Software Testing Manager
Emirates Group IT
مجموع سنوات الخبرة :23 years, 6 أشهر
In my role within the Emirates Engineering Portfolio, I am responsible for the testing activities that occur during the lifecycle of all Capex & Opex projects for the entire Emirates Engineering domain. I manage a team of seven, comprising of senior software engineers & software engineers and I resource them according to specific work programmes and experience with the relevant engineering applications. I work very closely with all my Solutions Delivery Managers to ensure the releases to the engineering systems business stakeholders are successful. I also work directly with Vendors when my team are involved in 3rd party projects. To avoid communication gaps or misleading specifications, I manage the relationship to the required level of detail to ensure there is no impact on testing deadlines or quality. As Test Manager of Engineering I deal directly with Business and Operational Colleagues where I need to tailor the communications to give clear and concise information on the project, especially if I’m presenting more Technical information such as Test Strategies
NCC Group (Formally Known SDLC Solutions) - Contracted to National Australia Group Europe (NAGE)
2011-June 2013
Role: Test Lead
Description
During this period at NAGE, I have been involved in a variety of different projects ranging from migration projects to regulatory banking projects. I'm currently managing a team of test analysts and have also managed a team of business UAT testers which were off site, which meant I had to commit to being at their work place to make sure the proper testing procedures were being met. Each project I have been involved in I've created Master Test Plans (MTP's) and Test Summary Reports (TSR's) and assisted the project test manager in creating the Overall Test Strategy (OTS)
Responsibilities
• Main Test contact for management & stakeholders - progress, updates etc.
• Main test contact for other financial test teams - (REGULATORY isa project)
• Manage the testers that were on my project - workload etc
• Manage the UAT test team
• Manage the BAU sub projects for test team
• Main contact for development support in relation to test
• Test documentation
• Quality Assured test scripts
• Reported on testing progress and issues at project review meetings
Achievements
• Having my contract extended twice
• Test projects that I managed have implemented without any service incidents being reported back
• My team's chargeable time recorded efficiently and on time using the company's primavera system. This also included NCC timesheets
• Test risks were managed successfully to closure
• Maintaining an excellent working relationship with all areas of National Australia Group Europe
Intelligent Finance \ HBOS \ Lloyds Banking Group
2004-2008
Role: Senior Test Analyst
Description
During my time as a STA, I worked on larger scale projects on my own and also within the team. Being one of the more senior team members I had extra responsibility placed on me by the Test Manager where I had to mentor 3 of the new Junior Test Analysts that had came into our team as well as doing my own job.
Responsibilities
• Static Test Functional Specifications
• Review Technical Specifications
• Review Business Requirements
• Peer Review Test Analysts Test Scripts
• Create Test Conditions for Projects
• Write Test Scripts for projects
• Execute Test Scripts for Projects
• Own and maintain any defects - Defect Management (TD and QC)
• Add to Overall Release Plans
• Write Phased test plans
• Write Individual project Test Plans
• Input in to End of test reports
Achievements
• Successfully mentored 3 Junior Test analysts to become Test analysts
• Test Plans and Individual Test Plans written with no major amendments to be made
• All projects that I worked on were implemented with no High severity defects being unearthed in production
• Scripts that were reviewed, provided full functional coverage
• Successfully managed and then closed all my defects with full description as to the action taken to resolve the defect itself.
Intelligent Finance \ HBOS \ Lloyds Banking Group
2008-2010
Role: Test Lead
Description
During this time I looked after the entire Intelligent Finance (IF) work portfolio. I had to resource the project work that came through to me via our work order tool (MWOT) and assign this to the appropriate Test Analysts or Senior Test Analysts. I had to provide test estimates, from Study, DBTR (Test Prep, Test Execution, Warranty and Contingency phases) and reported all aspects of testing progress at project review meetings.
By looking at the types of projects that were being sent to me whether they were large or small or heavily business driven, I would take the decision as to who I would assign a particular project to. I also had to look after ad-hoc work requests that came to me from Project Managers directly. This meant I had to prioritise all the work the team were faced with and make the appropriate decisions as to what was deemed more important. For example, if a project was regulatory then this would take priority and I would ensure this was worked on ASAP.
I also had line management responsibilities for my team. This involved me not only doing monthly one to ones, half yearly and yearly appraisals but also mentoring the less experienced test analysts in the team. I would always make sure that the less experienced members of my team were comfortable with the work that I had assigned them and if they had any issues with any part of the project I would go through the issues with them and make sure they fully understood what was expected from them and that appropriate Testing Standards were being adhered to.
Being the Test Lead for IF meant that I had to have excellent working relationships with all areas of the IT department and Business areas within IF. When HBOS was taken over by LBG, I had to build new working relationships with Senior Test Management off site and all other areas of IT. After some communication issues, I felt the best way to deal with this remote working situation was to work more closely with my new colleagues and frequently travelled down to Halifax to meet with them to ensure there was no confusion over their requirements or what I was able to deliver. I was highly commended and recognised for this commitment.
IF Portfolio.
• CCD - Consumer Credit Directive (Document & Front Tier Testing)
• ILAS - Liquidity Reporting - Report Testing
• Juniper 2 (NDA Project - Online Account Testing)
• Message Broker - Sainsbury's Release
• Message Broker - Mortgage Integration
• Single Customer View - SCV (Group Wide Project)
• Lynx ad hoc requests (Back End Systems)
• Mid-Range Migration Project - Upgrade to 10G (offshore)
• IVR - Telephony Testing
• CAIS - Current Account Information Systems
• DDICA - Direct Debit Indemnity Claim Automation (Automate Customer Claims Process)
Responsibilities
• Improve Awareness, Impact and efficiency on cost base within IF
• Deliver all testing within IF portfolio
• Deliver the IF portfolio in line with time, budget and quality
• Appropriately manage IF delivery Risk.
• Pro-actively manage talent to ensure the attraction, retention, development of test team members is seen as a priority.
Achievements
• Time spent on projects was accurately recorded for myself and Team
• No projects were impacted by resource shortages and estimates were all within the agreed standard
• All test phases were implemented on time and on budget and to agreed quality
• No live service impact attributed to the testing undertaken
• All test documentation was compliant with LBG standards
• All risk was recorded accurately and owned by myself
• Made sure my staff development plans were in place and agreed.
Intelligent Finance \ HBOS
2000-2004
Role: Test Analyst
Description
I came into Intelligent Finance, which is an Internet Bank with tiered architecture working for the Business, but quickly moved into Testing when a Test Analyst position became available. Being in the Business gave me an appreciation of the challenges facing Business colleagues and how important their IT systems were to enable them to do their jobs effectively. As I knew the Business Systems, I was involved in carrying out some User Acceptance Testing, which I enjoyed and was the stepping stone for me to move into a Test Analyst role.
Responsibilities
• Review Functional Specifications
• Write Test Scripts for Smaller Projects and BAU
• Execute Test Scripts for my projects and BAU
• Liaise with Development and Business Resource to agree all NEW functional and business requirements are being met.
• Raise defects via Test Director
• Discuss defects with the relevant developer who coded for the project
• Basic interrogation of Database using TOAD to formulate test data
• Input into Release Test Plan
• Create Regression Test Packs
Achievements
• Quickly built up strong working relationships with Developers and Business
• Performing extremely well in very high pressured environment which frequently required the working of irregular working hours
• Ensured that projects meet their implementation dates without incident
• Managed all defects to agreed standards.
IT Certification and Testing Courses and Management Courses
Foundation Certificate In Software Testing.
Dynamics of Leadership
Developing Leadership
Dependency Management
Risk & Issue Management
Influencing with Integrity
Effective Mentoring
Persuading Others
Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC)
Applied Testing Techniques
Use Case Creation
Requirements Gathering
Practical Testing process
Technical Experience
1994 Bell College HNC Computing