Mark Chesworth

Experience

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  Société Générale

  Mar 2010 - Aug 2011

  Test Manager

  • Led team of testers / users to validate new set of compliance controls within London Branch. • High-profile project under supervision of FSA, covered large number of compliance checks.• Controls tested covered non-compliant activity; money laundering, unauthorised trading etc. • Also reports to identify issues caused by rate or tenor mismatches and age / risk profiles of portfolios. • Completed on schedule. Improved speed to fix defects and allowed accurate testing measurement.

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  BlueCrest Capital Management

  Oct 2011 - Sept 2012

  Test Manager

  • Managed testing / software delivery / new testing process - testing covered transfer of trading & payments data to a new system; creation of new processes to handle payments; capture / confirmation of trade types and the payments associated with each and reports for better visibility of their overall risk profile. • Upgraded Calypso from v10.3 to 13. The project involved all back / middle office processes and required major coordination between internal teams / BlueCrest / the vendor. • Trades covered; exotic FX, Equity & Bond options - knock-ins / knock-outs, caps, floors, collars. Show less

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  Barclays Investment Bank

  Sept 2013 - Mar 2014

  Test Manager

  • Managed testing / software delivery / new testing process - testing covered transfer of trading & payments data to a new system; creation of new processes to handle payments; capture / confirmation of trade types and the payments associated with each and reports for better visibility of their overall risk profile. • Upgraded Calypso from v10.3 to 13. The project involved all back / middle office processes and required major coordination between internal teams / BlueCrest / the vendor. • Trades covered; exotic FX, Equity & Bond options - knock-ins / knock-outs, caps, floors, collars. Show less

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  ING Nederland

  Jun 2014 - Dec 2014

  Project Manager

  • Led transfer of interbank payments processing to Calypso; covered manual SWIFT payments and automated sweeps for 50+ currencies involving c200 correspondent banks worldwide. • Involved intensive co-operation between ING / correspondent banks to send / receive test payments.• One week after go-live the application was used live on Dutch TV to repay the last tranche of bailout money owed by ING to the Dutch government following the 2008 Financial Crisis.

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  HeadNorth Consulting Ltd

  Jan 2015 - Apr 2015

  Project Manager

  Designed and successfully implemented bespoke database application designed to more effectively identify and match candidates for roles within the Oil and Gas industries. The small size of the project meant that a truly agile process could be followed with BDD principles being applied to the delivery of multiple time-boxed releases. A small regression pack was built using Selenium as its base

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  Future Williams & Glyn Team - RBS

  Jun 2015 - Aug 2016

  Test Manager

  • Led Test Team in London / Chennai, part of programme to create Williams and Glyn Bank - delivered Rainbow Rules Engine covering 50% of new bank’s transactions by value. • ETL process validated data from upstream data sources and was enriched to meet key deliverables:• Generated postings for P&L / balance reports, provided data to meet statutory reporting duties, extracted data to support Internal Liquidity Reporting and created / executed payments using CHAPS / BACS.• Trades processed included OTC Equity Derivatives (caps / floors / collars) and Equity Basket Derivative Products. Testing used SQL queries to confirm contents of data tables before / after processes were run. Show less

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  HSBC

  Nov 2016 - Mar 2017

  Senior AML Test Analyst

  • Worked with users to identify the causes of issues with the quality of customer data.• Validated rollout of Watch List Processing carried out via a 3rd Party product (OWS).• Confirmed accuracy of OWS results by running independent SQL queries.• Introduced robust defect management to support on-time delivery. • Confirmed that both internal and external AML processes were followed in all cases. • Testing helped defer proposed 2bn USD fine from US Department of Justice.

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  Invesco EMEA

  Apr 2017 - Jul 2018

  QA Manager

  • Improved core ETF fund management tool (HAPI) to provide full functionality for mixture of physical and synthetic funds across major bond / equity markets.• JUNIT used to create set of regression scripts covering main features of the ETF tool; allowed non-technical users to know which areas to test / what set of client / market data the testing should be run against.• Improved test processes and the delivery pipeline.• Introduced enhanced defect management / resolution process using JIRA.• Transformed 3 separate sets of testers working in London, Warsaw and St Petersburg into single unified team.• Achieved closer working relationships between Business and Technology teams.• Ensured QA Team involved from start of the delivery process, not just when code was first delivered.• Integrated source applications / infrastructure into the wider Invesco environment.• Managed integration of new funds onto the Source platform (HAPI), migrated Source applications and tools into the global Invesco architecture and integrated core applications more closely with digital marketing initiatives. Show less

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  Ervia

  Oct 2018 - Dec 2019

  Program Test Manager, EUCM Program Ervia

  • Ireland’s largest provider of gas / water - migrated systems to Citrix 7.15. Largest IT project ever undertaken by company and I led a step-change in terms of the testing and development approach.• Reviewed Citrix; highlighted redundant applications / when consolidation around a single version of an application would be appropriate.• Worked with 200+ stakeholders to establish / test key deliverables for 400 applications and tools. Azure Devops used to record test details / results and record which version of each product was in each release. Applications tested included Maximo 7.6, CRM Dynamics, Primavera, SAP ECC and CC&B. • Selected / implemented AppLoader automated test tool to allow testing against Citrix architectures. Stakeholders could evaluate which proposals best supported current / anticipated business volumes.• Improved graphics handling; video content and CAD files could be shared across company for first time. This allows teams repairing leaks to view the latest pipeline schematics onsite in real-time.• Improved resilience; improved load balancing and failover capabilities delivered by a new NetScaler architecture to minimise water / power outages.• Security; delivered series of network hardening measures to better protect infrastructure against terrorism. • Drove new release processes; documented / version controlled, entry / exit criteria for all test phases and Rattle Testing before full tests. Used a code management tool to manage integration of code streams. Show less

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  Forsters LLP

  Feb 2020 - Feb 2021

  Quality Assurance Manager

  • Implemented structured / robust testing and release processes. • Used applications / tools from NetDocuments, TMS and DocsCorp to create a new integrated cloud-based document production and management system. • UAT; validated release against needs / provided confidence in the release amongst users prior to go-live. • New defect management process; reduced defect churn / allowed issues to be identified & fixed early. • Drove more effective utilisation of Azure DevOps to enforce more formal release and delivery processes• Reduced time to implement new build from 4 days to 1. Reduced instances of regression between builds. • Later onboarding of a new practice area ran well despite being carried out during Covid Lockdown. Show less

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  Mitie

  May 2021 - Apr 2022

  UAT Manager

  • Led UAT for Mitie’s largest ever IT project - to move Technical Services from Maximo 7.5 to 7.6.• Extended use of SAP ECC in Finance to include new areas such as Inventory and Revenue Recognition.• Integrated Maximo and SAP ECC to facilitate processing from initial client enquiry to invoicing / payment.• Fully integrated 3rd party software such as Hyperion and Credica.• Introduced stricter control over Release Process with clearly defined exit and entry criteria for each phase.• Improved scheduling / resource utilisation of internal staff and subcontractors.• Insisted Rattle Test completed on dev and test environments before full testing commenced.• Ensured release process formally documented / version controlled - significantly reduced retesting. Show less

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  Uisce Éireann Irish Water

  May 2022 - Mar 2023

  Program Test Manager

  • Led migration of key applications to Cloud - worked with development, business and infrastructure teams:• ARCGIS: primary mapping tool used to record water infrastructure across Ireland.• AlFresco & Sharebox: securely manages / shares sensitive business / customer info with 3rd parties. • OUCSS: online application for corporate clients to view / pay bills, keep company details updated. • Configuration changes were made / tested before each migration. Used scripts to minimise human error.• Ensured all relevant processes / procedures were updated in advance of the migration. • Improved Git use in project so fixes could be easily backed in / out of a release, and code branched in advance to allow work on multiple releases to be carried out in a controlled way.• Carried out performance / load testing to confirm expected benefits achieved – used JMeter. • GUI testing automated following BDD principles via Cucumber / Gherkin. Extensive use of Serenity BDD’s pre-packaged libraries / functions to provide set of clear reports / assist in handling of asynchronous calls. • Carried out extensive OAT checks against each application prior to go-live Show less