Lead Qa Engineer

This is an exciting time within Hiscox as the UK Retail Business continues to evolve its existing change capability. Our technology estate has been undergoing significant growth, driven by our business strategy and supporting technology blueprint. As a result, the QA team has been going through a significant transformation for the past 18 months and this role is critical in helping us accelerate the pace of this transformation.
Reporting to the Head of Platform Delivery, the TBC role requires you to work with our 3rd party partners and UK based staff, making sure quality is embedded into everything we do and we have the capability to support the delivery of high quality changes through industry leading test processes and tooling.
We are supporting a fast pace business and your role will see you responsible for the implementation and delivery of test frameworks and services on a dedicated technology platform, using your experience and knowledge of software testing methodologies to ensure the most appropriate testing approaches, tools and techniques are being implemented.
You will also play a key role in helping us evolve and increase the maturity of our team through continuous improvement and innovation.
Key Responsibilities: Work with project managers to understand the upcoming deliveries and plans at platform level, provide an initial view on estimates and ensure the test engineers with the right skillset are onboarded in a timely manner.Work with the agile delivery leads to ensure the agile squads are appropriately resourced and have the right skills from a functional, technical and experience point of view.Oversee the test delivery across squads and projects, ensuring quality engineering principles and standards are applied and maintained, the correct test governance processes are in place depending on the type of delivery, and any issues are addressed immediately or escalated as appropriate.Collaborate with other practice leads to ensure quality principles are being implemented and adhered to, and with other internal and external stakeholders to ensure test delivery plans are aligned and understood by all.Promote and drive the use of test tooling and test automation in collaboration with the platform SDET and drive a culture of continuous improvement within the team.Work with the agile delivery leads to ensure the teams are capturing the required quality metrics, produce regular reports as required and ensure that quality improvement actions are tracked, implemented and measured.As part of the release panel, work with the wider platform team to ensure delivery of releases on time and to quality, provide risk insights that enable decisions to be made and work with the team to continuously monitor, assess and improve the efficacy of our release and environment management processes.Drive and contribute to wider test chapter meetings, encourage cross team collaboration and knowledge sharing, help promote big picture thinking and keep the team engaged with the wider test strategy. Collaborate with QA leads across other BUs through the QE community of practice.Drive and implement new ideas, tools and process improvements, mentor the permanent team to develop a continuous development and growth mindset and ensure our 3rd parties continue to deliver value adds as part of their services.Responsible for line managing a team of permanent QA Engineers, support their development in line with their career aspirations and ensure we have the right in house QA capability to satisfy the strategic needs of the business.Work with 3rd party providers and regularly liaise with them on operational and resourcing actions. Build knowledge and awareness of the commercial agreements in place with 3rd party providers and take part in regular governance calls where you will provide feedback as required.Lead by example, continuing to develop within your field, role and industry and contribute to the maturity and performance of the QA team. Advocate for the QA team within IT & Change, Hiscox and the wider industry, by promoting the team and their work.Experience leading and coordinating testing for project/squad/team.Experience in various test methodologies – both agile and waterfall. Working knowledge of the software testing process – Planning, preparation, execution, defect management, evidence requirements, reporting.Experience of using test management and project management tools (Jira, Zephyr, ADO etc).Experience offering peer support and mentoring to other team members.Release and environments management knowledge.Excellent communication and reporting skills.Stakeholder management skills and experience.Good organisational skills and the ability to work in a methodical manner and meet deadlines.A proactive approach to problem solving, taking ownership of issues and having the determination to follow things through.Driven to take ownership and improve personal contribution.Insurance Business knowledge.Exposure to Microsoft Azure Cloud Services.ISTQB or other certification a plus.Test automation knowledge.Exposure to BDD, TDD, CI/CD environment.About us: Hiscox is a diversified international insurance group with a powerful brand, strong balance sheet, and plenty of room to grow. Listed on the London Stock Exchange and headquartered in Bermuda, Hiscox has over 3,000 staff across 14 countries and 34 offices. Structured by geography and product, Hiscox's long-held business strategy has helped them grow from a niche Lloyd's underwriter to an international insurance group with a powerful consumer brand.
In our Lisbon office, we have the privilege of employing approximately 500 exceptional professionals representing 29 diverse nationalities. Despite our central location within the city, we recognize the importance of maintaining a healthy work-life balance. As part of our commitment to our employees' well-being, we provide a 35-hour workweek along with the option for a hybrid working schedule.
Our mission is to give people and businesses the confidence to realize their ambitions. We value courage, humanity, ownership, integrity, and connection, and we believe that together we can build something better.
Work with amazing people and be part of a unique culture If you want to help build a brilliant future; work with amazing people; be part of a unique company culture; and, of course, enjoy great employee benefits that take care of your mental and physical wellbeing, come and join us.

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