
Programme Manager
Quilter
contract
Posted on:
Location Type: Hybrid
Location: London • United Kingdom
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About the role
- Act as the single point of accountability for testing transparency and assurance at programme and portfolio level.
- Identify and actively manage the critical path for testing across a complex technology delivery.
- Provide senior stakeholders with clear, evidence‑based views of quality, progress, risk and readiness to deploy, including early visibility of delivery risk driven by testing or unresolved dependencies.
- Own and lead the Testing Reporting Office (TRO), delivering accurate, timely and decision‑focused reporting on test readiness, execution and quality.
- Own and maintain a programme‑level dependency map linked to testing outcomes, covering people, systems, data, environments, suppliers and external constraints.
- Act as the primary escalation and resolution point for stakeholder concerns related to testing readiness, cross‑programme dependencies and delivery risk.
- Proactively manage stakeholder expectations, challenging unrealistic commitments and aligning scope, timelines and quality outcomes to agreed risk appetite.
- Ensure testing is planned early, with dependencies explicitly reflected in plans, milestones and testing strategies.
- Actively manage cross‑programme and cross‑portfolio dependencies, sequencing delivery realistically, protecting the critical path, and escalating conflicts early with clear options and impacts.
- Hold delivery teams and suppliers accountable for test readiness, defect management and exit criteria, actively challenging overly optimistic test plans and preventing testing compression to protect delivery dates.
- Drive alignment across technology, business and third‑party teams to reduce late integration risk.
- Mandate that releases are supported by credible assurance of quality, not solely milestone completion.
- Work with the Senior Test Manager to reduce late‑stage defects and rework caused by missed dependencies or rushed testing.
- Manage and monitor the programme test budget, providing guidance and decision‑making support to underlying projects.
Requirements
- Proven experience leading test delivery on complex programmes with multiple delivery streams and system integrations.
- Strong working knowledge of software testing lifecycle and environments, sufficient to challenge plans and assure quality.
- Demonstrated ability to manage inter-team and third-party dependencies in large organisations.
- Experience operating in regulated or risk-aware environments where quality and assurance are non-negotiable, ideally experience within financial services sector.
- Comfortable holding suppliers and senior stakeholders to account.
- In-depth knowledge and demonstrable application of different project and programme delivery methodologies including Scaled Agile Programmes.
- Excellent facilitation and presentation skills.
- Excellent communication, stakeholder management and influencing skills demonstrating the ability to translate technical and complex challenges into simple, clear updates, issues and/or risks for senior stakeholders.
- An inspirational people-manager preferably skilled in both a line and matrix management environment.
- Qualifications include: Prince2, MSP, APM, Scrum Master, ITSQB Test Manager, Stakeholder Management and Risk Management.
Benefits
- Holiday: 182 hours (26 days)
- Quilter Incentive Scheme: All employees are eligible to participate in incentive scheme, to incentivise business performance and their contribution.
- Pension Scheme: A non-contributory company pension scheme that can be boosted through personal contributions.
- Healthcare Cash Plan: Jersey employees only.
- Benefit Allowance: A cash benefit allowance is payable in lieu of some of our core benefits.
- In addition to our core benefits, we offer a range of flexible benefits to UK employees that you can choose from and pay for conveniently via a salary deduction.
Applicant Tracking System Keywords
Tip: use these terms in your resume and cover letter to boost ATS matches.
Hard Skills & Tools
software testing lifecycletest deliverydefect managementtest readinessdependency managementproject delivery methodologiesScaled Agile Programmesrisk managementstakeholder managementquality assurance
Soft Skills
communicationstakeholder managementinfluencingfacilitationpresentationpeople managementaccountabilityexpectation managementproblem-solvingalignment
Certifications
Prince2MSPAPMScrum MasterITSQB Test Manager