Role/Job title: Head Of Testing
Work Location: Reading, UK
Role type: Min 6 month Contract
Mode of working: Hybrid / 2 to 3 days per week office based
Our client, working on behalf of a major British energy company are seeking an experienced Head of Test with explicit experience in Utility Industry (essential) to lead and transform the Testing and Quality Assurance function across enterprise-scale digital transformation programs. The ideal candidate will define the testing strategy, establish governance, drive quality best practices, manage testing teams, and ensure successful delivery of business-critical applications within a complex stakeholder environment.
Required Skills & Experience:
Essential
* Explicit experience in Utility Industry (a must have)
* 12+ years of experience in Software Testing and Quality Assurance.
* 5+ years in Test Management or Testing Leadership roles.
* Proven experience managing enterprise-wide testing programs.
* Strong understanding of:
* Test Strategy & Governance
* Quality Engineering
* Test Automation
* Agile Delivery
* DevOps Practices
* Risk-Based Testing
* Experience managing geographically distributed teams.
* Excellent stakeholder and vendor management skills.
* Strong leadership, communication, and presentation abilities.
Technical Skills
* Test Management Tools (JIRA, Azure DevOps, HP ALM, qTest, Zephyr).
* Automation Frameworks (Selenium, Cypress, Playwright, Tosca).
* CI/CD Tools (Azure DevOps, Jenkins, GitHub Actions).
* Performance Testing Tools (LoadRunner, JMeter).
* Cloud Platforms (Azure, AWS, GCP).
Preferred
* Experience within Financial Services, Utilities, Retail, Telecom, or Public Sector.
* Knowledge of AI-assisted testing approaches.
* Experience leading large-scale digital transformation programmes
