Test Manager – Financial Services – Retail Bank – Digital Transformation – (Contract – Outside IR35 - Up to £525 per day Outside IR35) – Hybrid Central London
Location: Central London (Hybrid)
Position type: Contract - Start Date - End of May / Beginning of June
*** DUE TO BACKGROUND CHECKS – WE CAN ONLY ACCEPT APPLICANTS WHO POSSESS 3 YEARS UK ADDRESS HISTORY AND ARE UNABLE TO SPONSOR OR TRANFER ICT VISAS ***
Role Overview:
We are looking for an experienced Test Manager with a strong background in retail banking and payments to lead end-to-end testing for a large-scale payments transformation programme.
This role sits within an established engagement with a major retail banking client, where we already have a strong delivery presence. As part of continued growth in this relationship, we are expanding our team and capabilities across the programme.
You’ll play a critical role in migrating legacy payment systems to a modern, digital transaction banking platform, ensuring high-quality delivery, regulatory compliance, and a seamless customer experience.
This is a hands-on leadership role requiring deep expertise in payments testing and the ability to operate effectively in a complex, multi-vendor environment.
Key Responsibilities
- Define and own the overall test strategy, governance, and delivery approach for large-scale payments initiatives
- Lead end-to-end testing across legacy systems and new digital platforms
- Manage all phases of testing including System Testing, Integration Testing, UAT, and Regression
- Ensure comprehensive test coverage across payment flows, including high-volume and real-time transactions
- Coordinate closely with business stakeholders, delivery managers, and technology teams
- Oversee defect management, including triage, prioritisation, and resolution
- Ensure compliance with regulatory, security, and audit requirements in a banking environment
- Provide clear status reporting, risk assessments, and test metrics to senior stakeholders
- Support go-live readiness, cutover planning, and post-implementation validation
Key Skills & Experience
- Proven experience as a Test Manager within a large retail banking environment
- Strong hands-on experience with real-time and faster payments systems
- Demonstrated experience delivering testing for banking payments implementations
- Experience operating within Agile delivery models in regulated environments
- Solid background in large-scale legacy-to-digital transformation programmes
- Deep knowledge of payments, transaction banking, cash management, or corporate banking domains
- Experience managing large test teams and working across multiple vendors
- Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills
- Good understanding of test automation approaches (UI, API, performance), even if not hands-on
Highly Desirable
- Knowledge of domestic and international payment systems, including BACS, CHAPS, SEPA, ACH, and RTGS, alongside messaging networks such as SWIFT Experience with API-driven architectures