Test Strategy Lead

Leidos; Nottingham; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000

Job description

Description

Test Strategy Lead

At Leidos, everything we do is built on a commitment to do the right thing for our customers, our people, and our community. Our mission and our values guide the way we do business. The foundation of our Leidos culture is our Values, Beliefs, and Expectations by which we select, recognize, and reward employees. They create the environment that drives us toward our mission.

Inspired to make a difference, we are committed to solving the world’s toughest problems.

Passionate about customer success by being determined to understand and respond to our customers’ needs as if they were our own.

Role Description:
We are looking for a Test Strategy Lead / Architect to support the development, transition, and in-service running (including capability upgrades) of an IT application and infrastructure solution providing support to a critical operational end user. The selected candidate will be responsible for delivering the Test Strategy for key programmes whilst providing test improvement and optimisation to existing processes. They will demonstrate effective application of Test Management expertise, advocating test capabilities across a variety of technologies and platforms.

The role will provide technical exposure variance across both project activities and Operational (Business as Usual) support activities.

Working in collaboration with stakeholders, you will be expected to devise the test objectives and strategies to enable the test teams to support project work and the operational support service. The successful candidate will need to demonstrate leadership qualities and have both automation and manual testing experience across a range of testing levels, ideally from a Systems Integration background.

Key responsibilities:

• Providing test architecture leadership skills and producing the test strategy as part of the delivery team, ensuring that the project's acceptance approach/plan is coherent with the wider frameworks in place;
• Defining & designing the integration & test environments, including test systems, test data, and external services required for testing;
• Designing and implementing modern, scalable test plans using a range of new and emerging technologies;
• Identifying and managing Test and Acceptance related risks, opportunities, assumptions, issues, and dependencies with the Test Team and Test Lead;
• Collaborating with relevant parties on all aspects of test management and assurance;
• Recognising and exploiting business opportunities by leveraging test architecture and test design best practices;
• Deriving Test Conditions for product features from ambiguous business requirements or design documentation;
• Sourcing complex data to support Test execution;
• Collaborating with Software Developers and System Engineers to develop a coherent release management approach;
• Coaching and mentoring testers on strategies, plans, and standards.

Key Skills:

• Knowledge and experience of developing a range of test strategies tailored to suit each programme and customer’s needs;
• Knowledge of CI/CD pipelines and DevOps tooling;
• Knowledge and experience of the Testing Lifecycle and the different types of testing including Automated and Manual Functional, Non-Functional, and Integration Testing;
• Demonstrable Systems Integration experience including Automated and Manual Integration of third-party systems or components;
• Demonstrable Automated and Manual Functional and Non-Functional testing experience, including front-end dashboard, data visualisation tools, and back-end database testing;
• Demonstrable experience of working with a variety of stakeholders to identify objectives;
• Experience of employing industry standard testing techniques;
• Strong oral and written communication skills – ability to communicate with technical and non-technical team members.

Desired Skills and Experience:

• Working with complex integration programmes with complex data requirements;
• Experience working in an Agile delivery environment;
• Experience using the Atlassian toolkit or equivalent tools;
• Experience using Test Case and Requirements repository tools;
• Knowledge of cloud-based ERP systems (Oracle Cloud, Azure, AWS);
• Familiarity with AI-driven testing and automation frameworks.

What we do for you:
At Leidos, we are PASSIONATE about customer success, UNITED as a team, and INSPIRED to make a difference. We offer meaningful and engaging careers, a collaborative culture, and support for your career goals, all while nurturing a healthy work-life balance.

We provide an employment package that attracts, develops, and retains only the best in talent. Our reward scheme includes:

• Contributory Pension Scheme;
• Private Medical Insurance;
• 33 days Annual Leave (including public and privilege holidays);
• Access to Flexible benefits (including life assurance, health schemes, gym memberships, annual buy and sell holidays, and a cycle to work scheme);
• Dynamic Working.

Commitment to Diversity:
We welcome applications from every part of the community and are committed to a truly diverse and inclusive culture. We foster a sense of belonging, welcoming all perspectives and contributions, and providing equal access to opportunities and resources for everyone. If you have a disability or need any reasonable adjustments during the application and selection stages, please let us know, and we will respond in a way that best fits your needs.

Who We Are:
Leidos UK & EUROPE – we work to make the world safer, healthier, and more efficient through technology, engineering, and science.

Leidos is a growing company delivering innovative technology and solutions focused on safeguarding critical capabilities and transformation in frontline services. Our work in the United Kingdom includes addressing some of the most complex problems in defence, healthcare, government, safety and security, and transportation.

This position is a full-time, permanent role and applicants must have (or be able to acquire) BPSS clearance. Ad-hoc travel may be required to various customer and Leidos sites.