Customer Test Lead

Datalex; Manchester; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

Join a dynamic team as a Customer Test Lead, where you will drive testing initiatives across diverse projects in a fast-paced environment. You will act as a key technical interface between customers and internal teams, ensuring the successful delivery of high-quality software products. With a focus on test strategy development and execution, you'll collaborate closely with various stakeholders, making a significant impact on customer satisfaction and product quality. This role offers a unique opportunity to work with a global leader in travel retail, where your contributions will help shape the future of airline retail technology. If you are passionate about quality assurance and eager to lead testing initiatives, we want to hear from you!

Benefits

Flexible working hours

Health insurance

Professional development opportunities

Remote work options

Team-building activities

Qualifications

• Proven experience in software testing and quality assurance.
• Strong leadership and mentoring skills in Agile environments.
• Hands-on experience with test automation tools and frameworks.

Responsibilities

• Lead customer engagements and ensure alignment on testing efforts.
• Develop comprehensive test strategies and oversee testing cycles.
• Support UAT and manage defect triage and reporting.

Skills

Software Testing

Quality Assurance

Test Strategy Development

Agile Methodologies

Test Automation Tools

Stakeholder Management

Risk Management

API Testing

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

JIRA

TestRail

Selenium

Jenkins

Docker

Git

Job description

The Role

We are looking for a proactive and experienced Customer Test Lead to drive testing initiatives across a diverse range of projects. This role is critical in ensuring the delivery of high-quality product solutions within an agile framework. Working with the Customer Leadership Team and Reporting to the Test Manager, you will collaborate closely with the Head of Automation and the Head of Release Management. Additionally, you will play a key role in establishing and maintaining strong professional relationships with our customers, acting as a trusted partner in delivering exceptional results. If you are passionate about quality assurance and are eager to contribute to a global leader in travel retail, we’d love to hear from you.

Job Overview:

The Customer Test Lead will act as a key technical interface between customers and internal teams, ensuring the successful delivery of high-quality software products and services. The role requires expertise in test strategy development, test execution, defect management, and customer UAT support. The individual will collaborate across multiple stages of the project lifecycle, from discovery to production readiness, ensuring alignment with customer requirements and company objectives.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Act as the primary test lead for customer engagements, ensuring smooth communication and alignment.
2. Develop and implement comprehensive test strategies tailored to customer needs.
3. Oversee and ensure the completion of testing efforts within the pods, including functional, regression, performance, and integration testing, while providing final sign-off on test deliverables.
4. Review and approve test planning, approach, execution, and reporting to ensure high-quality software releases.
5. Develop a strong technical understanding of the product to make informed testing decisions.
6. Identify and mitigate risks related to test execution and project delivery.
7. Collaborate with internal teams and external stakeholders to resolve testing challenges.
8. Ensure test coverage is maximized through automation and continuous improvement initiatives.
9. Prepare and present customer-facing documents, such as performance reports, based on data collected by the pod during performance testing.
10. Support User Acceptance Testing (UAT), managing defect triage and reporting.
11. Oversee release readiness, including SIT/UAT support, hypercare, and go-live preparations.
12. Maintain prioritised defect dashboards from Requirements through to Support.
13. Ensure accurate test estimates are provided and contribute to project planning, including roadmap alignment.
14. Ensure compliance with industry standards, security policies, and quality assurance best practices.
15. Track Agile test metrics (burn-downs, velocity) and Quality metrics to provide regular reports to leadership.
16. Attend key customer meetings, workshops, and steering committees to maintain engagement.
17. Act as a quality advocate, ensuring customer satisfaction and seamless communication between the pods.

Key Skills & Experience

Essential:

1. Proven experience in software testing and quality assurance, including test strategy development.
2. Strong leadership and mentoring skills.
3. Strong understanding of Agile and Scrum methodologies.
4. Hands-on experience with test automation tools and frameworks.
5. Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
6. Proficiency in test management tools (e.g., JIRA, TestRail).
7. Experience managing end-to-end testing cycles, including functional, regression, and performance testing.
8. Ability to identify and mitigate risks throughout the project lifecycle.

Desirable:

1. Familiarity with AWS or other cloud platforms.
2. Knowledge of non-functional requirements (NFRs) and their testing implications.
3. Understanding of infrastructure and third-party integration dependencies.
4. Previous experience working with international or multi-disciplinary teams.

Technical Skills Required

1. Strong background in API testing (REST, JSON, XML).
2. Proficiency in Java and web technologies (J2EE, JBoss, Tomcat, HTML, CSS, JavaScript).
3. Experience with Linux-based OS (RedHat, CentOS).
4. Familiarity with tools such as JIRA, Eclipse/IntelliJ, Gherkin, Cucumber, Jenkins, CircleCI, Ansible, Docker, TestRail, BrowserStack, SoapUI, Postman, GitHub, Bitbucket.
5. Hands-on experience with automation tools (SoapUI, Selenium, JMeter, Git, Jenkins).
6. Knowledge of database systems (Oracle, Postgres, MongoDB).
7. Expertise in CI/CD processes and test reporting tools such as TestRail.
8. Experience in the travel industry and familiarity with travel systems is a plus.

About You

You are a results-oriented team player who leads by example, holds yourself accountable for performance, and takes ownership of all aspects of customer and product initiatives. You have a keen interest in test automation, test workflows, and the overall software development lifecycle. You thrive in a fast-paced, high-pressure environment and are excited about the opportunity to make a significant impact in a global leader in travel retail. Available to travel if required.

About Datalex

Datalex's purpose is to transform airline retail. Datalex is a market leader in airline retail technology, offering unique products that enable airlines to drive revenue and profit as digital retailers. Datalex has a strong track record of delivering digital retail transformation for progressive airline brands worldwide, including Aer Lingus, easyJet, JetBlue Airways, Air China, Edelweiss, Air Transat, and Air Macau. The Group is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, and maintains offices across Europe, the USA and China. In 2024, Datalex was awarded the 'Great Place to Work' and 'Best Workplaces in Tech' certifications. Datalex plc is a publicly listed company on Euronext Growth, Dublin. Learn more at www.datalex.com or follow on LinkedIn @Datalex.