Business Area: Pensions Solutions and Control

Place of Work: Liverpool

Contract Type: Fixed Term Contract

When you join USS, the size and scale of our pension scheme means you will have numerous opportunities to learn and develop your career. Given our size you'll have real autonomy and influence as you collaborate closely with a wide-ranging team of experts.

Our office is a vibrant place to work, and we offer flexibility of office/homeworking due to our hybrid model.

About the role

In your role as Senior Test Analyst you will make a meaningful and valued contribution from the outset. This role will provide a great opportunity totake a lead position in the planning, design, preparation and execution of testing needed to support USS’ large and complex change portfolio and small change initiatives, with minimal guidance. As Senior Test Analyst, you will develop key relationships with business, technical colleagues, and senior stakeholders across the organisation, as well as third party suppliers.

This role requires you to develop and maintain your knowledge of USS’ business, products and services and industry best practice in testing. You will also take ownership of the key responsibilities listed below, whilst recognising that the role requires flexibility and adaptability to support the business in the delivery of change.

What you will be doing

As a trusted part of the Pensions Solutions and Control you will be responsible for:

Taking a leading role in the robust planning, design, preparation, and execution of testing aligned to the agreed testing strategy, including:

• Leading the assessment and review of business requirements and solution designs to determine the optimal approach to testing, ensuring the scope of testing is understood, agreed, and communicated to all project stakeholders.
• Leading the design of required tests, ensuring appropriate planning information is proactively input into test plans and schedules, including test objectives, areas of testing, and the number of required tests and cycles.
• Producing high-quality test deliverables and test designs appropriate to the phase of testing (e.g., business test scenarios, test scripts, test cases, and expected results).
• Ensuring all tests include meaningful and measurable prerequisites and success criteria.
• Ensuring end-to-end traceability of requirements to designed test scenarios and scripts, and confirming that business requirements are fit for purpose in terms of testability.
• Collaborating with technical colleagues (internal and external) to ensure that test environments are set up and sufficiently maintained to support the agreed phases of testing.
• Preparing test data, including identifying the data appropriate for the designed test scenarios, and working with technical colleagues, if required, to ensure data is available for all cycles of testing.
• Designing automated tests where appropriate, using the agreed testing tools and ensuring necessary technical support is in place.
• Ensuring all test deliverables are reviewed and approved as per agreed standards, including peer review by USS BAT Team colleagues and, where appropriate, project stakeholders.

Leading and performing test design and execution activities at the required level across all phases of testing, and acting as the technical expert throughout all project test activities, by:

• Using agreed testing tools to execute tests (where possible and in line with USS standards), recording and monitoring testing progress, and supporting management reporting.
• Recording and evaluating test results against the success criteria, and logging any deviations as defects.
• Executing testing according to planned cycles and coverage, and reporting any deviations appropriately.
• Managing all logged defects to a stakeholder-agreed conclusion.
• Controlling test environments during execution to maintain test data integrity.
• Identifying and incorporating automation candidates into the appropriate automation testing framework during test preparation cycles.
• Establishing collaborative working relationships across the organisation and with third-party suppliers to support test preparation, design, and execution activities.
• Providing support, sharing best practices, technical skills, and product knowledge with the team, and mentoring less experienced colleagues as required.
• Managing own workload and supporting the team’s capacity planning by providing accurate estimates for deliverables in support of project planning activities.

About you

We know that sometimes people can be put off applying for a job if they don't tick every box, if you're excited about working for us and have most of the skills or experience we're looking for, then please apply, regardless of whether you meet all the requirements outlined in this profile.

To be successful in the role you will have:

• Exceptional test design, test preparation and test execution skills.
• Able to demonstrate experience of the full testing lifecycle from business requirements to test execution through various test phases (Integration Testing, User Acceptance Testing [UAT], Regression Testing), Integration Testing including risk-based testing approaches.
• Use of testing tools for test execution and defect management including test automation.
• Experience of working with third party suppliers and testing software delivered into USS’ environments including COTS packages.
• Excellent communication skills: able to present complex scenarios with clarity and brevity to key project stakeholders.

At USS, every individual contributes to building a secure financial future for our members and their families. We strive to create a work environment where everyone can thrive professionally while making a meaningful impact on the lives of others. We're also committed to helping you build your career by providing opportunities for development. We put a focus on recognising and supporting each individual's unique career path, driving this forward with the support of an engaged and proactive management team.Here at USS, we want you to thrive in and out of work with a friendly team, flexible culture and excellent range of benefits!

How we will reward you

- Great starting salary
- Generous annual leave package
- Access to a high quality pension scheme provided through Universities Superannuation Scheme
- Supportive people policies (including enhanced occupational sickness pay and family friendly pay)
- Financial contributions towards your personal development to help you maintain your physical and mental wellbeing
- Access to a range of health and wellbeing services i.e., private healthcare, discounted gym membership
- Learning and development opportunities to develop your skills, knowledge and talent
- Employee Volunteer Day’s to support the communities where you work and live
- Cycle to Work Scheme

Our culture and values

Our people are what makes us different. We work together to create a diverse and inclusive culture that embraces individuality, where people are welcomed and feel comfortable in the knowledge that they can be themselves. Our purpose firmly states the importance of members, putting them ‘front and centre’ of what we do. This is embedded through our values:

- Integrity
- Collaboration
- Excellence

About us

Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) was established in 1974 as the principal pension scheme for universities and higher education institutions in the UK. We work with around 330 employers to help build a secure financial future for more than 528,000 members and their families. We are one of the largest pension schemes in the UK, with total assets of around £75.5bn (at 31 March 2023). To find out more, please visit https://www.uss.co.uk

USSL is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We strive to ensure our recruitment process is as flexible and inclusive as possible so we can attract diverse candidates and recruit the best talent. We want all candidates to perform at their best during the recruitment process, so if you need any reasonable adjustments or if there is anything we can do to help support you through your recruitment journey please let us know by contacting resourcing@uss.co.uk .