Test Manager

£95,000 - £100,000 | Hybrid (2-3 days per week in the office) | London

We are partnering with a global, regulated financial services organisation undertaking significant investment in its enterprise testing capability.

This is a newly created leadership role designed to formalise and elevate testing across complex transformation and BAU portfolios. The mandate extends well beyond operational test management this appointment will define strategy, strengthen governance, optimise third-party delivery, and establish a scalable Test Centre of Excellence.

This is a high-visibility role reporting into senior IT leadership, with direct exposure to executive stakeholders and programme boards.

You will:

• Define and own the enterprise-wide test strategy aligned to regulatory, audit and resilience requirements
• Establish and mature a Test Centre of Excellence to standardise tooling, governance, and quality frameworks
• Lead and optimise a strategic third-party testing partner (onshore and offshore model)
• Drive the transition from manual-heavy delivery to a scalable, automation-led approach
• Introduce measurable KPIs, cost transparency and vendor performance management
• Embed quality assurance across Agile and traditional delivery environments

The organisation operates within a regulated financial services environment where governance, compliance and resilience are critical. Testing must provide demonstrable assurance at programme and enterprise level.

It is a strategic leadership mandate requiring commercial acumen, governance maturity and the ability to influence at Director level.

We are seeking a senior Test Manager or Head of Testing with experience in:

• Leading third-party testing vendors at scale
• Operating within regulated financial services environments
• Establishing or transforming a Test Centre of Excellence
• Defining and delivering automation strategy across enterprise systems
• Engaging senior stakeholders with risk-based reporting and assurance frameworks
• Working across complex portfolios including SaaS and bespoke platforms

You will combine strategic thinking with delivery credibility and be able to evidence where you have built capability, reduced risk exposure, improved automation maturity and enhanced vendor performance.

Strong stakeholder presence and commercial awareness are essential.

This is a rare opportunity to build a testing capability properly with executive backing and clear investment intent.

The successful candidate will shape the organisation's long-term quality framework, materially influence cost efficiency, and elevate testing from operational function to strategic assurance capability.

Apply via the link or contact Brushoth Kannapiran at