Test Environment Manager (10105)
Senior Test Environment & Platform Manager - OpenShift / Kafka
Location: London - 8 days onsite per month, remainder remote
Contract: Inside IR35
Rate: Flexible
Role Overview
We are seeking an experienced Senior Test Environment & Platform Manager to support a major enterprise technology transformation, moving from a legacy monolithic landscape towards a modern microservices-based architecture using Java, Kafka and OpenShift.
This is a highly technical Test Environment Management position combining environment strategy and ownership with hands-on platform engineering capability.
The successful candidate will be responsible for supporting both the existing legacy landscape and the new microservices environment, while helping transform the organisation's approach from permanent, Waterfall-style environments towards automated, on-demand environments capable of supporting Agile delivery squads.
This is not a purely managerial or coordination-focused Test Environment role. Candidates MUST have demonstrable hands-on technical experience with OpenShift and Kafka.
Key Responsibilities Test Environment Strategy & Transformation
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Own and drive the Test Environment Management strategy across a large-scale transformation programme.
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Define the approach for transitioning from permanent/shared Waterfall environments towards on-demand Agile environments.
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Work closely with architects, engineering teams, developers, QA and delivery squads to understand environment requirements.
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Ensure environments can effectively support both legacy applications and new microservices-based services.
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Define environment standards, processes, governance and operating models.
Environment & Platform Management
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Support the design, provisioning, configuration, maintenance and decommissioning of environments.
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Provide hands-on technical support across OpenShift, Kafka and Linux-based environments.
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Manage environment configurations, dependencies and integration points.
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Coordinate environment availability and scheduling across multiple projects and Agile squads.
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Support environment capacity planning, utilisation and costing.
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Maintain appropriate documentation covering environment configurations and dependencies.
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Continue supporting legacy infrastructure alongside the modern platform landscape.
Technical Support & Troubleshooting
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Provide hands-on technical support and troubleshooting for environment-related issues.
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Diagnose issues across OpenShift, Kafka, Linux and associated infrastructure.
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Work across Development, QA, Infrastructure, DevOps and Operations teams to resolve complex environment issues.
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Identify environment dependencies and potential blockers before they impact delivery.
Automation & CI/CD
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Drive greater automation across environment provisioning and management.
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Implement and maintain Infrastructure as Code (IaC) approaches using technologies such as Ansible.
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Integrate environments with CI/CD pipelines to support automated testing and continuous delivery.
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Support tooling including Jenkins, GitLab and Azure DevOps.
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Reduce manual environment provisioning and improve environment consistency and repeatability.
Monitoring & Continuous Improvement
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Monitor environment availability, health, performance and utilisation.
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Develop appropriate metrics and dashboards for environment reporting.
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Work with monitoring and logging technologies such as Prometheus, Grafana and Splunk.
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Identify opportunities to improve environment reliability, automation, scalability and cost efficiency.
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Drive continuous improvement across Test Environment Management processes.
Essential Experience
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5+ years' experience within Test Environment Management in complex enterprise technology environments.
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Demonstrable experience defining and delivering Test Environment strategies.
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Hands-on OpenShift experience, including environment setup, configuration, support and troubleshooting.
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Hands-on Kafka experience, including supporting/configuring Kafka-based environments.
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Strong Linux infrastructure/engineering experience.
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Strong understanding of microservices and containerised architectures.
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Experience with Kubernetes and Docker.
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Experience with Infrastructure as Code and environment automation.
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Ansible or equivalent automation experience.
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Strong understanding of CI/CD pipelines and modern DevOps practices.
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Experience supporting complex transformation programmes involving both legacy and modern technology environments.
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Strong troubleshooting and problem-solving capability.
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Ability to work effectively across Development, QA, Infrastructure, Architecture and Operations teams.
Highly Desirable
Experience with some of the following would be advantageous:
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Azure / Azure DevOps
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Jenkins / GitLab
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Terraform or other IaC technologies
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HP NonStop infrastructure
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Java-based environments
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Prometheus / Grafana / Splunk
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UFT / Selenium / Cucumber
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Linux shell scripting
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Large-scale financial services or similarly complex regulated environments
*Rates depend on experience and client requirements