Role Summary
We are seeking an experienced Test Manager with strong General Insurance domain expertise and a proven track record of leading large-scale transformation programmes—specifically Duck Creek or Guidewire platform upgrades. The role is responsible for defining and delivering the end-to-end test strategy across multiple streams (functional, regression, integration, UAT, and non-functional). The ideal candidate brings a test engineering mindset, promotes shift-left practices, drives automation adoption (including Playwright), and enhances quality through continuous testing and robust test governance.
Key Responsibilities
Define and own the end-to-end test strategy for Duck Creek or Guidewire upgrade programmes, aligned with programme timelines, release plans, and business objectives.
Lead test planning, estimation, and scheduling across distributed teams and workstreams to ensure timely delivery.
Implement a risk-based testing approach; maintain a dynamic test risk register and ensure timely mitigation.
Design and implement the automation strategy across UI and API layers, including frameworks, CI/CD integration, and reusable assets.
Lead the adoption and implementation of Playwright for modern web UI automation, ensuring best practices around reliability, parallel execution, cross-browser coverage, and pipeline integration.
Define non-functional testing (NFT) strategy spanning performance, load, scalability, security, and accessibility testing, collaborating with platform and infrastructure teams.
Establish a robust Test Data Management (TDM) strategy including data profiling, synthetic data creation, masking, subsetting, and environment refresh cycles.
Drive test environment strategy, including provisioning, configuration management, and use of service virtualization or mocks for dependency testing.
Promote a Test Engineering culture through shift-left testing, testability by design, contract testing, and continuous feedback loops.
Manage stakeholders across business functions, product ownership, architecture, infrastructure, vendor partners, and third-party suppliers.
Coordinate and govern vendor/supplier testing activities, validating deliverables such as patches, fixes, and acceptance testing artifacts.
Oversee the defect management lifecycle, ensuring effective triage, prioritization, and resolution; establish and enforce quality gates.
Provide detailed reporting on quality metrics, coverage, defects, automation ROI, risks, and readiness to senior stakeholders and governance forums.
Build and mentor high-performing test teams, including test leads, automation engineers, performance specialists, and TDM experts.
Lead regression and upgrade-specific testing activities, including baseline regression packs, compatibility testing, data migration validation, cutover rehearsals, and post-go-live verification.
Required Technical & Domain Skills
Extensive experience in General Insurance testing with functional understanding of policy, billing, claims, rating, and endorsement processes.
Demonstrated delivery experience on Duck Creek or Guidewire upgrade programmes (major version upgrades, LOB migrations, patch upgrades).
Strong hands-on expertise with Playwright for web UI automation: designing scripts, debugging, parallelization, flakiness reduction, and CI integration.
Solid grounding in UI and API automation frameworks with experience integrating automated tests into CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, etc.).
Experience with API testing tools (Postman, REST-assured, or equivalent) and service virtualization techniques.
Test Data Management experience including masking, synthetic data creation, subsetting, and TDM tooling.
Non-functional testing experience with performance/load testing tools (JMeter, LoadRunner, etc.) and general security testing awareness.
Familiarity with test management and defect tracking tools (e.g., JIRA) and modern reporting and orchestration tools.
Knowledge of cloud environments, containerization, and infrastructure-as-code concepts impacting test environments.
Leadership & Programme Experience
Experience leading testing within large-scale transformation programmes involving multi-vendor ecosystems and geographically distributed teams.
Strong stakeholder management with the ability to communicate effectively with senior leadership and steering committees.
Proven capability to scale testing operations, implement best practices, and transform legacy QA approaches into engineering-led continuous testing models.
Desired Certifications & Qualifications
Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent professional experience.
Relevant certifications such as ISTQB Advanced/Expert, Agile testing certifications, ScrumMaster/Kanban certifications, or Duck Creek/Guidewire certifications (if available).
Playwright training or proven experience in implementing Playwright at scale is highly desirable.
Success Criteria & KPIs
Reduced production defects associated with upgraded components and integrations.
Increased automation coverage across critical business and technical flows, demonstrating tangible automation ROI.
On-time completion of regression cycles and successful cutover rehearsals with minimal defects or rollbacks.
Effective mitigation of testing risks and timely stakeholder sign-off for releases.
Improved feedback loops through CI-driven continuous validation and quality gates.
Typical Deliverables
Comprehensive test strategy and test plan.
Automation strategy and Playwright framework implementation.
Non-functional testing (NFT) strategy and TDM strategy documentation.
Test schedules, estimates, resource plans, and traceability matrices.
Test cases, automated test suites, and environment/data preparation scripts.
Regular dashboards and reports on test progress, risks, defects, and quality.
Personal Attributes
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with an engineering-first mindset.
Excellent communication skills with the ability to articulate technical risks in business terms.
Collaborative and influential leadership style across cross-functional and vendor teams.
Resilient, adaptable, and able to thrive in high-pressure transformation environments.
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