Johannesburg: Senior Specialist: Automation Test Analyst

The purpose of the role is to work collaboratively within the IT Service Management team and across other teams in the business to deliver exceptional customer experiences for the platform. You will form part of a larger testing practice (as a senior) within the business to drive quality and governance. Competencies: Communicating with Impact: Communicates effectively in both the written and verbal format delivering clear, succinct messages. Customer Service: Commits to achieving high quality results and provides a prompt, suitable and personalized service to customer’s that meets their needs. Take personal accountability for delivery. Driving for Excellence: Approaches work in an orderly and systematic manner to ensure the achievement of high-quality customer service. Analytical Thinking: Understands a situation or problem by breaking it into smaller pieces and tracing the implications of a situation in a step-by-step way. Entrepreneurial and Commercial Thinking: Understands the economic environment and able to make well informed business decisions. People Skills: The ability to influence a wide range of diverse individuals and groups positively. Resilience: Responds to stressful situations in a calm and proactive manner and keeps self and team focused on balancing personal energy with business result. Teamwork and Cooperation: Cooperates with others to accomplish common goals. Persuading and Influencing: The capacity to persuade, convince and influence others for the purpose of achieving desired results. Leading Change: Continually seeks and encourages others to see opportunities for new and innovative approaches to solving organizational problems. Trust and Integrity: Shows sincerity, honesty and consistency in words and actions. Essential Qualifications: Advanced diplomas/national degrees ISTQB certificate in Software Testing (foundational) Safe Agile certification Related test automation qualifications Minimum Experience: At least 5 years of experience in a Financial Adviser firm, Financial Services Customer Service, or an Investment Platform business. 6 – 10 years Software Quality Engineering experience inclusive of best practices. Experience in solving complex problems for customers (internal or external). Experience in building successful relationships and working collaboratively across departmental teams. Experience at working in a fast paced, proactive and delivery focused environments. Familiar with Agile project methodology and common testing tools. e.g., Jira/Confluence/Zephyr Solid knowledge and experience of Sonata RDA and their respective integrations in relation to investment platforms. Solid knowledge and experience of functional and test automation standards, processes, and governance. Experience with leading large projects including driving test planning, execution, and reporting. Strong technical testing experience, including test automation using tools such as Selenium and UFT. Knowledge and experience with various automation frameworks i.e. linear, data driven, keyword driven, hybrid. Have a can-do attitude toward implementing process or governance improvements within the test practice Solid coding experience in relation to test automation using Java, C# etc. Knowledge Required: A successful candidate will show: A deep understanding of investment and life products (to subject matter expert level) to talk about investments confidently. An understanding of financial services regulation as it relates to investment platform providers. An in depth understanding of providing solutions and experiences which delights financial advisers. A clear understanding of how an adviser’s business works. A clear understanding of the competitive landscape for our platform. A strong understanding of change management processes. Ability to work systematically with exceptional attention to detail. Great communication skills both written and verbal with the ability to lead people and teams. Actively participate and drive the planning, estimation and sizing of change requests, features, or IT service requests to be delivered across the relevant delivery streams Delivery of a well-structured and standard designed, quality assurance solution within the timelines agreed with the delivery team. Report and manage the resolution of issues timeously to avoid unplanned expenses which could result in late delivery and stability issues once operational. Contribute to the retrospective reviews to introduce efficiencies which will ensure quicker delivery with high quality to our clients. Work closely with Leads, Developers, Architects, Product Owner, and other Stakeholders to meet the expectations of our clients. Build and foster deep relationship with Peers, Subject Matter Experts, Developers, Product Owner, and other Stakeholders though honest communication which align to the company values. Liaise with stakeholders across the business to build a network that will align to ways of work. Contribute to the systematic breakdown of the business need into manageable feature(s), stories and epics that can be delivered. Participate in the backlog grooming. Conduct and participate in the sprint planning, test estimation and success criteria. Collaborate with the core test team to continuously improve the test regression pack, automation frameworks and overall platform. Where applicable, implement the test automation solutions with the objective that it has adequate coverage and can be re-used for regression testing. Confirm that the automation/functional test suite implemented is appropriately catalogued and aligns with the test governance. Responsible for testing of the system or component testing under load, high-availability, recoverability and other fit for purpose non-functional testing. Log defects using the pre-defined defect management tool and ensure the relevant information is captured accurately that will assist with the root cause analysis. Identify potential product risks and communicate to the stakeholders the details and any possible mitigation factors. Collaborate with the stakeholder to ensure the resolution of a defect and that the root cause analysis is performed and recorded. Report status of testing to the respective delivery stream stakeholders on a regular basis. Conduct retrospective reviews. Participate in the showcases to stakeholders. Ability to perform hands on test execution as well lead the team for project, including coaching and mentoring team members. Understand and manage own time based on expected timelines articulated by the line-management and project expectations. Collaborate with peers and business experts to understand technical advances and its application within the INN8 eco-system. Seek ongoing improvements in technical capabilities. Support the achievement of the business strategy, objectives, and values. Stay abreast of developments in the software quality assurance industry. Ensure personal growth and enable effectiveness in performance of roles and responsibilities. Contribute to the company culture building initiatives. Participate and support corporate responsibility initiatives for the achievement of the business strategy. Seek opportunities to improve business processes, models, and systems though agile thinking.