Our client in Plano, Texas is seeking a Testing Project Manager (Program Test PM) who will be responsible for end-to-end testing governance across the OSM program. This role ensures delivery quality, drives cross-team alignment, oversees environment and data readiness, manages defect and automation governance, and provides consolidated reporting to program leadership. The Testing PM owns the testing strategy and ensures all product teams follow consistent, high-quality testing processes.
Key Responsibilities
Test Strategy, Planning & Governance
- Own and maintain the OSM program-wide test strategy, including manual, integration, regression, E2E, performance, Disaster Recovery and automation testing.
- Define quality standards, entry/exit criteria, traceability expectations, and reporting requirements for all teams.
- Ensure alignment between product teams, program leadership, vendor partners, and technical delivery leadership.
Cross-Team Coordination & Readiness
- Coordinate test planning across all product teams; ensure cross-team dependencies are managed and aligned with PI and release schedules.
- Oversee test environment readiness, integrations, test data preparation, and user access provisioning across teams.
- Resolve cross-team blockers (environment issues, missing builds, configuration gaps).
Automation Leadership
- Define automation priorities, governance, and success criteria across the program.
- Ensure consistent tooling, standards, script review processes, and integration with CI/CD where possible.
- Drive automation adoption to improve coverage and accelerate regression cycles.
Execution Oversight
- Track execution progress across all product teams for manual and automated testing.
- Ensure teams meet PI timelines and testing remains aligned to program goals.
- Oversee E2E testing cycles and ensure readiness for UAT and release.
Defect Governance
- Lead program-level defect triage, ensuring severity alignment, vendor accountability, and closure.
- Monitor defect trends, SLA compliance, and defect quality across teams.
Reporting & Leadership Communication
- Produce consolidated weekly testing reports including execution progress, automation results, defects, risks, dependencies, and readiness indicators.
- Communicate risks and mitigation plans effectively to program stakeholders.
Quality, Compliance & Audit
- Ensure full requirements/test cases/defects/results traceability across the program.
- Maintain audit-ready documentation for QA activities, IT controls, and compliance requirements.
Side-by-Side Role Comparison
| Category | Testing Project Manager (Program Test PM) | Lead QA Analyst (Product Test Lead) |
| Primary Focus | Program-level testing governance, cross-team alignment, and quality oversight | Product-level test planning, execution, and hands-on QA leadership |
| Scope | Entire OSM program (all product teams, vendors, integrations, environments) | One specific product area (e.g., Originations, HDCX/COA, Talon, Data & AI, BI Reporting) |
| Test Strategy | Owns and maintains OSM-wide manual + automation strategy; sets standards and entry/exit criteria | Implements the strategy for their product team; ensures adherence to standards |
| Planning Responsibilities | Coordinates test plans for all product teams; manages cross-team dependencies and PI alignment | Creates detailed test plan and schedule for their product area; clarifies requirements with PO/SMEs |
| Environment & Data Readiness | Ensures program-wide test environment availability, integration readiness, and test data provisioning | Validates readiness for the team’s functional area; flags environment/data blockers to PM |
| Automation Responsibilities | Sets automation direction, governance, prioritization, and adoption across OSM | Identifies automation candidates; collaborates with automation engineers; validates automation outcomes |
| Execution Oversight | Monitors execution progress at program level; coordinates E2E and cross-team testing | Manages day-to-day test execution; assigns work to testers; performs manual/automation test execution |
| Defect Governance | Leads program-level defect triage; ensures vendor accountability and severity alignment | Logs detailed defects; retests fixes; represents product team in triage |
| Reporting | Produces consolidated weekly program test reports with metrics, automation, defects, risks | Provides daily/weekly product-level status and metrics to the Testing PM |
| Risk & Issue Management | Owns program-wide QA risks and escalations; drives mitigation across teams | Identifies and escalates product-level risks/issues promptly |
| Compliance | Ensures audit readiness, IT control adherence, and full traceability across all product teams | Ensures traceability, documentation, and compliance within the product QA team |
| People Leadership | Coaches Test Leads; influences staffing; leads cross-functional QA maturity | Coaches QA testers (onshore/offshore); supports onboarding and knowledge transfer |
| Vendors & Partners | Oversees testing alignment with third-party vendors | Collaborates with vendors as needed for product-specific functionality |
| E2E Testing | Owns E2E readiness, planning, environments, and execution oversight | Contributes product-specific tests into E2E cycles |
KPIs & Performance Measurement
1. Focus Area
The Program Test PM is accountable for program-level QA quality, governance, alignment, reporting, and cross-team delivery, as reflected in the role definition in Test Strategy for OSM. (test strategy needs revision)
2. Quality & Coverage KPIs
These KPIs reflect program-wide expectations defined in OSM’s exit criteria and quality metrics.
- Requirements Coverage: 95% of requirements have validated test coverage (manual + automation).
- Test Case Readiness: 100% of required test cases created, reviewed, and approved before execution.
- Critical Defect Resolution: 100% of Sev1/Sev2 defects resolved or waived before release.
- Defect Leakage: < 3% defects discovered in later phases (E2E/UAT).
- Automation Coverage: 50–80% of regression suite automated across the program (aligned with OSM strategy to increase automation efficiency).
3. Execution & Delivery KPIs
- On-Time Test Execution Across All Teams: ? 95% program-wide execution of planned PI test cases.
- Reduction in Blocked Tests: Demonstrated reduction of cross-team blockers (historically hundreds of blocked tests).
- Environment Readiness: All test environments available and validated by PI start dates.
- Cross-Team Dependency Closure: 90%+ of identified dependencies cleared on schedule (integrations, data readiness, builds).
4. Defect Governance KPIs
Program Test PM owns the triage and reporting process.
- Triage SLA: 95% of defects triaged within 1 business day.
- Cross-Team Defect Coordination: Defect assignment accuracy 95%.
- Trend Management: Demonstrated reduction in recurring defects and integration failures across PIs.
5. Reporting & Communication KPIs
- On-Time Program Reporting: 100% delivery of weekly consolidated testing reports (defects, metrics, risks, automation).
- Risk Visibility: All major risks are identified, logged, and communicated with mitigation plans.
6. Compliance & Audit KPIs
- Traceability Compliance: 100% of requirements mapped to test cases, defects, and results.
- Audit Readiness: Zero audit findings tied to QA documentation or processes.
KPIs – Side-by-Side Comparison
| KPI Category | Testing PM KPIs | Lead QA Analyst KPIs |
| Coverage | 95% requirements covered program-wide | 100% of product requirements have test cases |
| Execution | 95% of all program test cases executed per PI; cross-team schedule adherence | 95% of product test cases executed on time; minimal schedule slippage |
| Automation | 50–80% regression suite automated across OSM; automation stability 95% | High-priority scenarios automated within same/next PI; false-failure rate <5% |
| Defect Quality & Triage | 95% triage SLA; defect leakage <3%; downward trend in cross-team blockers | Defect rejection <5%; retest turnaround <2 days |
| Risk Management | Reduction in cross-program blockers; early detection metrics | Early flagging of product-specific issues/risks |
| Reporting | 100% on-time weekly executive test reporting | Accurate and timely daily/weekly status reporting |
| Compliance & Traceability | 100% requirements/test/defect/result traceability | Full traceability for product area; audit-ready documentation |
| Team Leadership | QA maturity improvements across program; successful coordination of multiple teams | Tester enablement, efficient team coordination, strong test case quality |