Operational Technology Test Lead

Description : Experienced OT Test Lead to deliver complex testing and validation across Operational Technology and Telemetry programme including processes, access, core infrastructure, and site infrastructure.The OT Test Lead will be responsible for the planning, coordination, execution, and governance of testing activities throughout the project lifecycle. This includes requirements validation, functional testing, system integration testing, factory acceptance testing (FAT) , operational readiness, regression testing, and support for cybersecurity and resilience testing.The role requires a strong understanding of industrial control systems and the ability to work across multidisciplinary engineering, automation, infrastructure, cybersecurity, commissioning, vendor, and operational teams.Essential ExperienceSignificant experience in OT, industrial automation, control systems, commissioning, or systems testing.Strong experience working with PLC, SCADA, DCS, HMI, SIS, ESD, or industrial control systems.Experience developing test plans, procedures, and test scripts.Experience leading testing activities and coordinating multidisciplinary teams.Strong defect management and problem-solving experience.Ability to interpret complex engineering and technical documentation.Strong understanding of system integration and industrial communication networks.Excellent written and verbal communication skills.Key ResponsibilitiesTest PlanningEstablish appropriate testing plans for different testing phases, including SIT, E2E, OAT, UAT.Define appropriate test levels, test types, test environments, test data, test tools, and acceptance criteria.Establish traceability between business, operational, functional, technical, safety, cybersecurity, and system requirements and test evidence.Validate the defined test entry and exit criteria for each stage of the testing lifecycle.Identify testing risks, assumptions, constraints, and dependencies.Ensure testing activities align with project governance, quality standards, engineering standards, and operational requirements.Test ExecutionLead the execution of testing across complex OT and industrial control environments.Coordinate testing across multiple systems, suppliers, locations, and technical disciplines.Test interfaces between PLC, SCADA, HMI, historian, and enterprise systems.Validate data flows, tags, signals, commands, statuses, and alarms.Test communication failure scenarios and recovery behaviour.Work closely with OT cybersecurity teams to support the validation of security controls within operational environments.Investigate interface failures and coordinate resolution with system vendors and engineering teams.Provide test status reports.Produce test exit reports ensuring exit criteria are met.Technology ExperienceAccess workstream (MFA, PAM, RBAC), PLC systems, SCADA systems, DCS platforms, HMI systems, Industrial Control Systems (ICS), Industrial servers and workstations, OT networks and communication infrastructure, Historians and data collection platforms, OT monitoring and management systems, Engineering workstations, Remote access solutions, Integrated control and automation platformsTesting ExperienceStandard functional, system, integration, end-to-end testing.Coordination of user and operational acceptance testing.Performance, failover, resilience, recovery, cybersecurity, operational readiness, disaster recovery, commissioning testing.Contribute to the improvement of existing testing processes and templates for test and defect management.Producing high-quality documentation, including plans, scenarios, test cases, traceability, workbook, metrics, reports, exit.Adhering to existing project and quality assurance governance, ensuring appropriate coverage and evidence.TPBN1_UKTJ