Technical Test Manager

Technical Test Manager - Insurance Transformation Programme

London | Hybrid Working
Up to £650 per Day | Inside IR35
6-12 Month Contract (Likely Extension)

A leading insurance organisation is seeking an experienced Technical Test Manager to lead and modernise Quality Engineering capabilities across a major digital transformation programme spanning web, mobile, API, and Guidewire platforms.

This is a high-profile leadership role for a hands-on Technical Test Manager with strong automation, DevOps, and AI-driven testing expertise. You will act as the technical authority for testing, driving automation-first practices, improving quality governance, and implementing innovative AI-enabled testing solutions across multiple Agile delivery teams.

Proven Insurance industry experience is essential.

The Role

You will define and deliver the testing strategy across a complex technology landscape, leading the evolution of QA processes, frameworks, tooling, and governance. Working closely with Engineering, Architecture, Product, DevOps, and Delivery teams, you will improve quality, accelerate automation adoption, enhance release confidence, and drive AI-powered testing innovation.

Key ResponsibilitiesQuality Engineering & Test Strategy

• Define and implement a modern Quality Engineering strategy across digital, mobile, API, and Guidewire platforms.
• Drive automation-first testing across Agile delivery teams.
• Establish testing standards, governance, and best practices.
• Act as the senior technical authority for testing and quality assurance.

Test Automation

• Own and evolve enterprise automation frameworks using Java, Selenium, and BDD.
• Improve automation coverage, reliability, maintainability, and execution performance.
• Resolve fragmented ownership of automation assets.
• Drive standardisation and continuous improvement across testing practices.

Mobile Testing

• Lead mobile testing strategy across iOS and Android platforms.
• Oversee Appium-based automation frameworks.
• Improve cross-platform testing capabilities and device management.
• Evaluate and implement modern mobile testing tools and device farm solutions.

CI/CD & DevOps

• Improve stability and performance of automated test pipelines.
• Resolve issues relating to parallel execution, environment mismatches, and pipeline failures.
• Work with DevOps teams to optimise Azure DevOps pipelines and quality gates.
• Embed quality throughout the software delivery lifecycle.

Release Assurance & Governance

• Govern testing from sprint delivery through to production release.
• Implement risk-based regression testing strategies.
• Establish meaningful quality metrics, reporting, and dashboards.
• Drive accountability for quality across multiple delivery streams.

AI-Driven Testing & Innovation

• Lead adoption of AI-powered testing solutions across the organisation.
• Implement AI-driven test generation, defect analysis, self-healing automation, and test optimisation.
• Champion Microsoft Copilot and emerging AI technologies within Quality Engineering.
• Deliver measurable improvements through AI-enabled testing initiatives.

Leadership & Stakeholder Management

• Manage and mentor Test Leads and Quality Engineering teams.
• Strengthen capability across onshore and offshore teams.
• Partner with business and technology stakeholders to drive quality outcomes.
• Escalate and resolve systemic testing and quality challenges.

Essential Skills & ExperienceTechnical Expertise

• Strong hands-on experience with:
  • Java
  • Selenium WebDriver
  • BDD frameworks (Cucumber or equivalent)
  • Appium
  • API Testing
• Extensive experience designing and implementing test automation frameworks.
• Strong understanding of Quality Engineering principles and automation strategy.

DevOps & CI/CD

• Experience with Azure DevOps, Jenkins, GitHub Actions, or similar.
• Expertise in automated testing pipelines and release engineering.
• Strong understanding of parallel execution, environment management, and quality gates.

AI & Automation (Essential)

• Proven experience implementing AI-driven testing solutions within enterprise environments.
• Experience using AI tools for test generation, optimisation, defect analysis, or automation enhancement.
• Experience with Microsoft Copilot, GitHub Copilot, or similar AI-powered QA tools.
• Demonstrable track record of driving AI adoption within Quality Engineering teams.

Insurance Experience (Essential)

• Proven experience working within the Insurance sector.
• Experience delivering testing and QA within large-scale insurance transformation programmes.
• Strong understanding of regulated environments and insurance business processes.

Highly Desirable

• Guidewire PolicyCenter, BillingCenter, and/or ClaimCenter experience.
• Experience supporting large-scale Guidewire implementations.
• Background in General Insurance, Commercial Insurance, or Personal Lines.

Candidate Profile

• 10+ years' experience in Quality Engineering, Test Automation, or Software Testing.
• Experience as a Technical Test Manager, QA Manager, Head of Testing, or Senior Test Lead.
• Strong leadership experience across distributed onshore/offshore teams.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Hands-on, proactive approach with strong problem-solving ability.
• Experience delivering QA transformation and modernisation programmes.

What's on Offer?

• Up to £650 per day
• Inside IR35
• London-based hybrid working
• Major insurance transformation programme
• Opportunity to lead AI-driven Quality Engineering innovation
• Long-term contract with strong extension potential
• Influence testing strategy across a large-scale enterprise environment

Please note: Proven Insurance experience and demonstrable delivery of AI-driven testing solutions are mandatory requirements for this role.