Role & responsibilities

Job Specification Cheques, BACS & Faster Payments Scheme Test Lead

Job Title

Cheques, BACS & Faster Payments Scheme Test Lead

Department

Payments Transformation / Technology Delivery

Reporting To

Programme Test Manager / Payments Delivery Manager

Role Purpose

The Cheques, BACS & Faster Payments Scheme Test Lead is responsible for leading the planning, coordination, execution and governance of all testing activities supporting the Cheque, BACS and Faster Payments workstreams. The role ensures that testing is delivered in accordance with programme milestones, Pay.UK scheme requirements, regulatory obligations and internal governance standards.

The Test Lead acts as the single point of accountability for test delivery across Santander technology teams, business stakeholders, third-party suppliers, shared services and external delivery partners, ensuring successful implementation of scheme changes and payment platform enhancements.

The role is responsible for ensuring that all testing phases are completed, certified and signed off to support successful delivery of scheme initiatives while maintaining operational resilience and compliance.

Key Responsibilities

Test Leadership

- Own and maintain the Workstream Test Strategy and Test Plan, ensuring alignment with the overarching Payments Programme Test Strategy.
- Review and contribute to the Programme Test Strategy and governance standards.
- Define and manage the testing approach for:
- System Testing
- System Integration Testing (SIT)
- End-to-End Testing
- User Acceptance Testing (UAT)
- Operational Acceptance Testing (OAT)
- Dress Rehearsals
- Production Verification Testing

- Ensure all test phases are delivered to agreed quality, governance and programme standards.

Scheme Testing

- Lead testing activities supporting:
- BACS Direct Credits
- BACS Direct Debits
- Faster Payments
- Cheque processing and Image Clearing

- Ensure compliance with Pay.UK scheme requirements, operational rules and industry standards.
- Coordinate scheme certification and external testing where required.
- Validate payment processing, settlement and exception handling across all supported payment journeys.
- Support testing of scheme rule changes, regulatory updates and infrastructure enhancements.

Test Coordination





- Coordinate testing activities across Santander delivery teams, business operations, vendors and shared services.
- Work closely with programme Test Leads to ensure integrated End-to-End testing across all payment workstreams.
- Manage dependencies across payment applications, middleware, channels, infrastructure and operational teams.
- Ensure alignment with external delivery partners where cross-organisational testing is required.

Stakeholder Management

- Act as the Single Point of Contact (SPOC) for all workstream testing activities.
- Represent the workstream within programme governance forums.
- Provide regular progress updates, quality metrics and delivery status to programme leadership.
- Build effective working relationships with business stakeholders, technology teams, operational teams, vendors and external scheme participants.

Test Execution & Governance

- Monitor testing progress against approved plans and milestones.
- Track:
- Test execution
- Test coverage
- Defect trends
- Defect ageing
- Exit criteria

- Ensure reporting tools accurately reflect workstream status for programme-level consolidation.
- Escalate delivery risks and quality concerns where programme tolerances are threatened.

Risk & Issue Management

- Identify testing risks, dependencies and issues.
- Maintain workstream risks and issues within the programme RAID log.
- Develop mitigation and contingency plans.
- Recommend workstream readiness for release.

Test Data Management

- Define and coordinate test data requirements across all test phases.
- Ensure representative payment scenarios and operational test data are available.
- Work with environment and data management teams to maintain test readiness.

Controls & Compliance

- Secure SOx approvals throughout the testing lifecycle where applicable.
- Obtain stakeholder sign-off for:
- Test Strategy
- Test Plan
- Test Scripts
- Test Completion

- Ensure compliance with internal governance,



audit, regulatory and operational control requirements.

Release Readiness

- Assess testing readiness against agreed exit criteria.
- Support programme Go/No-Go governance.
- Recommend workstream readiness for production deployment.
- Support post-implementation verification and early-life support activities where required.

Essential Experience

- Extensive Test Management experience within Financial Services.
- Proven experience delivering testing for UK payment schemes.
- Strong knowledge of BACS, Faster Payments and Cheque processing.
- Experience leading large-scale System Integration and End-to-End testing.
- Experience coordinating multiple technology teams, suppliers and business stakeholders.
- Experience managing testing within complex transformation programmes.
- Strong understanding of test governance, defect management and quality assurance.

Essential Technical Knowledge

- BACS Direct Credits and Direct Debits
- Faster Payments Service (FPS)
- Cheque Processing and Image Clearing System (ICS)
- Pay.UK Scheme Rules
- UK Payments Architecture
- ISO 20022 (where applicable)
- Payment Processing Platforms
- Test Strategy and Planning
- System Integration Testing
- End-to-End Testing
- User Acceptance Testing
- Defect Management
- Test Governance
- SOx Controls
- RAID Management
- Release Readiness

Desirable Experience

- Pay.UK scheme change programmes.
- Payments platform modernisation or migration initiatives.
- High-volume retail payment processing.
- Operational resilience and disaster recovery testing.
- Performance, volume and resilience testing.
- Test automation within payments programmes.
- Agile and hybrid delivery methodologies.
- Experience working with third-party payment service providers and clearing partners.

Key Skills

- Strong leadership and coordination skills.
- Excellent stakeholder management and communication.
- Ability to influence senior stakeholders and delivery partners.
- Solid analytical and problem-solving capability.
- Risk identification and mitigation.
- Excellent planning and organisational skills.
- Decision making under pressure.
- High attention to detail and commitment to quality.
- Ability to manage multiple priorities across complex programmes.

📌 Test Lead (Hyderabad)
🏢 Coforge
📍 Hyderabad