Head of Testing CoE – Wholesale Lending Operations, Transformation - Vice President

Job description

Job Description Purpose of the role To support the organisation, achieve its strategic objectives by ensuring the business is ready to receive the agreed change (address business problems and opportunities), ensuring that change initiatives are successfully assessed and implemented to enable them to be embedded in the organisation. Accountabilities Identification and analysis of business impact and opportunities that require change within the organisation. Development of business readiness strategies that will help to ensure the successful implementation of change initiatives. Communication with stakeholders, including senior management, project teams, and external partners, to ensure that they are informed about change initiatives and that their needs and expectations are being met. Collaboration with Client Readiness, Operational Readiness & Tech Delivery to ensure business, sales, operations, client servicing and functional partners are prepared for a smooth transition of technology delivery into BAU (including Target Operating Model, Training, Communications, Service Agreements.) . Management of resistance to change, ensuring that stakeholders are engaged and that their concerns are addressed. Review of business readiness plans and status reports in conjunction with change delivery managers to ensure business readiness activities completed on time including newly identified risks, issues and dependencies. Collaboration with project teams to ensure that change initiatives are aligned with project objectives and that change management activities are integrated into project plans. Provision of guidance and support to business stakeholders, ensuring that they have the necessary skills and knowledge to implement change initiatives successfully. Vice President Expectations To contribute or set strategy, drive requirements and make recommendations for change. Plan resources, budgets, and policies; manage and maintain policies/ processes; deliver continuous improvements and escalate breaches of policies/procedures.. If managing a team, they define jobs and responsibilities, planning for the department’s future needs and operations, counselling employees on performance and contributing to employee pay decisions/changes. They may also lead a number of specialists to influence the operations of a department, in alignment with strategic as well as tactical priorities, while balancing short and long term goals and ensuring that budgets and schedules meet corporate requirements.. If the position has leadership responsibilities, People Leaders are expected to demonstrate a clear set of leadership behaviours to create an environment for colleagues to thrive and deliver to a consistently excellent standard. The four LEAD behaviours are: L – Listen and be authentic, E – Energise and inspire, A – Align across the enterprise, D – Develop others.. OR for an individual contributor, they will be a subject matter expert within own discipline and will guide technical direction. They will lead collaborative, multi-year assignments and guide team members through structured assignments, identify the need for the inclusion of other areas of specialisation to complete assignments. They will train, guide and coach less experienced specialists and provide information affecting long term profits, organisational risks and strategic decisions.. Advise key stakeholders, including functional leadership teams and senior management on functional and cross functional areas of impact and alignment. Manage and mitigate risks through assessment, in support of the control and governance agenda. Demonstrate leadership and accountability for managing risk and strengthening controls in relation to the work your team does. Demonstrate comprehensive understanding of the organisation functions to contribute to achieving the goals of the business. Collaborate with other areas of work, for business aligned support areas to keep up to speed with business activity and the business strategies. Create solutions based on sophisticated analytical thought comparing and selecting complex alternatives. In-depth analysis with interpretative thinking will be required to define problems and develop innovative solutions. Adopt and include the outcomes of extensive research in problem solving processes. Seek out, build and maintain trusting relationships and partnerships with internal and external stakeholders in order to accomplish key business objectives, using influencing and negotiating skills to achieve outcomes. All colleagues will be expected to demonstrate the Barclays Values of Respect, Integrity, Service, Excellence and Stewardship – our moral compass, helping us do what we believe is right. They will also be expected to demonstrate the Barclays Mindset – to Empower, Challenge and Drive – the operating manual for how we behave. Join Barclays as a Lending Lead Analyst – Vice President, where you’ll act as the critical link between business objectives and technology delivery. You will be responsible for leading User Acceptance Testing (UAT), live proving, and implementation support for system, process, and automation changes within Wholesale Lending Operations. The role will primarily focus on LoanIQ, while also supporting other relevant lending platforms and change initiatives. The role holder will work closely with Technology, Transformation, Operations Readiness, business stakeholders, and virtual testing teams to ensure robust testing, effective change implementation, timely risk escalation, and successful transition into BAU. Key Accountabilities- Manage delivery of UAT and live proving for system changes and updates, with primary focus on LoanIQ and other in-scope lending systems. Support the planning, coordination, and execution of testing activities, ensuring alignment with Technology partners, Operations Readiness teams, and business stakeholders. Act as a key point of contact for systems, process, and automation change across Wholesale Lending Operations. Facilitate stakeholder sign-off, testing outcomes, and Go/No-Go decision-making through clear recommendations and evidence-based reporting. Support system implementation into BAU, including on-site business support, guidance, issue escalation, and coordination with Technology and business teams. Deliver projects within agreed timelines, proactively highlighting risks, assumptions, issues, and dependencies through appropriate governance forums. Understand project architecture and interoperability between system components, and clearly communicate this understanding to stakeholders. Stakeholder Management and Leadership- Work with programme test managers, Technology partners, Operations teams, and business stakeholders to secure buy-in for testing requirements, timelines, and delivery plans. Provide regular updates to key stakeholders across the business on testing progress, change impact, risks, issues, and readiness activities. Support training and development of virtual testing team members and SMEs to ensure effective testing and implementation of system changes. Maintain awareness of business process changes throughout project execution and ensure impacts are reflected in relevant project documentation and testing plans. Agree any required training, workarounds, or additional business readiness actions with Business Owners as identified during testing. Decision-making and Problem Solving- Develop bespoke testing scenarios, scripts, frameworks, management information, and project documentation in partnership with stakeholders. Inform testing strategy for key projects and automation initiatives, ensuring deliverables are tested to the appropriate level of business risk. Assess the impact of planned initiatives, deployment schedules, and timelines on business processes and impacted teams. Ensure business scenarios are incorporated into project documentation, procedures, testing scripts, UAT, and live proving activities. Secure Business, Controls, and stakeholder sign-off for testing outcomes and Go/No-Go decisions. Ensure stakeholders understand the impact of change, the required testing approach, and the expected business benefits. Essential Skills- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent qualification. Strong knowledge of Corporate and Investment Banking lending processes and procedures. Experience working closely with IT, Transformation, Change, and Operations teams. Hands-on knowledge of LoanIQ. Proven experience managing stakeholders across multiple levels and business areas. Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to present complex information clearly. Strong planning, coordination, issue management, and risk escalation capabilities. Desired Skills- MBA in Finance or equivalent postgraduate qualification. Knowledge of ACBS would be advantageous. Experience working in Agile project management environments. Experience with automation testing tools and frameworks such as Cucumber and Jenkins. Prior experience supporting lending transformation, systems implementation, or process automation initiatives. You may be assessed on key essential skills relevant to succeed in role, such as risk and controls, change and transformation, business acumen, strategic thinking and digital and technology, as well as job-specific technical skills. This role is based out of Noida.