Mark Vincent

Bournemouth University - BSc Hons Information Systems Management

3 A Levels, 10 O Levels

Experience: 18+ years in Senior Test Management and Programme Quality Assurance

Certification: Prince II Practitioner, ITIL v0.4, APMG Agile Project

                        Management, ISEB foundation software testing

                                  Sectors: Banking, Finance, Local and Central Government, Health, and

                                                  Telecoms

                                  Test Tools: HP ALM, JIRA and T-Plan

Mark has defined Test Policy and Test Strategy and managed relationships at all levels on large, medium and small projects.  Mark is comfortable producing artefacts associated with Agile, Waterall and hybrid methodologies covering the full test lifecycle including; Unit, System, Systems Integration, Regression, Automation, Device, Performance, Security, User and Operational Acceptance and Disaster Recovery.

Project List

Aug 2016 – 27 July 2018:   Opel Bank – QA Test Manager

Following the successful implementation of Opel Bank in 2015, Mark was recruited as part of the core team tasked with setting up a new Full Service Leasing business from a Green Field site. Responsible for Policy and Strategy definition and implementation covering all testing associated to project, including setup of automated test  framework enabling continuous delivery. Relationships were managed and Test reports delivered to all stakeholder levels including board. Test teams were located at 4 sites across Europe and USA.

Oct 2015 – Aug 2016:   Fujitsu / RBS – Test Manager QA

Test Management and QA of the RBS ServiceNOW Work Force Enablement programme.  This Agile project created a new WEB based portal to re-platform multiple core legacy banking systems and processes onto a ServiceNOW platform.  Working with the WFE Portal project stakeholders, Mark defined the Test Strategy and associated compliance deliverables and all stakeholder reporting.  All test activities and associated test artefacts were delivered in line with the customer’s rigorous compliance and audit framework.  Here Mark managed the Performance Testing of all delivered processes with execution support by ServiceNOW consultants.

July 2015 – Sept 2015:   SECAmb – QA Test Manager

Test Management and Quality Assurance of South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAmb) iPad based Evolve system.  Primary supplied by Kainos (Northern Ireland).  Mark was brought in during project delivery to update the existing Test Strategy and Plans, and implement a Defect Management Process to align with Kainos proprietary test tool KIT. Management of the 20 strong UAT team presented particularly unique challenges as key SME Users were on ambulance stand-by duties throughout execution phases.

Dec 2014 – June 2015:   GM Financial UK PLC – QA Test Manager

This project set up Opel Bank, based in Frankfurt, Germany from a greenfield site. Responsibilities here included definition the Test Strategy all associated test artifacts, subsequent execution and reporting to all stakeholder levels. The Role included the quality assurance of multiple supplier test execution across Europe, USA and India.

April 2014 – Dec 2014:   Westminster City Council - Operational Acceptance Test Assurance Manager

Operational Acceptance and Assurance of The Tri-Borough SaaS ERP Shared Service Programme (Core functions HR, Finance and Payroll) Shared Service Centre Agresso / ServiceNOW / ITIL based service desk. Primary supplier here was British Telecom.

Jan 2014 – April 2014:   Home Office IT (HOIT) - Senior Test Manager

In parallel engaged in 2 roles on 2 Programmes.  1. Test Assurance Manager to the MoJ Electronic Monitoring “Tagging” project. 2. UAT Manager of UK Prison Service, Prison Offender Management System (PNOMIS) maintenance releases.

Aug 2013 – Dec 2013:   Rural Payments Agency (HOIT) - Programme Test Assurance

Programme Test Assurance across 10 work-streams with 12 suppliers delivering in a variety of methods (Agile, Waterfall and Hybrid). This Programme enabled Agricultural sector access to EU Funding and ensured compliance to EU regulatory requirements.  Product was RPA Agile Assurance Strategy and implementation across Unit, System, SIT UAT, OAT, BRT test types.

May 2011 – July 2013:   Skills Funding Agency (SFA) - Senior Programme Test Assurance

Programme test assurance of key suppliers (Primary CAP Gemini) to various SFA programmes. Mark’s role was to assure supplier test planning and execution and advise internal SFA business teams in User Acceptance Test best practice. Delivery methods included Agile, Waterfall and Hybrid and Strategies were developed accordingly. Tooling was primarily HP ALM 11.00 and Mark administered this software. Projects included CODA / CCM match and claim (Education sector payment and reconciliation engine) processing over £600 Million in annual education related payments.  IM Portal (Education Supplier Portal) and the Learner Record Service (on-line student portal) and associated Learner Passport (Online login system for the education).

November 2010 – April 2011:   Software Test Limited - Senior Test Consultant

Internal quality audit of all existing client test processes, procedures and test artefacts.

June 2009 – November 2010:   Serco – UAT Manager

Business Link / Pivotal web-based (Citrix Metaframe) cloud based CRM project responsible for managing the acceptance testing on behalf of SEEDA (South East of England Develpoment Agency).

April 2006 – June 2009:   NHS Connecting for Health - Senior Programme Test Assurance

Senior Programme Test Assurance.  Responsiblee for assurance and acceptance of each test phase undertaken by suppliers to the Programme across 3 major Trusts in the South East. Part of the National Assurance team Mark worked closely with key suppliers (primarily British Telecom and Fujitsu) to develop and implement appropriate test strategies and to assure these were applied in compiance to NHS contract (schedule 4.2) and industry best practice. Both Programme-wide and project specific test audits were completed to assure and assit suppliers in meeting Programme quality objects. Areas assured included; Unit testing, SIT, UAT, Usability testing, and NFT including load, stress and disaster recovery testing. 

June 2001 – March 2006:   Testing Solutions Group - Director Testing Consultancy

Mark founded The Testing Solutions Group and supplied testing consultancy services and training to the European Testing Market.  Under Mark’s Directorship, TSG became the world leader in the provision of testing training in terms of both volume of ISEB certification in software testing courses provided and associated pass rates at one point providing over 80% of UK ISEB training. Notable TSG clients included Lloyds TSB, Bank of England, RBS, CAP Gemini, AXA Sun Life and IBM. In the case of IBM, training and consultancy was supplied in many global locations including IBM Egypt.

December 1998 – June 2001:   Testing Management Solutions - Test Consultant

Mark was assigned to various testing projects as a functional test analyst along with technical support for the T-Plan Professional product set. Responsibilities included creation of functional hierarchies, associated test conditions, assigning risk factors and prioritizing requirements.

January 1993 – December 1998:   Olsten Corporation - Junior COBOL Programmer / Test Analyst

Mark started with the Olsten Corporation as a graduate COBOL programmer working on British Telecom billing systems.  During this project the team developed a data driven test framework to increase the reusability of employed test data.  Mark grew with this initiative and progressed to a junior member of the RADStar development / test team and later test consultant. 

Practical Training Courses Attended

Fundamentals of Agile Testing; APMG Agile Project Management, Non Functional Testing; UAT Techniques; Risk Based Testing; Train the Trainer; ISEB Foundation in Software Testing, PRINCE II Practitioner.

EDUCATION/FORMAL QUALIFICATIONS

ISEB Foundation in Software Testing

APMG – Agile Project Management

ITIL V.4 Foundation

Prince II Practitioner

Bournemouth University - BSc Hons Information Systems Management

3 A Levels, 10 O Levels

Personal Details

DOB: 08/01/1970; Marital Status: Married; Nationality: British