Test Lead

Derby; East Midlands; Hybrid; GBP 44,000 - 55,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual leave 38 days

Wellbeing benefits

Staff discounts

Onsite gym

Cycle to Work

Flexible working

Professional development

Job summary

The University of Derby is seeking an experienced Associate Director of Digital Solutions and Services to lead testing across a major transformation programme. You will define and implement risk-based test strategies, build reusable quality processes and oversee SIT, UAT, regression and data-migration testing across multiple partners and suppliers.

You will establish test governance, drive automation initiatives, and provide evidence-based release decisions.

Qualifications

• Degree or equivalent relevant professional experience.
• Recognised software testing qualification, or equivalent demonstrable professional expertise.
• Experience of testing Microsoft Dynamics 365, Power Platform, CRM, portals or Azure-integrated solutions.

Responsibilities

• Own, develop and continually improve the programme-wide test strategy, governance and standards.
• Translate the test strategy into an integrated master test plan covering scope, milestones and dependencies.
• Provide strategic leadership for end-to-end testing across multiple workstreams and suppliers.

Skills

Test strategy

Governance

Risk-based testing

End-to-end testing

SIT/UAT/regression/data migration

Test automation

CI/CD integration

Stakeholder engagement

Quality metrics

Leadership

Education

Advanced testing certification

Agile testing qualification

Degree or equivalent professional experience

Tools

Microsoft Dynamics 365

Power Platform

CRM

Portals

Azure-integrated services

Job description

Associate Director of Digital Solutions and Services

£44,259 to £55,074 per annum (for exceptional performers, there is scope for further progression up to £63,335.10 per annum)

Onsite
This role will be based on site, primarily in the named location.

We have one simple promise – to make a positive impact. Through our ground-breaking research, teaching excellence and commitment to sustainable living, we are changing lives for the better.

The University of Derby is a modern university with a modern outlook. Everything we do is driven by delivering excellence and opportunities for our students, our staff and our region.

We have some of the best university facilities in the UK and achieve outstanding results for our teaching and research and have been awarded Gold in the prestigious Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) 2023 – making it one of the top universities in the country recognised for its outstanding student experience and student outcomes.

Financially strong and seriously ambitious we offer our employees an inclusive culture that centres itself around staff wellbeing, where you can be confident you will receive all the help and encouragement you need to build a rewarding career with lots of opportunities to enhance your skills.

Digital Solutions and Services designs, delivers and supports the digital capabilities that underpin learning, teaching, research and the University’s professional services. Working in partnership with colleagues across the University, we develop and manage secure, reliable and accessible applications, data and integrations, ensuring that technology investment delivers measurable value and continually improves the experience of our students and staff.

Our multidisciplinary team brings together expertise in solution architecture, application development and management, enterprise systems, data services, integration and supplier management. We are playing a central role in the University’s transformation ambitions modernising and connecting our digital services, strengthening the use of data, enabling responsible innovation and AI, and creating simpler, more joined-up experiences.

You will join a collaborative and supportive department where quality, continuous improvement and shared ownership are central to delivering sustainable change.

As Test Lead, you will provide strategic leadership and assurance for testing across a major University transformation programme and its associated digital, data, integration and service-change releases. You will define and implement a proportionate, risk-based test strategy that ensures solutions are safe, accessible, reliable and ready to support our students and staff.

You will lead the planning, coordination and assurance of end-to-end testing across multiple workstreams, delivery partners and suppliers. This will include functional, system integration, user acceptance, regression, data migration, accessibility, performance, security and operational-readiness testing. You will establish clear quality standards and governance, oversee defect management, test environments and data, and provide senior stakeholders with evidence-based recommendations on quality, release readiness and go/no-go decisions.

A key objective will be to build a sustainable and continually improving testing capability for the University. You will introduce reusable processes and standards, develop a proportionate approach to test automation and regression testing, and coach colleagues to embed shared ownership of quality throughout the delivery lifecycle.

In the short term, you will establish the programme test strategy, governance, integrated test plan and quality measures. Over the medium term, you will coordinate testing across key programme releases, strengthen supplier assurance and develop effective automation and regression capabilities. Longer term, you will help embed a consistent, mature and reusable quality-engineering approach across Digital Solutions and Services.

You will lead and coordinate testing activity undertaken by internal colleagues, business users, delivery partners and suppliers. At present there is no formal line management responsibility, however this may change in the future. There is no routine shift or on-call requirement; however, flexibility will be needed to support planned releases, cutovers and intensive testing periods outside normal working hours where required. You will also be required to work flexibly across University locations and remotely according to programme and testing needs.

This fixed term contract offers the opportunity to develop specialist experience in complex, enterprise-scale transformation within Higher Education, including Microsoft Dynamics 365, Power Platform, Azure-integrated services, data migration, automation, accessibility and end-to-end student lifecycle processes.

Due to the time-sensitive nature of the project, there will be a short turn around been the closing date and interview. Interviews will be held on Friday 13th November 2026.

You will be an experienced Test Lead or Test Manager with a strong track record of leading testing across complex, large-scale digital transformation programmes involving multiple systems, integrations, suppliers and stakeholders. You will combine strategic leadership with a practical, hands-on approach and be confident establishing test strategies, integrated plans, quality standards and evidence-based release decisions.

You will have substantial experience of end-to-end testing, including system integration, user acceptance, regression, data migration and relevant non-functional testing. You will also understand test automation, defect management, requirements traceability, test environments and data, and the use of quality measures to provide clear assurance on delivery progress and risk.

An effective communicator and collaborative leader, you will be able to coordinate multidisciplinary teams, business users, delivery partners and suppliers. You will use sound judgement, constructive challenge and clear evidence to influence senior stakeholders and build shared ownership of quality across the delivery lifecycle.

Experience of Microsoft Dynamics 365, Power Platform, CRM, portals, Azure-integrated services or Higher Education would be advantageous, as would advanced testing or Agile qualifications. Most importantly, you will bring the credibility, judgement and collaborative leadership needed to establish a sustainable culture of quality and continuous improvement.

• Own, develop and continually improve the programme-wide test strategy, defining the test operating model, governance, standards, risk-based approach, test phases, quality gates, entry and exit criteria, and evidence required to support release decisions.
• Translate the test strategy into an integrated master test plan covering scope, sequencing, milestones, dependencies, resources, estimates, environments, test data, deliverables and responsibilities across all workstreams, suppliers and releases.
• Provide strategic leadership and hands-on direction for end-to-end testing, ensuring proportionate coverage of functional, system, System Integration Testing (SIT), User Acceptance Testing (UAT), regression, data migration, accessibility, performance, security, resilience and operational-readiness requirements.
• Lead the planning, coordination and assurance of SIT across applications, integrations, interfaces, data flows and end-to-end business processes, confirming that environments, dependencies, stubs, test data and technical resources are ready for execution.
• Establish and lead the UAT approach with business owners, including participant mobilisation, scenario and script development, training and briefings, execution, evidence capture, issue resolution, acceptance criteria and formal business sign-off.
• Define and deliver a sustainable regression-testing approach, maintaining risk-based regression packs and ensuring sufficient coverage for new functionality, integrations, fixes, upgrades and repeated releases.
• Set and drive the test automation strategy and roadmap, while remaining sufficiently hands-on to develop and review test plans, scenarios, scripts and defect evidence where required. Select and govern proportionate test-management, API-testing and automation tools and frameworks, prioritise high-value candidates, integrate automated tests and quality gates into CI/CD pipelines, and ensure the automated test suite remains reliable, maintainable and valuable.
• Own the end-to-end defect-management lifecycle, establishing severity and priority criteria, chairing defect triage, driving timely resolution and retesting, monitoring ageing and trends, and ensuring residual defects are explicitly understood, mitigated and accepted by accountable owners.
• Establish requirements-to-test traceability across business outcomes, requirements, acceptance criteria, test scenarios, execution evidence, defects and release decisions, ensuring coverage is complete, transparent and auditable.
• Direct the provision and control of representative test data, accounts, tools and environments, coordinating refreshes, access, configuration and environment readiness while ensuring compliance with information security, data protection and University policies.
• Lead, coordinate and prioritise internal, partner and supplier testing resources across concurrent workstreams, setting clear expectations, resolving constraints and dependencies, and assuring the quality and completeness of third‑party test deliverables.
• Define, monitor and communicate meaningful test and quality measures, dashboards and forecasts, providing senior stakeholders and governance bodies with clear insight into coverage, progress, defect position, risk, confidence and forecast completion.
• Operate evidence-based quality gates throughout the delivery lifecycle, escalating material risks and providing authoritative recommendations on progression between test phases, release readiness, go/no-go decisions and any conditions attached to approval.
• Assure release, cutover and post‑implementation testing, including deployment validation, dress rehearsals (if required), rollback considerations, production verification and analysis of escaped defects and incidents to strengthen future strategy and coverage.
• Build a mature, sustainable quality‑engineering capability by embedding early testing and shared ownership of quality, coaching colleagues, introducing reusable standards and templates, promoting communities of practice, and driving continuous improvement through lessons learned and market good practice.
• Degree or equivalent relevant professional experience
• Recognised software testing qualification, or equivalent demonstrable professional expertise

Experience

• Substantial experience as a Senior Test Lead or Test Manager on complex, large-scale digital transformation programmes involving multiple systems, integrations, suppliers and stakeholders
• Proven experience of defining and delivering programme-level test strategies, integrated test plans, governance, quality gates and release‑readiness criteria
• Demonstrable experience of leading end-to-end testing, including System Integration Testing (SIT), User Acceptance Testing (UAT), regression, data migration and relevant non‑functional testing
• Experience of developing and implementing risk‑based test automation strategies, frameworks and maintainable automated test suites
• Extensive experience of managing the full defect lifecycle, including triage, prioritisation, root‑cause analysis, resolution, retesting and residual‑risk acceptance
• Experience of establishing clear traceability between requirements, acceptance criteria, test coverage, results, defects and release decisions
• Proven experience of planning and assuring test environments, tools and representative test data, including data migration reconciliation and validation
• Experience of leading multidisciplinary test resources and assuring testing delivered by business users, technical teams, partners and suppliers
• Strong experience of embedding risk‑based testing within Agile, iterative or DevOps delivery using test‑management and defect‑tracking tools
• A strong track record of using test metrics and risk analysis to advise senior stakeholders on quality, release readiness and go/no-go decisions

Skills, knowledge & abilities

• Expert knowledge of test strategy, governance, techniques and the software delivery lifecycle
• Strong command of risk‑based testing, quality gates and proportionate test coverage
• Strong knowledge of SIT, UAT, regression and end‑to‑end business‑process testing
• Ability to assure APIs, integrations, interfaces, data flows and cloud‑based solutions
• Ability to translate business outcomes and risks into traceable test coverage and acceptance criteria
• Strong understanding of automation‑first testing, CI/CD integration and sustainable regression
• Sound knowledge of accessibility, performance, security, resilience and operational‑readiness testing
• Excellent analytical judgement, defect analysis and evidence‑based assessment of release risk
• Strong planning, leadership and supplier‑management skills across concurrent workstreams and constrained resources
• Ability to influence senior stakeholders, challenge constructively and embed shared ownership of quality

Business requirements

• Ability to work flexibly across University locations and remotely according to programme and testing needs
• Willingness to support planned releases, cutovers and periods of intensive testing outside normal working hours where required
• Ability to work across multiple delivery teams and service areas, balancing programme priorities and operational constraints
• Willingness to provide support at University events from time to time e.g., Graduation, Clearing and Open Days, (some of these events occur outside of normal working hours, such as evenings and weekends)

Qualifications

• Advanced testing certification, Agile testing qualification or relevant professional accreditation

Experience

• Experience of testing Microsoft Dynamics 365, Power Platform, CRM, portals or Azure‑integrated solutions
• Experience within Higher Education or another complex, regulated and data‑sensitive environment
• Experience of implementing automation frameworks, continuous testing or CI/CD quality gates
• Experience of accessibility, performance, security or resilience testing
• Experience of assuring service transition, cutover, early‑life support or supplier‑led testing

Skills, knowledge and abilities

• Knowledge of automation tools and techniques for Microsoft cloud platforms
• Knowledge of API, integration and data‑validation testing
• Understanding of UK Higher Education student‑lifecycle processes
• Understanding of service transition, release management and production assurance
• Commercial awareness when challenging supplier test approaches, evidence and outcomes
• Generous annual leave entitlement of 38 days inclusive of bank holidays and concessionary days (pro rata)
• Suite of holistic wellbeing benefits and support including family‑friendly policies, generous sick pay provision and comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme
• Access to a variety of staff discounts at high street retailers
• Discounted onsite gym
• Holiday purchase
• Cycle to Work scheme
• A flexible working environment
• A commitment to personal and professional development

For further information and informal enquiries regarding the role, please contact Nick Hinckley, Associate Director of Digital Solution & Services via [e-mail]

For enquiries regarding your application and for sponsorship eligibility, please contact the recruitment team via [e-mail] .

This role is eligible for sponsorship by the University, however, your individual circumstances must meet the criteria set out by UKVI ; this includes meeting the English Language requirement and earning a salary that meets the highest of either the going rate for the SOC code or the minimum salary threshold for the Skilled Worker route (£41,700 per annum, as of 22nd July 2025).

If the role is eligible, but the offered salary is less that the going rate for the role, you may still be able to apply for a Skilled Worker visa if:

Your job is on the Immigration Salary List

You’re under 26, studying or a recent graduate, or in professional training

You have a PhD level qualification that’s relevant to your job

You have a postdoctoral position in science or higher education

Please note that the University cannot confirm your eligibility for sponsorship until an offer is made and your individual circumstances have been considered.

The University of Derby is committed to fostering an open, inclusive and diverse community where everyone is treated with dignity, fairness and respect. We are committed to advancing equity, diversity and inclusion regardless of age, disability, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief (or none), sex or sexual orientation.

As a Disability Confident employer, we are committed to inclusive recruitment and welcome requests for adjustments throughout the recruitment process. Applicants may choose their preferred title, including 'Mx', and may share preferred pronouns if they wish. We also use anonymised shortlisting to help reduce the potential impact of unconscious bias. For more information on equity,diversityand inclusion at the University of Derby, pleasevisitour website .

We are also committed to promoting academic freedom and freedom of speech and expression within the law, in line with our Code of Practice , and value diversity of thought alongside diversity of backgrounds and experiences.

However you identify, we welcome applications from people whose experiences, perspectives and talents will contribute to our inclusive, supportive and intellectually vibrant community.

Environmental Sustainability

At the University of Derby, we are passionate about embedding sustainability into everything that we do. We aim to bring environmental sustainability into all aspects of the University, including teaching, research and operational activities. In line with the University's strategic framework, we expect all our staff to embed sustainability into their working practices and support the University's objective to reach net zero carbon by 2050.