to achieve the desired results and act in line with LPPA’s values.
Benefits
* Competitive salary circa £65K DOE
* 25 days’ holiday, plus bank holidays and 2 additional concessionary days and 1 day for your Birthday, with the ability to buy and sell leave
* Access to an excellent pension scheme (Local Government Pension Scheme) with generous employer contributions
* Access to Health or Dental Plan
* Access to our Enhanced Employee Assistance Programme for when you or your family might need support
* Access to our bespoke Reward Discount Scheme – ‘Your Perk Site’
* Opportunities to attend wellbeing webinars and social events
* Daily free fruit and snacks available in our office
* Free Car Parking in Preston City Centre
What you’ll be doing
Test Strategy & Governance
* Establish the overall test strategy, including methodology (Agile, Waterfall, or DevOps), test deliverables and tools for the Change Roadmap
* Act as an enabler by embedding testing principles early in the development lifecycle
* Define and track test KPIs such as defect density, test coverage and pass/fail rates to provide a clear picture of release readiness
* Hold accountability for testing standards across the business
* Maintain a testing pace that supports the Change Roadmap
* Define the automation strategy and create a roadmap to deliver this long‑term goal
Technical Lead & Hands‑On Execution
* Create and agree detailed test plans, estimates and scenarios for all test deliverables for assigned projects
* Identify potential project risks early and create mitigation strategies
* Lead by example by performing complex testing tasks during critical periods
* Validate the configuration of testing environments, ensuring software and data versions are ready for execution and define data needs
* Implement a structured approach to defect management, leading daily triage meetings to prioritise issues and agree resolutions and timescales
* Work closely with the systems team and external partners to perform root cause analysis and suggest improvements when defects recur
* Create daily/weekly test execution reports showing progress against plan, pass/fail rates and outstanding risks
Team Management & Development
* Manage, mentor and resource‑plan for a growing team of test analysts
* Assign team members to projects and tasks based on technical strengths, business knowledge, development needs and availability
* Facilitate daily syncs to identify blockers and conduct peer reviews of test cases to ensure technical accuracy
Relationship & Stakeholder Management
* Maintain collaborative partnerships focused on shared quality ownership with project delivery teams, promoting early test involvement, feedback loops and shared goals
* Ensure test governance aligns with the wider Change Governance model and build proactive relationships with Business Analysts for requirements validation
* Maintain day‑to‑day collaboration with the systems team to monitor upcoming changes and release timelines, flagging potential constraints to change plans
* Manage and coordinate UAT and resource planning for business teams
* Manage relationships with external partners to ensure third‑party deliverables meet robust quality standards
Qualifications & Experience
* Expert knowledge of DevOps, SQL for data validation, and API testing
* Experience building or maintaining automation frameworks to increase efficiency
* Skilled at reading code and complex data to produce actionable reports
* Ability to summarise complex problems and resolutions accurately for teams outside the Test Team
* Drive testing efficiency to minimise change fatigue
* Proactive, self‑motivated team player with minimal supervision, exhibiting behaviours in line with LPPA’s values
* At least 3 years in a QA/Test leadership or senior coordinator capacity
Nice to have
* Previous experience in pension administration (specifically with UPM software) or the public sector
* Strong experience using Azure DevOps for test management, defect tracking, and CI/CD pipeline integration
* Previous knowledge of website/digital testing
* Certifications: ISTQB Advanced Level (Test Manager) or ISTQB Foundation/Agile Tester Extension
Working with and upholding our values
• Working together
• Committed to excellence
• Doing the right thing
• Forward thinking
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