Manager, Model Release and Test

Pacific RE; City Of London; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A financial services organization is seeking a Model Release and Test Manager to lead the testing coordination of actuarial model developments. The ideal candidate will have over 7 years of experience in testing across the project lifecycle, with strong stakeholder management and defect resolution skills. This role is essential for achieving high-quality results within a dynamic and collaborative team environment.

Benefits

25 days of annual leave

Generous healthcare coverage

Subsidized gym membership

Charitable matching of employee donations

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in testing across the project lifecycle.
• Strong understanding of SDLC and testing methods.
• Experience with financial reporting change programs.

Responsibilities

• Lead testing coordination for actuarial model developments.
• Implement test strategies in line with organizational approaches.
• Manage testing queries and resolution throughout project lifecycle.

Skills

Software testing

Project communication

Defect management

Stakeholder management

Agile methodologies

Education

Relevant degree or certification

Tools

JIRA

Testing software tools

Job description

The Role

The role sits in a large, back-office transformation programme currently underway within Pacific Life Re. The transformation team is a cross-functional team, across Operations, Finance and Corporate Actuarial, responsible for driving and overseeing all back office-related change and transformation activity. Corporate Actuarial model developments are at the heart of the programme and underpin the programme’s success.

We are seeking a highly skilled actuarial Model Release and Test Manager to lead the co-ordination of testing of our actuarial model developments over the next 12 months, to deliver high-quality results. You will be responsible for planning, communicating and monitoring all aspects of model releases and testing.

Your key stakeholders will be the Corporate Actuarial functional leads, the programme’s project managers, the Corporate Actuarial programme sponsor, the Actuarial Systems Team (model developers) and all the teams impacted by model developments, namely the sub-teams of the Corporate Actuarial function, as well as the Finance team. The role will necessitate building strong working relationships with all these stakeholders. You will have line management responsibility of a Test Analyst.

To ensure success, you should possess experience in software testing, experience in project communication and a proven track record of working with testing teams in complex projects.

Duties

Test Management

• Implementation of the test strategy and approach in line with PL Re overarching testing approach
• Defining detailed testing scope and test execution plans for all project test phases
• Test scenarios, test scripts, test data sets and testing guidelines to achieve desired test outcomes in line with test strategy and requirements traceability framework
• Set up and maintenance of all test activities using JIRA, ensuring detailed and comprehensive audit trail to support ultimate project approval & close
• Utilise a ‘best practice’ approach to testing and quality assurance for the project
• Ensure scope of testing carried out covers material system requirements and areas of key risk (functional, non-functional, performance etc.)
• Provide regular status reporting & closure reports for each test phase
• Facilitate training and readiness activities for all testers ahead of each project test phase

Project Delivery

• Establish and run regular project testing meetings including defect triage calls
• Provide project management support with periodic reports detailing testing and defect metrics.
• Propose testing phases and resource requirements and communicate these with key stakeholders.
• Ensure timely completion of project milestones. Anticipate bottlenecks and escalate as appropriate.
• Provide guidance on testing issues to enable the project manager to manage corrective actions and enable key decision making.
• Manage and resolve testing queries arising throughout the project lifecycle.

Stakeholder management

• Leading and coordinating testing in collaboration with the global Finance and Actuarial teams and the system owners & support teams
• Partnering and coordinating multiple testing teams across all PL Re business units and third parties
• Alignment with Pacific Life testing activities
• Manage effective networks and demonstrate excellent communication across PL Re to ensure efficient delivery of the project.

Essential Experience

• An excellent understanding of the software development life cycle (SDLC) and the role of testing in it
• 7 years plus experience with the testing process through the full project lifecycle, including unit testing to scenario, integration and regression testing and through to Dry / Parallel runs and what the focus of testing in each test phase is
• Knowledge of all aspects of testing, from business requirements to test requirements to test cases to defect management
• Experience in delivering testing for financial reporting change programs across multiple territories in a virtual environment
• Understand the role of non-functional testing, such as security and performance testing
• Hands on experience of the importance of a robust and transparent defect management and resolution process
• Understand the important role of data in testing
• Knowledge of working with different testing methodologies utilized in Waterfall and Agile
• Experience in identifying and leveraging reusable test cases for different testing phases
• Experience with several software testing tools
• Ability to work under pressure, think on your feet and respond to changing requirements in a calm and controlled way
• Ability to instill confidence to build relationships at all levels across the project

Desirable Experience

• Experience in the (re)insurance industry beneficial

Working For Pacific Life Re

Every person in our global team is valued for the unique qualities they bring to our business and we seek to build their expertise and support their individual ambitions at every step. Of course, we take our work seriously and we know our team can operate under great pressure. We work hard and thrive on achievement, but we also know how to have fun and relax too. We regularly host a range of team building days to strengthen our team\'s connection with each other and reflect on their successes.

Providing employees with a healthy work-life balance is very important to our culture. We have a wide range of employee benefits and we host regular social activities and well being initiatives. We are also committed to supporting our employee's involvement in their communities, by actively fundraising, hosting charity events and overseeing volunteering opportunities.

Benefits (Only for Permanent and Fixed Term Employees)

Leave

• 25 days of annual leave with option to buy/sell more days
• Adoption and fertility leave
• Generous enhanced parental leave

Healthcare

• Comprehensive private insurance coverage for employee and dependents
• Group Life Insurance coverage of 9x basic annual salary and Group Income Protection up to 75% of basic annual salary
• Optical benefits

Savings & Retirement

• 15% combined employee/employer contributions

Wellness

• Subsidized gym membership
• Access to Employee Assistance Program
• Cycle to Work and Electric Car Salary Sacrifice Scheme
• Time off for volunteering
• Charitable matching of employee donations

As part of our commitment to diversity and inclusion, we will provide reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process to ensure equal access to applicants with disabilities. Please contact us about your needs so that we can discuss these with you to make sure that suitable adjustments are made, where possible.

Pacific Life Re Values

Please view our company values.