Vice President, Test Analyst

CLS Group; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days vacation plus life days

Private medical and dental cover

Generous pension contributions

Locate for your day hybrid work

Access to learning platform with 1000+ courses

Job summary

A leading financial services organization seeks a Test Analyst to lead a medium-sized team, ensure high-quality outputs, and drive process improvements. The ideal candidate has over 10 years of IT experience, including 5 years in testing, and is skilled in stakeholder management and risk awareness. This role offers a supportive culture with a focus on employee well-being and extensive benefits, including hybrid working arrangements and professional development opportunities.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in IT within finance/banking environments.
• 5+ years leading testing initiatives and producing effective test artifacts.
• Hands-on experience in delivering complex IT change projects.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage a team ensuring high-quality outputs.
• Oversee end-to-end testing planning and execution.
• Build relationships with stakeholders and represent the team.

Skills

Team Leadership

Stakeholder Management

Process Improvement

Risk Management

Communication

Education

Bachelor and/or master’s degree in business, finance, computer science or related field

Certification on ISTQB

Job description

CLS is the trusted party at the centre of the global FX ecosystem. Utilized by thousands of counterparties, CLS makes FX safer, smoother and more cost effective. Trillions of dollars’ worth of currency flows through our systems each day.

Created by the market for the market, our unrivalled global settlement infrastructure reduces systemic risk and provides standardization for participants in many of the world’s most actively traded currencies. We deliver huge efficiencies and savings for our clients: in fact, our approach to multilateral netting shrinks funding requirements by over 96% on average, so clients can put their capital and resources to better use.

CLS products are designed to enable clients to manage risk most effectively across the full FX lifecycle – whether through more efficient processing tools or market intelligence derived from the largest single source of FX executed data available to the market.

Our ambition to make a positive difference starts with our people. Our values – Protect, Improve, Grow – underpin everything that we do at CLS and define and shape a supportive and inclusive working environment in which everyone is encouraged to be open and forward-thinking

Job information:

• Functional title – Test Analyst
• Department – Global Testing Services & IAM
• Report to - Director

What you will be doing:

• Team Leadership: Lead and manage a medium-sized team, ensuring the delivery of high-quality outputs and adherence to compliance standards. Develop operational initiatives, frameworks, and processes to support team objectives.
• Project Test delivery Management: Oversee the planning and execution of end-to-end testing of projects, ensuring that correct requirements are considered and integrated into project plans. Manage test execution, defect resolution, and risk mitigation.
• Process Improvement: Drive continuous improvement initiatives within the team, for efficient process. Ensure compliance with organizational processes and standards.
• Stakeholder Management: Build and maintain strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders, including business analysts, architects, PMO, vendors and business users. Represent the team in working group meetings and collaborate effectively to achieve project goals.
• Innovation and Best Practices: Introduce innovative solutions and best practices to enhance testing processes and project outcomes. Stay abreast of technology trends and apply relevant advancements to improve team performance.
• Autonomous Decision-Making: Work autonomously, utilizing advanced knowledge to make informed decisions and provide expert-level support to the team. Ensure timely delivery of projects and manage resources effectively.
• Training and Development: Foster a culture of continuous learning and development within the team. Provide training opportunities, conduct knowledge-sharing sessions, and support team members in their professional growth.
• Risk Manager: Driving behaviours to foster a risk-aware and risk intelligent culture where employees recognize their role as risk managers and the importance of the control framework. Proactively identifies and manages risks as 1LOD.

What we’re looking for:

• At least 10 years of experience working in the field of IT to demonstrate sufficient knowledge on SDLC, IT Security challenges, Operation/support challenges and industrial standards on project end to end execution within a finance / banking environment
• At least 5 years of strong practical experience of leading testing initiatives, experience on producing effective Test Artifacts and monitoring of test execution
• Experience and knowledge on Infrastructure, Networking, Hosting setup, Monitoring, Performance indicators, System Failure and Recover, Disaster Recovery, IT Security and Operational supports
• Hands-on experience of delivering complex IT change projects in a fast-moving organization
• Experience of managing or working with teams within an offshore service model with different time zones
• Experience of managing large team sizes and execution of complex projects with multiple parties
• Knowledge of 3lines of defense, Risk and Audit culture.
• Bachelor and/or master’s degree in business, Finance, Computer Science or related field, or equivalent experience
• Certification on ISTQB and knowledge on TMMI

Our commitment to employees:

We are a small company with a big mandate, so every person is essential to our success. We are also committed to employing and retaining the most talented and dedicated people.

What makes us interesting goes beyond our competitive salaries and great benefits. Our work environment is designed around quality outcomes, not output. The FX market would cease to function without our services, and we take pride in being responsible for keeping it running smoothly.

We are different from other financial institutions in that we have a flatter and more transparent structure with accessible leadership. You will be seen, heard and empowered to develop your career.

We are a purpose-driven organization, with an inclusive culture that focuses on doing what is right. The well-being of our people is as important to us as the resilience of our systems. In addition to encouraging our people to ‘locate for their day,’ we run a range of initiatives that support employees’ sense of belonging and physical, emotional and mental well-being.

Extensive benefits for employees typically include:

• Vacation/annual leave: 25 days in UK/Asia + 3 life days, 23 in US + 3 life days
• Private medical and dental cover and life insurance
• Generous pension contributions in the UK and Asia; matching 401(k) in the US
• ‘Locate for your day’ hybrid working – 2 days a week in office.
• Access to Discover – our learning platform with 1000+ courses from LinkedIn Learning.
• Paid parental leave / Coaching and support services
• ‘Heads down days’ with no meetings on the last Friday of every month
• Diversity Council / Affinity groups (Women’s Forum, Black Employee Network, Pride Network, Parents & Caregivers Network, Sustainability Network)
• Social events

Awards:

• The Sunday Times Best Places to Work 2023 & 2024 / Big Company / The Sunday Times Awards
• Third place in Britain’s Healthiest Workplace 2022 / Medium Company / Vitality Awards