Test Lead

Test Lead – 12-Month Contract (Inside IR35)

Location: Sheffield (Hybrid – 3 days on site per week)

Sector: Financial Services

Rate: Competitive (Inside IR35)

Duration: 12-month initial contract

Our leading financial services client is seeking an experienced Test Lead to join a large, complex programme based in Sheffield. This role requires someone who can lead testing across multiple phases, environments, and applications, with strong stakeholder management and hands-on capability.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead all test phases across a multi-environment, multi-application landscape.
• Create and own project-level test strategies, plans, scenarios, and approaches (functional & non-functional).
• Define and manage regression packs and ensure ongoing maintenance.
• Provide test estimates and work closely with the Project Manager to deliver to agreed timelines.
• Ensure test processes are fully auditable, robust, and compliant with internal governance.
• Manage defect lifecycle, including leading defect triage sessions.
• Coach, mentor, and support test team members to ensure high-quality delivery.
• Produce test completion reports and certification for release readiness.
• Work closely with BAs, Scrum Masters, PMs and technical teams to align testing with business goals.
• Champion continuous improvement and keep test processes relevant and up to date.
• Support performance and non-functional testing activities.
• Participate in project meetings and provide regular reporting to senior stakeholders.

Essential Skills & Experience

• Minimum 5 years' experience as a Test Lead within complex environments.
• Experience within globally distributed organisations.
• Strong experience producing multi-phase test strategies and plans.
• Expert at reviewing and creating test scenarios from business requirements.
• Strong theoretical and practical knowledge of API and database testing.
• Hands-on experience with Postman, SoapUI or Insomnia.
• Advanced use of Jira and Zephyr test tooling.
• Proven background in test planning, coordination, reporting, and execution.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Experience with automation tools such as Selenium, Tosca, and test data creation tools.
• Hands-on experience of automation and end-to-end testing across multiple integrated applications.
• Demonstrable leadership skills with the ability to motivate and guide test teams.
• Experience working within Agile/Scrum environments.
• Ability to define test entry/exit criteria and act on non-compliance.
• Strong understanding of release processes, quality gates, and risk-based testing.
• ISTQB Intermediate level (or equivalent).

Desirable Skills

• Experience within Identity & Access Management, Privileged Access, Secrets Management or related security domains.
• Exposure to AD/ADLDS, API Gateway testing, Batch/ETL testing.
• Experience with automation tools such as Jenkins, Maven, JUnit Jupiter, Selenium WebDriver.
• Working knowledge of Java.
• Experience with SailPoint IdentityIQ, Identity Warehousing, SCIM, REST API, LDAP, OIDC, CSV ingestion.
• Exposure to Graph Database Management Systems (GDBMS).
• ServiceNow, AD, AWS, Azure integrations.
• Experience with "policy as code" and decision-point testing.
• Experience with GitOps repositories.
• SaaS testing experience.
• GCP cloud testing methodologies.
• ISTQB Manager certification.

How to Apply

If you're an experienced Test Lead seeking your next contract within a major financial services programme, please apply with your CV for immediate consideration.