Arriva is one of the largest transport services organisations in Europe, employing more than 34,000 people and delivering more than 1.6 billion passenger journeys across 11 European countries every year. We have strong roots dating back to 1938, an ambitious growth agenda, and a continuously developing relationship with I Squared who acquired Arriva in 2024.
Arriva is undertaking a major enterprise systems transformation through the implementation of Oracle Fusion and optimization of Workday across corporate functions.
As such, we are looking for a Testing Lead Coordinator on a fixed-term contract until April 2027 to support delivery across a key period. This role will ensure that testing activity is fully planned, coordinated and executed to support both the Oracle Fusion programme and ongoing Workday optimisation.
The Testing Lead Coordinator is responsible for leading and coordinating the end-to-end testing lifecycle across multiple releases, while supporting integrated programme delivery. The role works closely with the Programme Director to ensure structured planning, cross-workstream alignment, and robust quality assurance across design, build, testing and go-live.
The role ensures effective coordination between Finance, HR, Technology teams and delivery partners to achieve controlled, compliant and high-quality programme outcomes.
This role will be on a hybrid working basis, a minimum of 3 days per week in the Sunderland, London, Aintree, Wakefield or Thurmaston office, the rest focusing on where you can best deliver for your customers, whilst still allowing for the required work life balance.
Key responsibilities would include:
Programme Delivery & Governance
- Support the Programme Director in maintaining programme objectives, scope and delivery roadmap.
- Ensure programme plans are updated with relevant testing activities.
- Manage resourcing requirements across the programme (incl. holidays, leavers etc.) working with the Programme Administration Coordinator to ensure clear mapping of Programme, SME and partner resources throughout its lifecycle.
Testing Leadership & Coordination
- Develop and maintain the integrated Testing Strategy and detailed Testing Plan, working closely with our SI partners.
- Define SIT and UAT entry and exit criteria.
- Coordinate test scenario development across Finance and HR workstreams.
- Ensure traceability from requirements/processes through design and test execution.
- Oversee defect management processes including triage, prioritisation and resolution tracking.
- Monitor defect trends and provide quality reporting to governance forums.
- Coordinate integration, regression and business validation testing.
- Coordinate business SME participation and testing capacity planning.
- Support stage gate readiness assessments and quality assurance reviews.
Risk, Issue & Dependency Management
- Maintain Programme and Testing RAID logs.
- Identify quality, schedule and dependency risks.
- Escalate material issues to the Programme Director with clear impact assessments and mitigation options.
- Coordinate mitigation actions across workstreams.
Go-Live & Early Life Support
- Support planning and execution of cutover activities from a testing assurance perspective.
- Ensure test evidence and reconciliations are complete prior to go-live decision forums.
- Support hypercare defect triage and transition into BAU support teams.
What we are looking for:
We’re looking for an experienced Testing Lead Coordinator who enjoys driving quality across complex system change and taking ownership of testing outcomes. You’ll be comfortable working in fast-paced environments, combining strong programme coordination skills with a hands-on, delivery-focused approach to testing.
Candidates will preferably:
- Demonstrate experience leading system integration testing (SIT) and user acceptance testing (UAT) within ERP or HR system transformation programmes.
- Have experience coordinating testing across multiple workstreams, including integration and data migration testing.
- Bring strong programme or senior project management experience, ideally within Oracle Fusion, Workday or similar SaaS environments.
- Show the ability to translate complex technical and system issues into clear, structured reporting for senior stakeholders.
- Demonstrate strong facilitation, planning and coordination skills across business, IT and implementation partners.
- Have an understanding of key business processes, such as finance (record-to-report, procure-to-pay, order-to-cash) and/or HR lifecycles.
- Show a hands-on approach, taking ownership to drive testing delivery rather than purely overseeing it.
Desirable:
- Experience supporting business-critical process validation, such as finance close or payroll cycles.
- Experience working within large-scale, multi-release transformation programmes.
- Relevant certifications (e.g. PRINCE2, MSP, ISTQB) or equivalent professional experience.
This role will suit someone who is highly organised, detail-driven and proactive, and who thrives on bringing structure and clarity to complex environments. You’ll enjoy working collaboratively across teams, taking ownership, and ensuring testing is delivered to a high standard in support of successful programme outcomes.
The closing date for applications is Thursday 7 May 2026. Arriva Group reserves the right to close this vacancy early.
Arriva is one of the largest transport services organisations in Europe, employing more than 34,000 people and delivering more than 1.6 billion passenger journeys across 11 European countries every year. We have strong roots dating back to 1938, an ambitious growth agenda, and a continuously developing relationship with I Squared who acquired Arriva in 2024.
Arriva is undertaking a major enterprise systems transformation through the implementation of Oracle Fusion and optimization of Workday across corporate functions.
The Testing and Programme Lead Coordinator is responsible for coordinating integrated programme delivery activities while leading the end-to-end testing lifecycle across multiple releases. The role supports the Programme Director in ensuring structured planning, cross-workstream alignment and quality assurance across design, build, testing and go-live.
The role ensures effective coordination between Finance, HR, Technology teams and delivery partners to achieve controlled, compliant and high-quality programme outcomes.
Programme Delivery & Governance
- Support the Programme Director in maintaining programme objectives, scope and delivery roadmap
- Ensure programme plans are updated with relevant testing activities
- Manage resourcing requirements across the programme (incl. holidays, leavers etc.) working with the Programme Administration Coordinator to ensure clear mapping of Programme, SME and partner resources throughout its lifecycle
Testing Leadership & Coordination
- Develop and maintain the integrated Testing Strategy and detailed Testing Plan, working closely with our SI partners
- Define SIT and UAT entry and exit criteria
- Coordinate test scenario development across Finance and HR workstreams
- Ensure traceability from requirements/processes through design and test execution
- Oversee defect management processes including triage, prioritisation and resolution tracking
- Monitor defect trends and provide quality reporting to governance forums
- Coordinate integration, regression and business validation testing
- Coordinate business SME participation and testing capacity planning
- Support stage gate readiness assessments and quality assurance reviews
Risk, Issue & Dependency Management
- Maintain Programme and Testing RAID logs
- Identify quality, schedule and dependency risks
- Escalate material issues to the Programme Director with clear impact assessments and mitigation options
- Coordinate mitigation actions across workstreams
Go-Live & Early Life Support
- Support planning and execution of cutover activities from a testing assurance perspective
- Ensure test evidence and reconciliations are complete prior to go-live decision forums
- Support hypercare defect triage and transition into BAU support teams
Programme & Testing Delivery
- Strong programme or senior project management experience on Oracle Fusion, Workday or similar SaaS implementations
- Proven experience leading SIT and UAT across complex, multi-workstream programmes
- Experience managing integration and data migration testing
Functional Knowledge
- Understanding of finance processes including record-to-report, procure-to-pay and order-to-cash and/or HR process lifecycles
- Experience supporting business-critical process validation (e.g. finance close or payroll cycles)
Stakeholder & Communication
- Strong facilitation and coordination skills
- Able to translate complex technical and system issues into structured executive reporting
- Experience working across business, IT and implementation partners
Personal Attributes
- Highly organised, delivery-focused and detail-driven
- Proactive, resilient and comfortable managing ambiguity
- Collaborative with a strong sense of ownership and accountability
Qualifications
PRINCE2, MSP, ISTQB or equivalent desirable