Bhu Ramkumar
Halifax,United Kingdom
Summary
Accomplished Senior Program Test leader with 24+ years of experience in executing large-scale digital transformation projects in Banking, Retail, Telecom, and Technology sectors. Proficient in managing diverse teams and aligning program goals with organizational strategies, consistently delivering solutions within budget constraints. Strong background in contract negotiations and budget oversight for QA initiatives, fostering innovation and high performance. Recognized for agile leadership and ability to motivate teams in complex environments.
Overview
24
24
years of professional experience
3
3
years of post-secondary education
Work history
Quality engineer
Lloyds Banking Group
Chester, Cheshire
2024.10 - 2025.05
- Led test and defect management activities for Visa conversion programme, migrating 10 million cards.
- Conducted impact analysis and engaged in root cause analysis for identified defects.
- Facilitated collaboration with Fiserv during defect triage calls to resolve critical issues.
- Analysed user stories with Customer Journey Manager to enhance customer journey insights.
- Coordinated testing efforts across teams for Fiserv releases, ensuring comprehensive support.
- Oversaw performance (NFT) testing with Wipro to uphold quality assurance standards.
- Engaged cross-functional teams to align efforts and achieve project objectives.
Senior Manager / Consultant
Virtusa Consulting
Halifax, West Yorkshire
2021.02 - 2024.09
- Executed roles of Programme Test Manager, Scrum Master, and Project Manager on Lloyds Banking Group projects.
- Developed Overall Test Strategy, End to End Test Plan, and governance structure for E2E QA delivery.
- Led Functional, automation, and NFT teams to enhance testing efficiency.
- Supervised team of test engineers using Typescript/Playwright for streamlined testing processes.
- Utilised version control system GitHub for effective collaboration and code management.
- Coached in-house and vendor teams to strengthen testing capabilities.
- Collaborated with Offshore testing team to meet stringent delivery timelines.
- Enforced test management standards to maintain quality and align with best practices.
Programme Test Manager (Contract)
Lloyds Banking Group
Halifax, West Yorkshire
2019.02 - 2021.02
- Oversaw delivery of programmes within Workday, ServiceNow, and SAP frameworks.
- Developed Programme Test Strategy focusing on QA governance and agile delivery.
- Led matrix team comprising over 14 test managers and 2 defect managers across multiple workstreams.
- Established automation environment by conducting POCs and embedding automation in Agile DevOps processes.
- Collaborated with Group IT to manage release schedules and assess impacts on testing.
- Interfaced with internal and external teams for NFT, Security, and Penetration testing initiatives.
- Recruited contract, permanent, and partner resources to support programme objectives.
- Generated comprehensive reports detailing testing metrics, progress, and remedial actions.
Senior UAT Manager (Contract)
Skipton Building Society
Skipton, North Yorkshire
2018.12 - 2019.02
Business Test Manager (Contract)
Mastaven Bank
London
2017.12 - 2018.12
Programme Test Manager (Contract)
Aldermore Bank
Wilmslow, Cheshire East
2017.02 - 2017.10
Business Test Architect (Contract)
COOP Bank
Manchester
2016.06 - 2016.11
Programme Test Manager (Contract)
Capita Customer Management
Leeds
2015.08 - 2016.04
Test manager
RMS Automotive
Leeds
2014.03 - 2015.07
Lead Test Analyst (Contract)
Lexis Nexis
Leeds
2013.09 - 2014.03
Senior test analyst
Capita Registrars
Huddersfield
2008.03 - 2013.08
Test Analyst
Funkwerk IT
York
2007.03 - 2008.03
Test Analyst (Contract)
Home Loan Management
Skipton
2006.11 - 2007.02
Test Associate
Cognizant Technology Solutions
Chennai, India
2005.06 - 2006.03
Test Analyst
Maveric Systems
Chennai, India
2004.01 - 2005.05
Test Analyst
Thinksoft Global Services
Chennai, India
2003.01 - 2003.12
Test Analyst
Omikron Systems
Vadodara, India
2001.03 - 2002.10
Education
Bachelor of Computer Science - Computer Science
Sardar Patel University
Gujarat, India 1996.06 - 1999.03
Fundamentals of Automation Testing - Test Automation
SQS UK
Halifax, United KingdomTest Automation - Rational Robot
Test Automation using Rational Robot
HalifaxPrince 2 - Project Management
Prince 2
LeedsISEB/ISTQB - Software Testing
BCS
United KingdomSkills
- Project lifecycle management
- Stakeholder engagement
- Team leadership and collaboration
- Negotiation skills
- Testing tool integration
- Budget oversight
- High-priority incident resolution
- Proficiency in Jira Align and Confluence
- Quality assurance championing
- Process improvement initiatives
- Microsoft Office expertise
- Root cause analysis skills
Tools and Technologies
Test Management - JIRA with Xray, Zephyr, TestRail, HP ALM, Micro Focus UFT
Test Automation - Selenium, Cypress, SoapUI, JUnit , Playwright
CI/CD & DevOps - Jenkins, GitLab CI , Docker, Kubernetes, GitHub, Gitlab and Bitbucket
Performance & Security Testing - JMeter, LoadRunner, Burp Suite
Analytics & Monitoring - Power BI
Program/Project Management & Collaboration - JIRA, Confluence, Microsoft Project Communication & Collaboration - Microsoft Teams / Zoom, SharePoint, Google Workspace
Governance, Compliance & Risk Tools - Risk registers (Excel)
Timeline
Quality engineer
Lloyds Banking Group
2024.10 - 2025.05
Senior Manager / Consultant
Virtusa Consulting
2021.02 - 2024.09
Programme Test Manager (Contract)
Lloyds Banking Group
2019.02 - 2021.02
Senior UAT Manager (Contract)
Skipton Building Society
2018.12 - 2019.02
Business Test Manager (Contract)
Mastaven Bank
2017.12 - 2018.12
Programme Test Manager (Contract)
Aldermore Bank
2017.02 - 2017.10
Business Test Architect (Contract)
COOP Bank
2016.06 - 2016.11
Programme Test Manager (Contract)
Capita Customer Management
2015.08 - 2016.04
Test manager
RMS Automotive
2014.03 - 2015.07
Lead Test Analyst (Contract)
Lexis Nexis
2013.09 - 2014.03
Senior test analyst
Capita Registrars
2008.03 - 2013.08
Test Analyst
Funkwerk IT
2007.03 - 2008.03
Test Analyst (Contract)
Home Loan Management
2006.11 - 2007.02
Test Associate
Cognizant Technology Solutions
2005.06 - 2006.03
Test Analyst
Maveric Systems
2004.01 - 2005.05
Test Analyst
Thinksoft Global Services
2003.01 - 2003.12
Test Analyst
Omikron Systems
2001.03 - 2002.10
Bachelor of Computer Science - Computer Science
Sardar Patel University
1996.06 - 1999.03
Fundamentals of Automation Testing - Test Automation
SQS UK
Test Automation - Rational Robot
Test Automation using Rational Robot
Prince 2 - Project Management
Prince 2
ISEB/ISTQB - Software Testing
BCS