Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Timeline
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Richard Williams

Tetney,Lincolnshire

Summary

Highly influential and multi-faceted Senior Assurance leader. Proven track record and history of testing and test service delivery across programmes of all sizes and complexity.

Ability to apply the right methods to support complex IT systems and projects in high-pressure situations.

Proficient in building, leading, and improving test and assurance teams to meet the ever-changing needs of the organisation.

Proactive in my management style and adept at deploying and operating testing and assurance governance models, test or assurance delivery frameworks, and toolkits.

Commercially savvy and have strong strategic, analytical, technical, and creative problem-solving abilities. Often called upon to provide technical recommendations on the best course of action to take.

Well-respected for my professionalism, resourcefulness, tact, and diplomacy. Motivated and goal-oriented with a knack for achieving results.



Overview

24
24
years of professional experience
3
3
years of post-secondary education

Work History

Head of QA, Test & Data Insights - VDS

NHSE
Leeds, West Yorkshire
06.2022 - Current
  • Vaccination Digital Services + Digital Healthcheck are two key areas within the Digital Prevention Services Portfolio. A key enabler in realising NHSE's vision to improve detection and prevention through digital investment & enablement
  • SLT member representing the Test & Assurance Delivery team with an additional focus on transformation across, processes, approach and releases.
  • Maturing the model and utilising technology (test automation, continual testing) to improve quality and efficiency so that high-quality solutions can be released rapidly & cost-effectively.
  • Realised through technology investment (automation) and replacing manual processes, changing from assuring products to assuring test assets, building maturity into the testing, dashboard and outputs that enable rapid releases.
  • In parallel, driving test and assurance activities across multiple products to ensure delivery is not compromised while we seek to transform.
  • Managing Data quality & analytics within this space to ensure product teams can make the best data-based decisions. At the same time auditing, correcting and validating the national data to ensure correct vaccination records sit at the core of our products.

Head of Test & Assurance

EVRi (Hermes)
01.2021 - 06.2022
  • Evri, the UK's leading consumer delivery specialists, engaged in a significant programme of transformational change, creating one of the North of England's largest Software Engineering functions.
  • Defined & implemented the test transformation strategy, taking it from heavily manual and waterfall to 80% automated and Agile, CI:CD
  • Instrumental in improving the test quality metrics across the board (DDP Taken from 55% to 95%) at the same time massively reducing the costs to test (circa 35% reduction) and enabling greater volume of change per release.
  • Managing a team of around 100 split across local, near and offshore locations.
  • Automation goals were achieved by ensuring the best foundations to then build out from with a standardized, simplified and scalable capability. Enabling empowered teams to support delivery.
  • As part of the rebrand, managing all of the testing, assurance as well as the major release and implementation. Using this as a blueprint to define the new approach to release management that was then rolled out and applied.

Head of Test Service Delivery

The Co-Operative Bank
01.2019 - 12.2020
  • Part of the Bank’s Senior Delivery management team, responsible for running all testing services and operations across the change portfolio.
  • Managed C120 resources (permanent and partners) and provided day-to-day leadership, management, single point of escalation, costs/budgets (£4.5m), forecast/planning and governance across the testing services functions.
  • Key in defining the Bank's automation assurance approach, refining this solution & business case, and delivering a strategy enhancing their digital journey. Key focus on Agile enabling, drive for DevOps and continuous integrtation and testing.

Interim Head of Testing Practice

SSP Ltd
08.2016 - 12.2018
  • Responsible for all testing delivery across multiple products, solutions and capabilities.
  • Alongside delivery, tasked with reviewing and improving their approach to enable an agile supporting model for testing
  • Achieved an improvement in the quality, coverage and efficiency of testing across the organisation. Delivering test improvements that increased efficiency, value and quality. Done through standardisation of approach, increased utilisation and sharing of tooling, closer working engagements (one team) and knowledge sharing across product lines
  • Cost: Benefit analysis identified C£1m in benefits realised through test improvement

Multiple

Various
08.2000 - 07.2016
  • Jun 2015 - Jul 2016 - Head of NFT Co-Operative Bank
  • Nov 2013 - May 2015 - ROQ Principle Test Consultant
  • Nov 2010 - Oct 2013 - Programme Test Manager
  • Aug 2000 - Nov 2010 - HBOS
  • IT Release Manager
  • Senior OAT Manager
  • Functional Test Lead
  • Senior Mainframe Developer
  • Mainframe Developer


Education

Bachelor of Science - Hydrographical surveying with Underwater Science

Plymouth University
Plymouth
09.1997 - 08.2000

Skills

  • Leadership
  • Stakeholder Management
  • Test Transformation (Vision to realisation)
  • Test Automation
  • Quality Assurance
  • Functional & Non-functional testing
  • Programme development
  • Test & Assurance troubleshooting
  • Strategic planning
  • Team building
  • Problem-solving
  • Release Management

Timeline

Head of QA, Test & Data Insights - VDS

NHSE
06.2022 - Current

Head of Test & Assurance

EVRi (Hermes)
01.2021 - 06.2022

Head of Test Service Delivery

The Co-Operative Bank
01.2019 - 12.2020

Interim Head of Testing Practice

SSP Ltd
08.2016 - 12.2018

Multiple

Various
08.2000 - 07.2016

Bachelor of Science - Hydrographical surveying with Underwater Science

Plymouth University
09.1997 - 08.2000

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Richard Williams