Test Analyst - Mortgage Origination at Hurren and Hope Holdings Ltd, Cambridge - Occasional minimal travel, 9 Months, £Contract Rate

Test Analyst - Platform Modernisation & Mortgage Origination

£350 - £400 per day (Outside IR35) | 9-Month Rolling Contract | Remote (UK-based) with occasional onsite attendance

We are an established UK financial institution currently undertaking a critical upgrade to our core banking platform. This upgrade impacts the very heart of our operations, moving away from servicing uplift to focus entirely on defining our test strategy for mortgage origination.

Given the criticality of these services, robust testing is the safety net that ensures continuity of operations, data integrity, and minimal disruption to our customers and internal teams. We are looking for an experienced, highly autonomous Test Analyst to guide this upgrade through system, integration, and UAT phases. We need a true specialist who takes ownership of their deliverables, blends both manual execution and automation testing, and thrives in an independent, outcome-focused environment.

What You'll Be Doing You will own the testing life cycle for our core mortgage origination journeys:

• Scenario Design & Validation: Design comprehensive test strategies and scenarios covering end-to-end mortgage origination workflows. You will attend initial vendor workshops to understand how the system is being built and translate business and system requirements into robust test cases and coverage matrices.

• Test Execution & UAT Leadership: Execute testing across core origination processes using a hybrid approach of manual execution and automation testing. You won't just be running scripts; you'll be the anchor for operations teams validating the system, collating progress, and maintaining strict audit trails.

• Defect Management & Vendor Coordination: Take complete ownership of the defect life cycle. You will facilitate triage sessions, conduct root cause analysis on critical issues, and collaborate closely with third-party vendors to raise, explain, and drive defects through to resolution.

• Strategic Environment Management: Ensure test environments are primed and ready for action. You will validate user access, coordinate test data setup aligned to origination scenarios, and proactively identify risks-offering strategic recommendations to optimise our future testing and automation approaches.

Who We're Looking For We value "battle-tested" delivery over theoretical frameworks:

• Mortgage Origination Mastery: You possess deep, proven experience testing core banking platforms, specifically within mortgage origination. You inherently understand day-to-day operations and the complex integration between downstream and upstream systems.

• Hybrid Testing Expertise: You are highly capable of defining test scope and executing both manual and automation testing.

• Architectural Independence & Agility: You are comfortable working under an Outside IR35 framework. You retain full discretion over your methods, tools, and the sequencing of your activities, provided the agreed project milestones are achieved. You are a self-starter who delivers without needing micro-management.

• Clear Communication (Non-Client Facing): While there is no requirement for direct client-facing interaction, you are skilled at bridging the gap between technical vendors and business users, capable of producing clear test completion reports, status updates, and defect trend analyses for project stakeholders.

• Bonus Backgrounds: While not a strict prerequisite, any prior exposure to the Finova platform will be highly regarded and allow you to hit the ground running even faster.

This is a high-impact contract where your expertise will directly ensure the seamless rollout of critical financial infrastructure.

Please note: Hurren & Hope is our chosen talent partner for this search. All speculative applicants from individuals or agencies will be forwarded directly to them in the first instance.

We endeavour to get back to all applications; phone calls, direct outreach via LinkedIn, etc., simply slows down our ability.