Ruth Brewer

Experience

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  Welcom Software

  Nov 1998 - Dec 2000

  Software Tester

  Designed, wrote, and executed manual and regression test scripts, then used QARun to record them prior to handover to the automated test team.Visited customer sites to improve understanding of software implementation and problem solve issues.

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  Unit4 Business Software

  Jan 2001 - Jun 2008

  Software Test Engineer

  Manual testing of Unit4 Financials product, designing test scripts, manually testing, logging issues and producing regression scripts. Progressed to test lead, producing project plans for a small team of testers using the waterfall methodology, as well as performing testing myself. Then became testing team leader, prior to change to the scrum agile methodology.

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  Unit4

  Mar 2007 - Aug 2017

  Managed development and releases of major versions of Unit4 Financials (18-36 month release cycle). Motivated staff, tracked and communicated progress to relevant stakeholders at all stages of the project. Owned and escalated issues and mitigated risks to achieve the desired deadlines.Managed a mixed discipline team (developers, testers and technical authors) ranging in size from 8 to 16 people, through significant business changes. Managed performance, conducted biannual reviews and set objectives. Facilitated meetings, empowered the team to deliver user stories, solved problems and engendered a strong team spirit.Guided the team through a successful transition from Waterfall to Scrum (agile methodology) in 2009. Implemented best practice, which increased productivity and predictability.Designed and implemented an Application Lifecycle Management system to support our implementation of Scrum, using Team Foundation Server.Selected to take part in implementing a ‘High Potential’ programme across the company. Worked collaboratively with team members in Granada and Wrocław to design the programme.Part of a small team appointed to troubleshoot process deficiencies in Missouri. Established a strong rapport in a short timescale with colleagues which enabled me to identify where their processes were breaking down. Produced and presented a short and long-term plan to correct these and improve product quality.Facilitated sprint and release retrospectives. Ensured improvements were trialled and implemented, and issues were resolved.As Localisation Manager, managed the relationship with external vendor. Responsible for the scheduling and procurement of translation outsourcing for Unit4 Financials (14 languages) and Unit4 Travel and Expenses (7 languages).Implemented process change that significantly reduced the costs and time spent on Language Acceptance Testing, which enabled all languages to be released at the same time as the product. Show less

  • Software Project Manager

    Jul 2008 - Aug 2017

  • Test Team Leader

    Mar 2007 - Jul 2008
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  EMIS Health

  Jan 2018 - Feb 2020

  Pod Leader

  Accountable for the timely delivery, quality and technical approach taken by the pod to deliver projects. This includes resource management, capacity planning, ownership and escalation of risks and reporting on KPIs.Lead, mentored, coached and developed a mixed discipline pod (developers, testers and developers in test) ranging in size from 3 to 22 people, working on up to 6 separate streams of work. Facilitated scrum/agile training, empowered the team to use the most appropriate methodology.Worked with other pods and domain teams with related products and projects, to understand and reduce impact of changes.Liaised with the NHS on new projects and requirements, worked closely with them on the successful launch of the NHS App, which allows patients to register using Citizen Identity.Key member of the Extended Leadership Team, worked to solve operational challenges and progress initiatives, ensuring actions are aligned across multiple locations in the UK and India. Show less

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  Appaway

  Jul 2020 - May 2022

  Product & Project Manager

  Successfully delivered a ‘delivery and collection’ integration with Tastecard and Compare the Market, understood the requirements, wrote relevant User Stories, and produced a delivery plan to deliver in a short timescale.Created the product roadmap, and managed the day to day development and delivery of the releases of the new version of Appaway.Implemented improvements to increase knowledge sharing: internal and external release notes, instructional videos of more complex features.

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  TransUnion

  May 2022 - Nov 2023

  Product (~Software) Development Manager

  Recruiting and onboarding of a new team, embedding SDLC and best practice into the team, fostering a culture of continuous improvement with the Delivery Manager. Successfully delivering projects for Tech currency and Ping as a SSO solution.Engaged in initiatives on communications and internal promotions.Participated in the Women at TU’s Build Your Brand program to recognise my own strengths and weaknesses and build a development plan.Managed the team through a re-organisation within our business unit, involving job description scoring, assessments and informal consultations across the Lithuanian and UK regions, ensuring impact on delivery schedules were communicated and understood. Show less

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  N Brown Group

  Dec 2023 - Dec 2024

  Agile Delivery Manager

  Coached the squads to help improve predictability using velocity, burndown and retrospective feedback to highlight focus areas.Created transparency through regular reporting on small features and cross-tribe projects to stakeholders at workstream reviews and team of teams.Collaborated with Product Managers to ensure realistic timelines on roadmap and quarterly OKRs.Planned the rollout of new brands, covering infrastructure, route to live, theming and content.Engaged in regular community of practice sessions to improve agile practices and troubleshoot issues in other squads. Show less

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  Skipton Building Society

  Feb 2025 - now

  Project Manager