Kay Westrap

Experience

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  VBand

  Feb 1988 - Feb 1993

  Sales Ledger
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  TR Financial Communications

  Feb 1988 - Feb 1993

  Sales Ledger Controller
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  Scala International

  Feb 1993 - Mar 1995

  Support Analyst

  Supervising a team of Support Assistants in the Client Services Department of a Business Management and Accounting Software House. Acting as an escalation level for problem resolution and monitoring of a Helpdesk Management system. Conducting Training Seminars and Consultancy internally and externally on the companies own and Microsoft products. Technical Author with sole responsibility for formatting arranging proof reading and where necessary writing technical documentation and data sheets. Preparing training plans and implementation schedules. Responding to Invitations to tender. Liasing with clients and project co-ordinating installations, implementations and training. Working closely with a development team in specification authoring and quality assurance testing of bespoke software. Ensuring that the department work toward ISO9000 in all areas. Show less

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  Premier Computer Training

  Apr 1995 - Jan 1996

  Senior Tutor

  Conducting training courses for classes of between 1 and 8 delegates. Conducting ‘Accelerator’ courses which cover the course content at double pace for a reduced number of Delegates. On site training as necessary. Assisting with administration when required and providing on-line support to previous delegates.

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  Robert Fleming

  Feb 1996 - Jul 2000

  IT Training Manager

  Providing complementary training and UAT for bespoke applications and rollouts to an Investment Bank with 2000 users in the city and 8000 worldwide. Devising Training and Testing plans for the Bank and training for IT projects carried out throughout the world. Testing integration between new bespoke applications and existing software. Testing new hardware before delivery. Responsible for a team of 5 Training Analysts and an Administrator. Attending Consultative meetings. Negotiating contracts with external providers for Training, CBT and training related supplies. Devising Training Needs Analysis programmes. Writing course materials and researching new courses. Show less

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  Cable & Wireless

  Oct 2000 - Feb 2001

  Project Manager

  Engaged on a Global project to act as a Project Manager for Training and UAT Testing. Also Project Managed development and implementation of a Manual Hub process UAT team. Engaging an IBM Business Analysis team to develop level 4 (work instructions) procedures. Responsible for implementing a new Change Management procedure, including developing templates and project style standards.

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  SwapsWire

  Mar 2001 - Jul 2003

  Testing and Training Manager

  Responsible for the project management, strategy, planning and implementation of testing and training for the whole project. The company designed Swaps Trading software for IRS, CDS, FRA’s, OIS utilising FpML (XML) on a virtual private network to enable straight through processing of derivative Swaps. I have merged and run two teams to deliver training and testing to the 23 participant shareholders most of whom are investment banks.Designing and writing VV&T strategy, Acceptance strategy, Test Plans, Test Scripts, reviewing system design documentation, UAT test plans. Carrying out internal acceptance testing prior to release and UAT with 23 Investment Banks sites in London, Frankfurt, Paris and Now York. Designing phased release test plans, test scripts and conducting these tests. Regression testing, problem management, environment management, design of problem reporting forms and mechanisms. Show less

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  RBS

  Jul 2003 - Jun 2004

  Testing Manager

  Working in the Financial Markets IT Division on Front Office Technology Projects. The initial project I was engaged on was a Credit Trading improvement programme. To automate the processing of CDS, Bonds and IRS. To manage curves, P&L and Risk. I was brought in to write the testing strategy for the project, engage the team, plan the test execution and then manage the execution to final go live. Providing testing and defect statistics to the Project Manager and Development Team. Implementing Test Director for Test planning, execution and defect management. The second project was an FXRates system that supported 27 end of day revaluation systems, 15 eCommerce systems and direct Traders of Spot and Forward rates including Emerging Markets Traders. Show less

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  UBS

  Jun 2004 - Aug 2006

  Test Manager

  Working in Equities IT providing QA for 20 applications that serve the Data Maintenance side of the Equities teams. Taking on generally 3-4 new applications per year and also carrying out 2 major releases of the larger applications and several point releases across the application suite. My role is to set out the testing strategy and execution plan for all new applications and new releases including validation of requirements, test strategy, creation of test cases, execution plans, project planning across multiple applications and releases. Also statistics for the execution progress and status communications to the Project and Programme Manager.The test team are 75% offshore and are located in India. I have recruited and trained the team. Show less

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  Barclays Capital

  Jul 2006 - Mar 2007

  Front Office Tester (Consultant on behalf of Tescom)

  Working on an Interest Rate Swaps Project to migrate from a legacy system to a new complex architechture. Setting up Test Director for Development, Testing and Business Analysts, establishing a process and putting together user guides. Establishing Test Plans and strategies. Formulating Microsoft Project plans and tracking them, producing status reports and baselines. Developing Test Execution Status Reports and updating them daily. Managing a team of 5 Testers. Liaising with Developers, BA’s and end users to establish test packs. Test Execution. Testing with ECN providers. Show less

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  Tescom

  Aug 2006 - Apr 2007

  Senior Managing Test Consultant

  Based at Barclays Capital in Fixed Income IT. Managing 2 teams and providing weekly reports, timesheets, budget reports, recruitment, training and managing of those 2 teams from the Tescom perspective.

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  FTSE

  Apr 2007 - Mar 2010

  QA Manager

  Working in London and reporting directly to the COO, the QA Manager is a key part of the IT department and management team. The QA function is responsible for the management of all areas of quality assurance within the software development process. FTSE has a very complex architecture and software is developed in .Net, Delphi, Java and other languages. Utilising primarily Sybase databases with over 100 connected applications, supporting the calculation and dissemination of Index data. This data is fed to key Clients and also sent in files at end of day. The systems are constantly updated and there is a permanent enhancement cycle as the demands of the Clients grows year on year. FTSE have recently undergone a huge 2 year project to calculate real time data, which makes them first in the market. The planning, management and execution of the Testing Strategy and execution was solely my responsibility. Since joining FTSE, I have implemented Test Process, Quality Centre, UAT Processes, Release Management, Configuration Management and numerous other smaller process improvements, all ITIL compliant. Show less

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  Deutsche Bank

  Mar 2010 - Sept 2010

  QA Project Manager

  Project managing multiple plans. Coordinating testing and other QA activities across the platform. This involves working with QA leads to build plans and coordinate change with other teams involved in the software development lifecycle. Monitoring, reporting & communicating progress across multiple plans.Reporting to the global GME IT QA Functional head located in London and part of the management team across GME QA.

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  HSBC

  Sept 2010 - Aug 2015

  I was asked to take on this new role looking at how the bank could optimise testing for Global Banking and Markets. After conducting an initial discovery phase to establish the current state of play, I then designed a transformation programme and walked this round over 100 senior individuals for their feedback and buy in. This was then ratified by the Technical and Business Steering Committees and commenced rollout. I ran an RFP for Vendor assistance to deliver the programme.I then conducted Town Halls in India, China and Hong Kong to delivery the message and strategy. I implemented classroom training on Testing Best Practice, Early Engagement, Risk Based Testing and Automation in London, China and India.The programme is now up and running and making significant quality improvements and also sustainable savings. We are on target to save $20m by the end of the programme.Chair of the Management Office for the "Balance Network", a gender balanace and career development network within HSBC. Show less Working in Prime Services FX. Taking over an existing team consisting of London and China resources. There had been no Test Manager for four months and the team was only a year old. Therefore there was a distinct lack of process and structure around a fast moving Global Testing Service. Analysing the current state and putting together a future state and transition plan that had to be implemented in a short window. Covering all areas of testing, Functional, Non Functional, Automation and working with the Business UAT Manager to ensure best practice be implemented for UAT. My team were the Best Practice leaders in the bank for Environment Management, Automation, Functional Testing both from a process and delivery viewpoint. Delivering on time and to budget for every delivery. Engaged with a third party vendor to design and deliver simulators and stubs and virtualised testing environments to provide dedicated self-contained, cost effective environment solutions. Show less

  • Head of Testing Optimisation for Global Banking and Markets

    Jan 2013 - Aug 2015

  • Programme Test Manager

    Sept 2010 - Dec 2012
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  My Business Mum

  Aug 2015 - Jul 2021

  Small Business Consultant

  After redundancy from HSBC, I set up my own business. Working with local businesses to empower their internet presence. Area Leader for 4Networking for 3 networking groups. Business Consultant for start-up and smaller companies.Using my experience of corporate businesses I have enabled several local companies to structure their business as well as their social media and internet activity.

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  Standard Chartered Bank (Acutest)

  Sept 2017 - Jan 2018

  Programme Test Manager

  Working on a regulatory programme for MifidII. Managing a team of 8 delivering an automated solution for reporting.

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  BBC (Acutest)

  Jul 2018 - Mar 2020

  Head of Testing - Windows 10
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  Elixirr (EDB/Apex)

  Nov 2020 - Jul 2021

  Software Quality Assurance Manager

  I was brought in to head up testing processes for the implementation of a new Digital Bank for a Luxembourg Commercial Bank. I set up Risk Based Testing, SIT Testing, UAT Testing, Defect Triage, and many Communications channels for Testers. I ran multiple rounds of SIT and UAT. The UAT engagement went from 50% to 98% with my organisation and management. I advised the Bank on their Non-Functional testing approach and was the sole Testing Specialist on the project, therefore was called upon to offer strategic and tactical solutions for all aspects of testing. Show less

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  Den Creative

  Jul 2021 - Mar 2022

  Head of Delivery

  Having successfully delivered testing for the Digital Bank Programme, I moved to Den Creative, which is a subsidiary of Elixirr in a permanent capacity to Head up Delivery. Having had extensive experience in structured environments I was able to grow the organisational structure and build a Programme Management Framework that can be utilised with all Clients to ensure a smoother and more structured approach. Including Requirements Gathering, Testing, Project Management, Release Management, Change Management etc. Utilising my ITIL and banking background I have implemented a large number of new improvement processes. Described by the CEO as a “game-changer” to the company. Show less

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  H3O Digital

  Mar 2022 - Jul 2024

  Head of Testing

  Leading the Testing function for H3O, being solely engaged on a large nuclear decommissioning client. Leading two streams of work, Windows Evergreen refresh and a whole company Testing Service, covering over 80 projects. Ensuring that the service meets regulatory requirements but also assisting the Client with other areas of transformation, such as Business analysis, Agile Delivery, Project Management and process reengineering. Attending senior leadership and governance meetings whilst acting as a mentor to other team leads in the process growth and development of the company. Show less

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  Unisys

  Jan 2025 - now

  Head of Testing - Global Transition and Transformation