Senior Test Manager at Equity Bank Kenya

THE SENIOR TEST MANAGER will be expected to act as a subject matter expert for Software testing standards, processes, methodology and tools around mobile or core banking systems or system integrations. He/She will define project test strategy, test plan and test design for all projects, ensures controls on test delivery as per defined metrics and reviews all project test summary reports. Liaise with quality analyst on quality metrics to assess performance of quality on test delivery. The Test Manager leads the day-to-day management of the test team including developing, maintaining and activating all test processes subsidiaries within Product Systems.

Job Responsibilities/ Accountabilities:

• Responsible for logging and analyzing lessons learnt to determine changes needed for future releases/projects and process improvement areas
• Assist in developing, carrying out and integrating a comprehensive global test strategy for projects pending quality assessment
•  Review Test basis such as requirements and design specification and carry out detailed analysis on a system with a view to identify appropriate test conditions
• Review the architecture and designs of systems and features, and actively engage with Business Analysts and Developers to ensure the soundness of proposed solutions
• Monitor changes to scope during the development cycle and re-evaluate plans and resources accordingly
•  Champion tool selection; Enforce Tool usage; Organize trainings; Prepare tool templates; License management; tool administration
• Risk Identification and Risk Assessment during project lifecycle.
• Train technical and non-technical staff on test processes to promote excellence in quality assurance and control within the bank.
• Manage test process: Test Planning, Monitoring & Control, Test Design & Execution, Test Reporting and exit criteria evaluation, test closure activities, and Enforce test tool usage
• Act as first level escalation and resolution point for the team and Internal Customers for any issues related to testing activities and operational matters. Proactively and reactively ensuring the agreed test activities are delivered as planned.
• Assign work to test analysts and manage successful completion of work to set deadlines.
• Provide technical guidance to junior-level test engineers, test leads, test analyst and Test Automation Engineer.
• Organize relevant team training on emerging trends and practices within the Software Testing and QA fields.
• Lead and mentor the QA team, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and innovation. · Collaborate with product managers, developers, and stakeholders to ensure quality is built into the development lifecycle.
• Define, monitor, and report KPIs and quality metrics for test effectiveness.
• Drive test automation initiatives, selecting appropriate tools and frameworks.
• Establish and maintain best practices for CI/CD and DevOps testing pipelines.
• Ensure compliance with industry standards and best practices for software testing.
• Manage test environments, test data, and defect tracking processes.
• Participate in release management and ensure smooth product deployments. Measure, develop and optimize quality of team outputs and performance.
• Involved in the planning, monitoring, and control of the testing activities and tasks.
• Take ownership of all document templates, procedures and reporting mechanisms used to define, deliver, or communicate testing activities and their status during delivery.
• Participate in the project planning phase to estimate expected efforts related to test activities. · Liaise with the Test Environment Specialist to ensure key infrastructure (environments, interfaces & access) is set-up to enable all required testing activities
• Lead Test entry readiness reviews and test exit reviews to ensure test acceptance criteria compliance.
• Follow-up on test environment configuration, update test strategy and plan accordingly. Provides Technical Leadership and Strategic Direction to the testers
• Ensure comprehensive summary reports; software quality issues reporting and tracking to closure; evaluate acceptance, review of quality recommendations and Reporting to stakeholders
• Identify different stages required in the software development lifecycle needing structure-based testing & non-functional testing
• Become Subject Matter Experts (SME) for Testing Services within the Bank 
• Proactively enforce the Test Policies that will act as a roadmap in ensuring compliance to standards and controls designed to mitigate

Qualifications

Core skills required:

• Attention to detail and accuracy with a strong service-oriented mind-set. 
• Capable of reasoning and thinking through problems and be able to develop desired solutions independently and jointly
• Thorough knowledge and understanding of SDLC and ability to work across all development methodologies
• Experience in managing and leading teams to successfully deliver outputs in defined time frames · Experience in manual testing at levels of Unit & System functional tests
• Ability to manage design issues and offer solutions to ensure delivery of software requirements within set deadlines.
• Able to work with little or no documentation and can develop understanding of solutions to sufficiently test solution that is fit for purpose.
• · The ability to communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical colleagues at all levels in both verbal and written communications.
• The ability to work within and contribute to a team environment and build and maintain effective working relationships with customers, users, and colleagues within the wider project team.
• The ability to work on your own initiative and manage your own workload to meet deadlines.
• Strong MS PowerPoint (or equivalent) tooling and general office automation/productivity tooling (e.g., MS Office) skills with capability to produce professional presentations and analysis using MS Excel.
• Comfortable with creating test cases for highly complex systems to ensure full test coverage (for a given definition of full)
• Ability to work in a high-pressure environment, perform a role outside of their comfort zone and meet deadlines 
• Excellent organization, planning, prioritization, and decision-making skills.
• Strong problem solving and analytical skills with the ability to clearly communicate and share solutions with fellow team members.

Key Critical Competencies:

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Engineering, Mathematics, or IT Related Field
• 5+ years of test related experience including
• 2+ years in a test leadership role.
• ISTQB – Advanced Level Certification (Mandatory) or similar certification is desirable
• Capable of overseeing and coordinating a group of testers (and other project participants when working within the capacity of a Test Project Manager) on any given project. Will have accountability for multiple projects or a single large project