Senior Test Manager – Retail Banking

About the role

We are seeking a Senior Test Manager to lead quality engineering and testing across large‑scale transformation programmes for a leading retail bank in the Middle East. The role will oversee end‑to‑end testing of core banking, Islamic products, digital channels, payments and related services.

Key responsibilities

• Define and own test strategy, governance framework and delivery plan for the programme portfolio.
• Lead testing across core banking, Islamic banking, retail, corporate, SME, wealth, digital, branch, cards, payments and trade finance systems.
• Establish entry/exit criteria, quality gates, traceability and risk‑based test coverage.
• Coordinate business, technology, vendor and system‑integrator teams.
• Drive test automation and continuous testing within Agile and DevSecOps pipelines.
• Govern defects, dependencies, risks and remediation to closure.
• Provide quality, risk and readiness reporting to programme and executive leadership.
• Introduce AI‑supported testing where it delivers measurable quality, speed or cost benefits.
• Ensure compliance with security, regulatory, Sharia, audit and operational‑resilience requirements.

Required profile

• 12+ years of software testing and quality engineering experience.
• Proven experience managing large banking programmes and distributed teams.
• Hands‑on experience with multiple vendors, platforms and delivery partners.
• Deep knowledge of core banking systems and Islamic banking principles.
• Strong stakeholder, supplier and executive communication skills.

Required skills

• Software testing
• Quality engineering
• Core banking systems
• Islamic banking
• Agile methodology
• DevSecOps
• Continuous delivery
• AI for testing (test design, automation, defect analysis, data validation, reporting)
• Test automation