Greg Duckworth Email & Phone Number

Remote

At Nearform, I have consistently demonstrated a strong combination of technical expertise andleadership to deliver impactful results across various industries. Managing a team of 26 engineers atits peak, I focused on mentoring and developing leadership skills within the team. This effort led tosignificant career growth, with 4 team members (2 DevOps Engineers and 2 Test Engineers) beingpromoted to Staff level and another stepping into a Team Lead role as a Delivery Architect.During my time I have contributed to the successful delivery of seven projects spanningpharmaceuticals, finance, education, and distribution. One of my key achievements was developing and implementing a company-wide testing standard thatestablished how testing should operate across all projects. In addition, I helped define and create a career progression framework for Test Engineers, enabling clear growth paths aligned with both individual and organisational goals. To foster a culture of continuous improvement, I founded an internal Testing Community, hosting workshops, presentations to share knowledge and inspireinnovation across teams.I have recently been brought in late to an engagement as Test Manager with only two months leftbefore the project’s deadline. My focus is on building stakeholder confidence in the application whilemanaging scope to ensure delivery readiness. I am working closely with multiple workstreams,including two client teams and three consultancies, to prioritise deliverables and reduce scope wherenecessary, without compromising quality.This combination of strategic leadership, technical expertise, and adaptability across domainsshowcases my ability to make a measurable impact in fast-paced and challenging environments.

Salford, England, United Kingdom

Taken over interim Software Engineering Team Lead as well as my Test Lead role.

Salford

When I was at the BBC, I led the testing and quality assurance for two of the organisation’s most criticalservices:1. Search: The backend service powering search engines across flagship platforms such asiPlayer, Sounds, Voice, News, Sport, BBC Worldwide, and the responsive web.2. Navigation: A delivery mechanism for the responsive web, supporting GDPR compliance, useranalytics, cookie management, and additional services.I spearheaded the transformation in these areas, reducing release times from 2–3 days per release tomultiple automated deployments per day, resulting in a significant acceleration of delivery cycles andenhanced agility. My efforts included expanding the testing scope to encompass non-functionalrequirements, such as:- Performance testing: Ensuring systems handle up to 250,000 requests per second,guaranteeing reliability during peak usage.- AWS Metrics Validation: Implementing robust monitoring to support on-call representativesand maintain service availability.Additionally, I developed and implemented the department’s testing strategy, establishingfoundational principles that guided all test practices across the team.Beyond technical contributions, I managed a team of senior and mid-level testers and developers.Through regular one-on-one sessions, I supported their professional growth, focusing on bothtechnical skills and soft skills. This leadership strengthened team capabilities and aligned them withdepartmental goals.I also played an active role in on-call support for BBC products, ensuring 24/7 availability. Myresponsibilities included organising war games to test product resilience in unexpected scenarios andproviding hands-on training for developers and testers in areas such as AWS services and incidentmanagement. These activities improved system reliability and enhanced the team’s preparedness forreal-world challenges.

Salford

Since my promotion to the Senior Test Engineer role with the Content Discovery department, I have been fundamental in the adoption of implementing new automation frameworks such as NightwatchJS which is integrated into Browserstack to perform our front end testing; and Cucumber, Ruby and Capybara to implement tests around the Business Logic of the applications.In addition to the above, I have played a pivotal role in the development of other members of the team, allowing them to move from purely manual testers into automated/manual testers.

Manchester, United Kingdom

In my role at the BBC, I was required to undertake agile software testing in order to effectively meet company and customer needs. Working for an innovative broadcasting company known throughout the world; I have gained experience in a multitude of areas including working on different web based solutions, operating systems and devices. I was focused on taking the most efficient and thorough approach to software testing. In addition to my daily duties I contribute to the test automation framework which I have helped set up. This has allowed my colleagues in the QA department to quickly learn and write automated test scripts which run through BrowserStack. By implementing this tool I have successfully decreased the time required when setting up new automated tests – thus allowing more time for in-depth testing.Other attributes include:- Knowledge of Automated Testing languages including, Selenium and Cucumber- Experience with HTML5 and CSS3 fully responsive web based solutions- Knowledge of different data formats including XML, JSON and data APIs - Ability to utilise Jira as part of product tracking and the creation of management reports - Knowledge of third party tools to assist with improving testing workflow, these include BrowserStack and TestRail. - Experience with different mobile technologies including iOS, Android and Windows

Blackburn, United Kingdom

Liaising closely with the software development team to implement robust test plans and strategies. Ensuring, through agile testing, that all aspects of a program function correctly, by finding and eliminating any problems - always keeping the client and/or end-user in mind. Typically involved in working on multiple projects simultaneously.Duties include: - Testing software to identify and resolve problems.- In charge of testing developed software against specified requirements.- Accurately monitoring and recording results in test documentation.- Preparing detailed test plans, acceptance criteria and test scenarios for each project.- Liaising with developers and programmers to swiftly resolve faults.- Analysing, writing reports and communicating results to colleagues and managers.- Monitoring the testing process and identifying and logging test failures.- Testing full product suite, identifying problems and resolving them with the development team.- Working with fully responsive web solutions using HTML5 and CSS3 across a variety of devices- Knowledge of web solutions using Node.JS, JavaScript and REST based systems

Blackburn, United Kingdom

Main duties included:- Providing front line telephone and e-mail support for England, Ireland and English speaking International customers and resellers- In-depth knowledge of markets across Europe- Working with customers to problem-solve a wide range of issues ensuring quick, accurate resolutions- One-to-one call quality coaching to help non-native English speaking colleagues to improve their spoken and written English- Creation and implementation of in-house technologies, utilised by members of the department (including a diverse and multifunctioning server based tool that enabled agile testing on Linux and Windows to provide quicker resolutions to customer issues).- Operating as part of a team and interacting with a number of departments to improve the customer experience- Consistently high KPIs demonstrating first-rate customer service

Accrington, United Kingdom

- Cash handling of large amounts- Maintaining excellent levels of customer service- Good sales practices- Implementing company procedures to uphold the brand reputation- Continuous renewal of product knowledge-Knowledge of data protection laws and ensuring legislation was adhered to atall times- Good knowledge of security procedures