Kirsty Ellis

• Manage daily bookkeeping activities, including recording transactions and maintaining accurate financial records for a small business using Quickbooks and Xero accounting software
• Systematically record and review income and expenses to support accurate financial reporting and compliance
• Oversee the preparation, issuance, and reconciliation of company invoices, including proactive follow-up on outstanding payments.
• Reconcile bank statements and transactions, identify discrepancies, and monitor cash flow to maintain financial oversight
• Prepare, review, and submit quarterly VAT returns in compliance with regulatory requirements.

Successfully led, managed, and coordinated functional testing for numerous large-scale migration projects and programmes. One of the most significant programmes overseen was the Payroll Transformation initiative. This £20 million programme involved the complex migration of 64,000 colleagues from the SAP payroll system to Workday. Responsibilities included ensuring the accuracy and efficiency of the functional testing processes, which were critical to the successful implementation of this transformation.

In addition to the recent role, testing has been managed for various projects involving platforms such as Workday, SAP, ServiceNow, and Benefex. This experience has provided a detailed understanding of their functionalities and the intricacies involved in ensuring their seamless integration and performance.

• Proven track record of successfully delivering projects, consistently meeting or exceeding expectations. Effective management of resources, timelines, and stakeholder communications has been instrumental in achieving project goals.
• Coordinated, led, and mentored a team of Quality Engineers (QEs) aligned with the lab, ensuring the implementation of high-quality testing processes. Leadership has been instrumental in fostering a collaborative and efficient team environment, resulting in the successful delivery of testing projects and the continuous improvement of testing methodologies.
• Created a comprehensive suite of test deliverables, including test plans, test cases, and test scripts
• Conduct regular status and defect meetings with stakeholders to provide clear visibility into the testing progress, identified defects, and potential risks. These meetings have been crucial in maintaining transparent communication, addressing issues promptly, and ensuring that all stakeholders are informed and aligned with the project's objectives
• Manage and coordinate User Acceptance Testing (UAT), ensuring that the testing processes are thorough and effective. This role involves overseeing the planning, execution, and evaluation of UAT activities, which are critical in validating the functionality and performance of systems before their deployment.
• Collaborate closely and communicate effectively with cross-functional teams and stakeholders, including product owners, business representatives, and developers. This collaboration has been essential in developing project test deliverables and ensuring quality testing throughout the entire testing lifecycle. By building strong relationships and maintaining open lines of communication, testing objectives have been aligned with project goals, resulting in the delivery of high-quality outcomes.
• Collaborate with 3rd parties
• Conduct thorough regression testing following defect fixes to ensure that existing functionality remains unaffected
• Perform hands-on test execution as needed, ensuring that testing processes are thorough and effective. Direct involvement in test execution has maintained a high standard of quality and accuracy throughout the testing lifecycle.

• Leading and managing an offshore testing team of up to seven members, overseeing Internet Banking projects and CMS/Teamsite testing. Conducting thorough reviews of documentation, including Master Test Plan, Functional Test Plan, End of Test Report, design documents, test scripts, and conditions, providing comments and approvals. Serving as the primary escalation point for the offshore test team and functioning as the sole point of contact for onshore, offshore, and project teams.
• Organizing and facilitating Risk-Based Testing (RBT) workshops as needed. Overseeing the delivery of multiple projects simultaneously, managing various test and project teams. Responsible for the Servicing theme and Public Website projects, with total expenditures for 2013 approximately £7.17 million for Servicing and £5 million for Public Site projects.
• Coordinating walkthroughs of testing documentation and deliverables to ensure comprehensive understanding among all stakeholders. Monitoring project progress against plans to ensure timely completion, highlighting any deviations early to minimize impact. Fostering and maintaining strong working relationships with project teams, User Acceptance Testing (UAT) teams, and other Quality Assurance (QA) colleagues.
• Reviewing all quotes to ensure cost-effectiveness and identifying opportunities for cost savings. Maintaining costs within agreed budgets through meticulous budgeting controls, tracking forecasts, and actual spend against forecast spend. Identifying risks and issues, ensuring timely implementation of mitigating actions. Driving and implementing process improvements, including the introduction of weekly status calls.

• Producing comprehensive test documentation, including the Master Test Plan and System Test Plan. Reviewing project documentation, providing detailed comments and sign-off when required. Reviewing and approving test scripts and conditions produced by the offshore team. Creating and distributing a test execution schedule to the project team, ensuring visibility of testing timelines.
• Managing the testing lifecycle for projects, setting clear goals, targets, and standards. Responsible for project planning, resource allocation, and cost estimation. Recording and monitoring defects daily, ensuring timely resolution. Monitoring test execution daily to ensure adherence to schedule. Producing and distributing daily status reports to the project team, providing visibility on test execution progress.
• Acting as the primary point of contact for onshore, offshore, and project teams. Organizing and facilitating Risk-Based Testing (RBT) workshops as needed. Producing quotes for any project change requests. Creating and distributing the End of Test Report to the project team.
• Maintaining close partnerships with project teams, User Acceptance Testing (UAT) teams, and colleagues. Providing support to the UAT team.

• System testing the E-Commerce online banking changes involves producing and assisting with the creation of System Test Plans and Project Test Plans. This includes the creation of test scripts and conditions within Test Director, as well as datamining for System Testing and User Acceptance Testing (UAT). Execution of test scripts is carried out within Test Director, and defect management involves raising and monitoring defects through Test Director.
• Additionally, producing written reports for managers on various aspects of the testing undertaken is essential. Close collaboration with Business Analysts and Developers ensures that the work carried out aligns with the schedule and meets quality requirements.

• Administering household policies while actively seeking opportunities to upsell.
• Processing new and existing claims with the goal of finalizing them in one phone call through cash settlements and appointing suppliers.
• Serving as a trainer and buddy, providing support to new colleagues.