Description:
Test Lead – Pensions (Hybrid / Remote with travel to Preston)
Salary circa £65,000 (DOE)
About the role
This is a brand-new opportunity for an experienced Test Lead to join our growing Change Team during a period of significant transformation and continuous improvement.
As a senior member of the team, you will act as the strategic owner of testing, defining the roadmap while also leading delivery across projects.
You will:
- Define and lead the testing strategy and lifecycle
- Ensure all systems and products meet quality standards prior to release
- Champion best-in-class testing practices across LPPA
- Build strong relationships and collaborate effectively across teams
About LPPA
LPPA is a multi-award-winning organisation and one of the UK’s leading pension administration providers, supporting over 1,500 employers and 700,000 members across Local Government, Police and Firefighter pension schemes.
What we offer
- 25 days’ holiday + bank holidays + concessionary days + birthday leave
- Option to buy/sell leave
- Local Government Pension Scheme (generous employer contribution)
- Health or Dental Plan
- Employee Assistance Programme
- Reward discount scheme ("Your Perk Site")
- Wellbeing initiatives and social events
- Free fruit/snacks and parking in Preston
Key responsibilities
Test Strategy & Governance
- Define test strategy, tools and methodologies (Agile, Waterfall, DevOps)
- Embed shift-left testing principles
- Establish and track KPIs (e.g. defect density, coverage, pass rates)
- Lead testing governance across the business
- Define automation roadmap and maintain testing velocity
Technical Leadership & Delivery
- Develop detailed test plans, scenarios and estimates
- Identify risks and implement mitigation strategies
- Carry out complex testing and support delivery as needed
- Manage environments and test data requirements
- Oversee defect management, triage and root cause analysis
- Produce clear reporting on progress, risks and quality
Team Leadership
- Manage, mentor and grow a team of test analysts
- Allocate work based on skills and development needs
- Lead daily syncs and drive continuous improvement
Stakeholder & Relationship Management
- Collaborate with project teams to ensure shared quality ownership
- Align testing with Change Governance
- Partner with Business Analysts to ensure high-quality requirements
- Work closely with Systems teams on releases and change planning
- Coordinate UAT with business teams
- Manage third-party relationships to ensure quality standards
What we’re looking for
Essential
- Strong expertise in DevOps, SQL and API testing
- Experience developing or maintaining automation frameworks
- Excellent analytical and reporting capabilities
- Strong communication skills, able to simplify complex issues
- Effective time management and delivery focus
- Proactive, self-motivated and aligned to LPPA values
- Minimum 3 years’ experience in a QA/Test leadership role
Desirable
- Experience in pensions (ideally UPM) or public sector
- Experience with Azure DevOps and CI/CD pipelines
- Website / digital testing experience
- ISTQB certification (Advanced Test Manager or equivalent)
Our values
- Working together
- Committed to excellence
- Doing the right thing
- Forward thinking
