John Thomas Email & Phone Number

Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom

Starting a new role today 16/01/23 as Programme Test Manager at Admiral based in Cardiff.

Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom

At the beginning of 2022 BPF recruited a permanent Head of Test and I have since provided my full support to the new incumbent. I have supported both as a deputy in the day to day running of the Test community and in my new role as End-to-End Test Manager for the Sustain portfolio. Barclays Partner Finance Tech and Change are in a period of transition as they become more embedded into the wider Barclays domain. To aid with this transition a new Operating Model is being put in place with BPF Tech and Change split across 3 portfolio’s – Transform and Grow, Regulatory and Control, Sustain.In my role as E2E Test Manger for Sustain I work upstream from the Scrum Teams with the Product Owners, Program Mangers, Senior Business Analysts, Solutions Architect and Development Leads. The objective being to get the backlog of Business Outcomes, Epic’s and User Stories Scrum team ready. Once the work is handed over to the Scrum teams, I liaise with the appropriate Test Leads to ensure testing is carried out in line with the Test Strategy I am responsible for producing. I will also ensure the Test Leads liaise with each other in order to complete E2E testing of the process under test. I am responsible for approving all related Test Completion Reports and Implementation Plans in preparation for go live.

Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom

I was asked to take up the Head of Test role at BPF until such a time as Barclays could recruit as suitable permanent candidate. As Head of Test at Barclays Partner Finance (BPF) I was responsible for all things test related in the BPF portfolio. I led a team of nine Test Leads working across Agile Scrum teams to drive the Test Strategy forward. My team and I were responsible for providing leadership, guidance and coaching to the testing team which was over 50 strong. The team are based in multiple locations – Cardiff, Northampton and Pune in India. The Test Strategy is driving us toward automation whilst appreciating there will always be a need for manual testing. My Leads and I worked upstream to the scrum teams with Product Owners, Lead Business Analyst and Technical Leads strategizing the testing solutions to be implemented across the Business Outcomes. The solutions/strategies were often cross platform both within BPF, the greater Barclays group and external to Barclays. The coordination/planning of E2E Testing Strategies required us to liaise with test teams in other parts of the business as well as major clients such as Apple and Amazon.Whilst putting Testing Strategies in place it important to remember we work in a regulated industry, and this must always be at the forefront of our minds.As Head of Test at BPF I was a member of the BPF Senior Leadership Team.

Cardiff, United Kingdom

As Test Lead working under an Agile methodology, I was now responsible for the Test Management of up to 5 Agile Scrum Teams. The initial portfolio of Business Outcomes/Features included Financial Audit, Debt Sales, Vulnerable Customers, Apple Upgrade UI, Dealer Settlements, Credit Balances, Payment Protection Services and SMS/Digital Communication. In this role I was responsible for the production of Test Strategies and ensuring that the testing was carried out across the Scrum teams in accordance with those Test Strategies. I was also responsible for the production of Test Plans and Test Completion Reports. These may be produced by Sprint, Business Outcome/Feature or by Release. This is dependent on the methodology used by the Scrum Team. Some teams had taken to using a Kanban approach whilst others had stuck with Scrum. Behavior Driven Development (BDD) was used to drive the development and testing. Using BDD, Acceptance Criteria was written in Gherkin format (Given, When Then). As Test Lead I played a key role in ensuring the appropriate Acceptance Criteria was in place for each User Story and testing was carried out to meet that Acceptance Criteria. The Rally tool was used to document all User Stories within Features within Business Outcomes. Rally was the tool where all Acceptance Criteria for each User Story was captured. It was also used for recording all test evidence, test scripts, test results and for defect management. The phases of testing performed by the Scrum Teams included Unit/Spec testing, System Test, System Integration Test, Non-Functional Test and User Acceptance Test. There was a strong emphasis on Automation from a code build, environment build and test perspective. There were several tools available to the Scrum teams including QTP, Visual Studio, TFS, IntelliJ, Jenkins, Selenium, SOAP UI.

Telford, United Kingdom

This short-term contract working for Capgemini had me performing the role of Test Manager on the HMRC (aspire) account. The role was based in the Telford office and required SC clearance. Due to the sensitive nature of the project I was working on I am unable to go into the detail of the systems involved. What I am able to share is that it was a Technical Refresh Project involving upgrades to Oracle and Weblogic. The project also involved implementing a new method of Authentication and Authorization. As Test Manager I was responsible for production of Test Strategy/Plans and Test Scripts for the System Test (ST) / Inter System Integration Test (ISIT) phases. I had a small team of dedicated testers to carry out the testing of these phases. The ISIT test phase also involved liaising with the Heads of Data (HODs) of the satellite systems that interfaced with the core system under test. I was also responsible for overseeing the Operational Acceptance Testing (including Non-Functional test), liaising with the CLONE test team (Pre-live) and Live Services. As this project was being implemented as part of the six-monthly Major Release I also had to liaise with the Enterprise test team. The Enterprise test team were responsible for testing the Major Release in its entirety and it was my responsibility to ensure that they fully regression tested the areas relating to my project. The EARS system was used for Defect Management. This system was also used for recording Live Incidents.

Hemel Hempstead, United Kingdom

This was fixed six-month contract with Steria as the Account Test Manager on the Ministry of Justice account. In this role I was responsible for all testing carried out by Steria on behalf of the Ministry of Justice. The portfolio, whilst I was in position, included one large project ‘Transforming Rehabilitation (TR)’ (30 testers), numerous small to medium sized projects and BAU/Maintenance type work. The Account Test Manager role involved resourcing, planning, forecasting and providing test governance across the whole test portfolio. The Test governance involved ensuring that Steria’s RightTest process was adhered too across all projects. The role required Security Clearance to SC level. I had a Programme Test Manager (PTM) and six Test Managers reporting in to me on a daily basis. The role also included liaising with a number of Suppliers and also reporting to the Head of Test at the MoJ on a regular basis. Due to the size of the TR Programme, mentioned above, I along with my PTM was regularly involved in planning and strategy meetings with the TR Programme board. The aim of the TR programme is to change the way in which offenders are managed by introducing a mixed Public and private Sector delivery model. From a testing perspective this involved System and System Integration testing of major functional changes to the nDelius Case Management System (including MIS), testing of the new infrastructure put in place, testing of the Migration process to be carried out, Performance testing, Load testing and Operational Acceptance Testing. An overall Project Test Strategy was produced along with a Test Plan for each phase. The Quality Centre tool (QC) was used to store and execute all scripts where they were also linked back to requirements. QC was also used for defect management and the daily production of statistics in relation to test execution. The first phase of the TR Programme was successfully implemented on June 1st 2014.

Bournemouth/Swindon

I have just completed a 21 month contract working as Project Test Manager at the Nationwide Building Society based in Swindon/Bournemouth. In the role of Project Test Manager I was responsible for managing the testing of a large Mortgage migration project. My responsibilities included the production of Master Test Plan, a detailed Test Plan per test phase, Test Scripts and Test Exit Reports. The Quality Center testing tool was used throughout the testing process including defect management. As Test Manager I was responsible for all test phases including Supplier Test, System Test, Systems Integration Test, Operational Acceptance Test and User Acceptance Test. The User Acceptance Test phase was followed by live test proving and management of live defects during a 3 month warranty period. During the User Acceptance Test phase one of my key responsibilities was that of business stakeholder management, which involved liaising with senior stakeholders to ensure UAT was planned and managed successfully. I was also responsible for reporting progress to the project, key stakeholders and to the test management function as well as liaising with all suppliers (both internal and external). My Test teams comprised both onshore/offshore resource with a mixture of permanent and consultancy staff.

I have just started in a new role as Test Manager at Everything Everywhere (Orange/T-Mobile) in Bristol. I will be test managing several projects within the Commercial Team.

I returned to EADS in January 2010 as Project Test Manager on the FiReControl Project. I had specific responsibility for managing Test Assurance of the sub-project deliveries from fourteen international suppliers, as well as acting as deputy to the overall Programme Test Manager who was responsible for the management and governance of all FiReControl programme test activities. The governance remit ranged from Supplier Unit/System Test, Component Transition Test, Large Scale Integration and System Test. Support was also provided for User Acceptance Test and Operational Acceptance Test. EADS were playing the role of LSI on the FiReControl programme, the objective of which was to provide the English Fire and Rescue Services with new fully integrated, resilient networked Regional Control Centers. The English Fire and Rescue Services was therefore our end Client but our direct Client was the Communities and Local Government (CLG). The testing activities for the programme were strictly governed and defined by a contractual ‘Master Test Plan’. Test activities included the production of a Test Strategy, the production of a Test to Requirement Matrix, the production of Test Plans for each testing phase, the management of the production of Test Cases/Scripts and the Execution of Test Scripts, the production of Exit Reports for each test phase. The Quality Center testing tool was used throughout the testing process including defect management. As well as the main System delivery, the programme included a number of smaller projects known as early deliverables, including a Data Capture and Migration project. The programme covered all areas of testing including Static, Functional and Non-Functional. Test tools used on the programme included LoadRunner, WinRunner, Quick Test Pro and Facilita. At the project’s high point the team consisted of 80 testers and test managers.

At Orange I worked through testing consultancy Transition Consulting Limited. During this short term Consultacy contract I carried out an analysis of testing on the OUK Data Warehouse (Dwh) systems on behalf of the OUK Test and Validation Department. At the time Dwh systems did not fall under the remit of OUK Validation and Test and as such did not follow the same Validation and Test processes and procedures. My role was to carry out a detailed analysis of existing Dwh Test processes and produce a paper of recommendations for improvement, in line with OUK Validation and Test processes. My remit also included the implementation of the afore mentioned recommendations, including performing the role of Test Manager on current Dwh projects.

At M&S I worked through testing consultancy Steria. I performed the role of Test Manager on the Future Foods Forecasting and Supplier Ordering Project. The project involved interfacing the existing Foods legacy systems at M&S with the new Forecast and Ordering system Q. In this role I was responsible for QA of all testing on the project as well as managing the Systems Integration and Operational Acceptance testing. The test phases for which I was responsible for QA being Supplier Unit and System Test as well as the in-house User Acceptance and Mainframe Operational Acceptance Test . My test team was a combination of onshore (based at M&S in Uxbridge) and offshore (India) resource. As Test Manager I was responsible for reporting progress to the Project Management team and liaising with all suppliers. The main Supplier was a company called Quantum which is based in the United States and was responsible for supplying the new Forecast and Ordering System Q. We also had an in-house supplier TCS who were responsible for amendments to the M&S Foods legacy systems. The Quality Center testing tool was used throughout the testing process including defect management.

At EADS I worked through testing consultancy Transition Consulting Limited. Having initially performed the role of Test Team Lead on the FiReControl Programme I was promoted to the role of Test and Verification Project Manager for FiReControl. As T&V Project Manager I was responsible for the management and governance of all FiReControl programme test activities. EADS were playing the role of LSI on the FiReControl programme, the objective of which was to provide the English Fire and Rescue Services with new fully integrated, resilient networked Regional Control Centers. The English Fire and Rescue Services was therefore our end Client but our direct Client was the Communities and Local Government (CLG). The testing activity for the programme were strictly governed and defined by a contractual document called the ‘Master Test Plan’. Test activities include the production of a Test Strategy, the production of a Test to Requirement Matrix, the production of Test Plans for each testing phase, the management of the production of Test Cases/Scripts and the Execution of Test Scripts, the production of Exit Reports for each test phase. The Quality Center testing tool was used throughout the testing process including defect management. As T&V Project Manager I was also responsible for reporting progress to the Project management team, liaising with all suppliers (both internal and external), and also liaising with the CLG Test Team and Management. As well as the main System delivery, the programme also included a number of smaller projects known as early deliverables. These included a Data Capture and Migration project. Test tools used on the programme included Load Runner, Quick Test Pro and Facilita.

At Orange I worked through a testing consultancy called Transition Consulting Limited. Here I performed the role of Test Manager test managing multiple projects in parallel. As Test Manager I was responsible for all testing activities carried out within my projects. These activities included the production of a Test Strategy, the production of a Test to Requirement Matrix, the production of Test Plans for each testing phase, the management of the production of Test Cases/Scripts and the Execution of Test Scripts, the production of Exit Reports for each test phase. The Test Director testing tool was used throughout the testing process including defect management. As Test Manager I was also responsible for reporting progress to the Project management team and liaising with all development teams/suppliers, both internal and third party. A Test Annex was produced for all third parties which clearly defines responsibilities from a testing perspective. I have dealt with numerous third party suppliers at Orange, both on-shore and off-shore including Genesys, Torry Harris, Carritor and Cognizant.

At O2 I filled the role of User Acceptance Test Manager on their Companion UK Project. Companion comprises O2’s Customer Service Systems including the Online web based Customer Shop system. The project was run in partnership with IBM and as such I was based at IBM in Hursley.As UAT Manager for the Shops work stream I was responsible for managing the test team, reporting progress to the Project management team, supporting the test analysts in all areas of preparation, pre testing and test execution, managing test case preparation and test coverage, implementation of a defect management process, interlocking with business area representatives, interlocking with third parties such as IBM, Logica, Astron. Test Director was the tool used for both testing and defect management at O2.I was also responsible for User Acceptance Testing a number of Migration and Archive projects during my time at O2.

The role involved managing User Acceptance Testing all system enhancements provided by the 3rd party software supplier as well as managing the System Testing all of system enhancements provided in-house. This involved gathering all business and client requirements, reviewing test cases prepared by test analysts and planning and managing the execution of the test phase. This project was set up to migrate sold accounts to MBNA and ensure the existing business was not detrimentally impacted in any way. My role on this project required me to liaise with MBNA, all HBoS Business areas, both in-house and 3rd party software suppliers.

Halifax Card Services were to provide a new web GUI Front End to their existing Green Screen Customer Service System - BWMS. My main role on this project was Test Case preparation writing, User Acceptance Testing as well as carrying out the role of Defect Manager within the BWMS testing team. My first task here was to carry out an evaluation of the TestDirector case tool and propose a Defect Management process to be used on the project. The process provided, in conjunction with TestDirector, was later adopted as the company standard.

HBS were offering new entrants to the Electricity Supply Market a complete Customer Service package, which includes providing them with a Customer Registration and Billing system. HBS teamed up with two software houses to provide them with an Oracle based system to perform this task.At this stage of this project my main role was that of User Acceptance Test Team Leader although I also had responsibility for Software Release Management and Change Control. As User Acceptance Test Team Leader I was responsible for a team of a dozen test analysts. All software received from our software suppliers needed to be User Acceptance tested prior to eventual release into our production environments. The TPLAN testing tool was used on the project for recording test scenarios/scripts and their subsequent test results. The gathering of test evidence was essential as in a number of cases an element of re-certification or self-certification is required by the various electricity regulatory bodies. Due to the phased approach taken to the delivery of the software a great deal of time was also spent on regression testing.Release Management – it was crucial that the release of software was managed correctly on this project due to the added complexities listed below. We had software being delivered from two separate suppliers as mentioned above. We also had several different testing environments as well as the production environment into which software releases had to be delivered. We were also dealing with two clients who were at different releases of software and in some cases had client specific versions of software.A change control procedure was put in place to manage all changes affecting the project. These changes ranged from enforced National regulatory changes to internal cosmetic system changes.

This contract relates to the project specified above.My role as Requirements Team Leader on this project involved leading a small team of Business Analyst to gather the specific requirements of each client. The requirements were documented before being passed on to the design and development team who tailored the base registration and billing system to meet our individual client’s needs. As well as meeting our client’s requirements my team and I had to ensure that all regulatory requirements were also being met by the systems. The registration part of the system was written to meet the requirements of the 1998 de-regulation of the electricity industry. This package, therefore, needed to be upgraded to be TA2000 compliant. The Billing part of the system is an Australian package and needed to be amended completely to meet all electricity regulatory requirements as well as standard UK requirements such as VAT and Direct Debit.

Initially, on my return to Hyder, I held the position of IDEAL/DATACOM A/P on the 1998 De-regulation of the Electricity business project. This project was successfully implemented in December 1998. (see below for further detail)I then moved on to the position of Team Leader/Business Analyst on the ‘Hyder Customer Services Electricity (HCS (E)) Project. The objective of this project was to write a new Customer Services System for the Electricity business. My role here was to liaise between the HCS (E) project and the existing Legacy Customer Service Systems. As well as the resolution of queries/issues raised by either party my team was responsible for the development and testing of the Interfaces between the new HCS (E) system and those parts of the legacy systems that were to remain. The interfaces were developed using IDEAL/DATACOM, PL1 and Assembler.

PHH are one of the UK’s largest Fleet Car Management and Fuel Card Service Companies. My time at PHH was spent on the ‘Wheels’ project. PHH had recently merged with one of their rivals, and it was the objective of the ‘Wheels’ project to migrate all their rivals clients and the services to which they were contracted onto the PHH Fleet Car Management and Fuel Card Systems. PHH’s systems were written in IDEAL/DATACOM. My role on the ‘Wheels’ project included:- initial Data Mapping exercise to ensure all required data could either be migrated or derived, specification of programs required to enhance existing systems, System Testing and Implementation.

I performed the role of Team Manager charged with amending SWALECs legacy Monthly Billed Customer Service System to ensure they were able to compete in the electricity supply market on de-regulation in April 1998. The Monthly system is IDEAL/DATACOM based and was implemented in 1991. The 1998 project involved writing some 30 new IDEAL programs and amending some 20 existing ones. My role involved leading a team of some twelve A/Ps through the various stages of the project lifecycle, including the testing stages, as well as other managerial tasks such as resource management and planning. In addition to my day to day responsibilities I was also a Revenue Standby Programmer charged with ensuring the Quarterly and Monthly Revenue overnight batch procedures ran successfully. The overnight batch procedures are a mixture of IDEAL, PL/1 and Assembler programs. I had performed this role since 1991.

During the period specified I performed the role of Team Leader/Business Analyst of the Data Collection and Meter Management/Inventory team on the LUSIS Customer Services (LCS) project. The LCS system, currently being developed, is multi-utility Customer Services System which will replace SWALECs electricity and gas legacy customer service systems as well as Welsh Water legacy customer service system. My main deliverable here was to produce a Statement of User Requirements for the Data Collection and Meter Management/Inventory areas.

I spent the first 11 years of my career working for SWALEC. During that period I filled a wide range of positions including Analyst/Programmer (A/P), Test Team Leader, Business Analyst and Project Manager.