Test Manager
Posted 2 weeks ago by Colossus Recruitment
£545 Per day
Outside
Hybrid
Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
Summary: The Test Manager role is a hands-on position focused on leading Quality Assurance delivery within a multi-year transformation programme. The successful candidate will be responsible for overseeing the full testing lifecycle, ensuring quality outcomes, and driving continuous improvements in a SAFe Agile environment. This position requires strong leadership skills and the ability to manage complex test environments effectively. The role is based in either Glasgow or Edinburgh with hybrid working options available.
Key Responsibilities:
- Lead QA execution for assigned releases with full accountability for scope, quality, and delivery cadence
- Manage QA planning, resource utilisation, test coverage, and progress tracking
- Oversee defect resolution, entry/exit criteria, and test environments readiness
- Produce quality dashboards and support triage, Go/No-Go decisions, and retrospectives
- Provide leadership and support to Test Leads and Analysts, resolving blockers quickly
- Act as daily escalation point for blockers, triage, and release test assurance
Key Skills:
- Strong leadership in hands-on QA delivery (not just passive coordination)
- Ownership mindset: drives quality outcomes with urgency and clarity
- Skilled at combining people leadership with technical oversight
- Confident managing complex test environments and reporting meaningful metrics
- Brings consistency to QA planning and delivery
- Able to leave behind structured, repeatable test artefacts and processes
Salary (Rate): £545.00/daily
City: Edinburgh
Country: United Kingdom
Working Arrangements: hybrid
IR35 Status: outside IR35
Seniority Level: Mid-Level
Industry: IT
Test Manager – Contract Outside IR35
Location: Glasgow, or Edinburgh (Hybrid working – flexible remote options)
Duration: August 2025 to July 2026 (with potential 12-month extension)
Security Clearance: BPSS required. Work Visa's can not be sponsored
We are looking for an experienced Test Manager to join a multi-year Quality Assurance transformation programme for a major project. This is a hands-on role — not just coordination or reporting — where you will lead QA delivery across the full testing lifecycle and drive continuous improvements across release cycles. You’ll be embedded in delivery teams using SAFe Agile and will take full ownership for test planning, execution, environment readiness, defect resolution, and stakeholder reporting.
Key Responsibilities:
- Lead QA execution for assigned releases with full accountability for scope, quality, and delivery cadence
- Manage QA planning, resource utilisation, test coverage, and progress tracking
- Oversee defect resolution, entry/exit criteria, and test environments readiness
- Produce quality dashboards and support triage, Go/No-Go decisions, and retrospectives
- Provide leadership and support to Test Leads and Analysts, resolving blockers quickly
- Act as daily escalation point for blockers, triage, and release test assurance
What We’re Looking For:
- Strong leadership in hands-on QA delivery (not just passive coordination)
- Ownership mindset: drives quality outcomes with urgency and clarity
- Skilled at combining people leadership with technical oversight
- Confident managing complex test environments and reporting meaningful metrics
- Brings consistency to QA planning and delivery
- Able to leave behind structured, repeatable test artefacts and processes
Key Tools & Tech Stack:
- Test Management & Reporting: qTest, Jira, Xray, Allure Reports, Confluence
- CI/CD: Jenkins, GitLab CI/CD pipelines
- Version Control & Build Tools: Git, Gradle
- Performance & Security Testing: NeoLoad, JMeter, BlazeMeter, OWASP ZAP, SonarQube, Burp Suite, SQLMap, Nmap, Lighthouse
- Automation: Selenium, Playwright, Serenity BDD, Cucumber, Postman, REST Assured
- Bonus: Exposure to TestGPT, Testim, TestSigma
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