Cara McCreadie

I am currently a dynamic Insurance Advisor with a comprehensive understanding of insurance offerings at AXA Insurance. I have a proven track record in policy evaluation and effective problem resolution, enhancing customer trust and achieving higher sales through tailored solutions as proven by my KPI's (Key Performance Indicators). I am skilled in data analysis and mentoring, fostering team success while consistently exceeding performance targets.

Over the past year, I have built a reputation as a reliable and trustworthy colleague,frequently called upon to support other departments during high demand periods. I successfully led testing for a major financial dicument chnage project in collaboration with the BIMS team, enauring accuracy, compliance, and timely delivery. In addition, I have contributed to multiple high level chnages led by the BIMS team which have been expanding my expertise and driving progress toward key organisational goals.

Back in October 2024, I initially joined the BIMS team on a temporary basis to support testing for a compliance-driven financial document update. After receiving training, I became the sole testing resource for the project, as other team members were allocated elsewhere. Following the successful delivery of that project and a nomination for a VIP award due to my effort and contribution to the project, given ongoing resource constraints, it was agreed with Operations that I could provide additional testing support where needed — provided it didn’t impact operations delivery.

Since then, I’ve been actively involved in a number of projects and workstreams, primarily supporting the Acquire squad. These include:

BI Refresh 2

I joined the BI Refresh 2 project when the initial release date was set for October, although this was later moved to November due to resource limitations. I ensured all stories met acceptance criteria (ACs) and raised bugs where necessary. Post-launch, I completed regression testing to verify no changes had reverted unintentionally.

PCI Compliance

I joined PCI testing midway through the project and quickly became the sole tester due to holidays and shifting priorities. While maintaining high testing standards, I identified a critical issue: implementing the new payment platform would prevent AXA GBS and the business from continuing their NCD process, as we could no longer store customers’ CVCs. I escalated this to the project team, management, underwriting, and others. Though we had to proceed with the PCI implementation for compliance reasons, I also supported the business in adapting and training staff on the updated NCD process, leveraging my PCI system knowledge.

Acturis Batch 1 & 2

Initially, the scope of Batch 1 was reduced due to time constraints. However, I was brought in — without needing additional Acturis training — as one of the few Acturis referral points in Operations. My involvement allowed us to expand testing beyond the original scope, uncovering bugs that would otherwise have gone undetected and preventing them from reaching production. As batch 1 went so well I was asked to come back and help test batch 2 to ensure the same accuracy was applied. Batch 2 went smoother than batch 1 with very little bugs raised, the changes successfully implemented into production.

APR and Interest Rates

In April/May, I was approached by the Operations Manager to assist with testing updates to APR and interest rates. I’ve since worked closely with Nick Parker-Gilles, Amy Paterson, and others to ensure changes met compliance and fairness standards for customers. I worked on this project, providing Nick with live policies and information however I have also worked on it in the test environments, creating may different scenarios. For example, we have tested this making customer miss payments, testing with/without bounds etc. This looks to be an ongoing project for the next year which I will continue to work on to ensure we are treating our customers fairly.

Salesforce Lightning

Last year, I worked closely with the team to define and clarify the requirements for the Salesforce Lightning Upgrade. Throughout the project, I helped promote positive mindset among operations , who were initially hesitant about the change. Following the successful launch, I became the main point of contact for user queries, which significantly reduced the number of tickets being raised with the BIMS team.

Release Packs & Regression Testing

Over the past 10 months, I’ve helped create release packs after each deployment to inform the business of implemented changes. I also conduct regression testing post-release to ensure stability and prevent defects from reaching production.

AI Occupation Look-Up

Most recently, I returned to the BIMS team to support the AI Occupation Look-Up project, due to limited testing resources. Although the project is in early stages, I’ve already raised several bugs, queries, and PRBs that could have significantly impacted Operations if left unresolved. I will continue working on this until code complete in October, with the goal of ensuring a smooth and successful launch.