Test leadership
Leading small test teams on high-value programmes: planning coverage, prioritising risk and keeping delivery honest about quality.
- Years in software testing
- 10+
- Years on Scottish Government programmes
- 4+
- Regulated & high-profile sectors
- 3
- CRMN Tech Ltd founded
- 2021
What I bring
A tester who can lead the team as well as find the bugs.
I plug into your delivery team quickly and take ownership of quality, from refinement through to release.
Agile & Scrum transformation
Moving teams from waterfall to a working Scrum cadence, with sprint planning, 3 Amigos and retrospectives that people actually find useful.
Functional & exploratory testing
Structured and exploratory testing that follows real user journeys and finds the problems scripted checks miss.
Regression & release assurance
Repeatable regression packs and clear go/no-go evidence, so every release goes out with confidence.
Test management tooling
Setting up Jira, Confluence and qTest to create, run and track tests, with traceability the whole team can see.
Stakeholder alignment
Bringing suppliers, consultancies, permanent staff and contractors into one well-organised delivery rhythm.
Government
Multi-supplier Scottish Government programmes handling sensitive casework and wellbeing data.
Banking & Financial
Testing in regulated environments where accuracy, auditability and resilience are non-negotiable.
Broadcast & Media
Consumer-facing platforms at STV where uptime and user experience reach a national audience.
How I work
QA should shape the product, not just guard the exit.
“Treating QA as a barrier to production is the quickest way to ship a half-baked product. Bring a QA mindset into every stage and quality becomes the goal, not the defender.”
— Calvin Neilson, on shift-left testing
- 01
Involve QA from day one
I join refinement, question requirements and break user stories before a line of code is written.
- 02
Quality is the goal, not the gate
When the whole team has a QA mindset, testing stops being the final hurdle and becomes how the product gets built.
- 03
Clarity over ceremony
Everyone should start a sprint knowing exactly what they're building and how it will be proven.
Track record
From apprentice tester to contract test lead.
In October 2021, aged 23, I went independent and founded CRMN Tech Ltd. I went on to spend four and a half years delivering Scottish Government programmes through successive contract renewals.
Toolkit
- Jira
- Confluence
- qTest
- Scrum
- Kanban
- Waterfall
- Sprint planning
- 3 Amigos
- Retrospectives
- Regression testing
- Exploratory testing
- UAT support
- Defect management
- Test planning
- Risk-based testing
Feb 2022 — Sep 2026
Associate Software Tester · Lead Tester
Scottish Government (via 2i)
- Led testing for a small team delivering a high-value programme that lets employees track client issues, record unacceptable actions and flag wellbeing concerns.
- Moved the team from an established waterfall process to Scrum, making full use of Jira and Confluence with qTest for test creation, execution and tracking.
- Coordinated 2i, Deloitte, permanent Scottish Government staff and associate contractors through sprint planning, 3 Amigos sessions and retrospectives.
- Retained through successive six-month contract renewals over four and a half years.
Oct 2021 — Present
Director
CRMN Tech Ltd
- Founded a limited company in Scotland to deliver contract QA and independent software projects.
- Engaged by clients and agencies as a straightforward limited-company contractor.
Earlier career
Junior Software Tester
STV Group plc
- Tested broadcast and digital media products used by audiences across Scotland.
Where it started
Apprentice Software Tester
Cognizant Technology Solutions
- Learned the craft through a formal testing apprenticeship at a global technology consultancy.
Work together
Need a test lead who can hit the ground running?
Open to conversations about software testing, QA and test leadership opportunities.
Send the details of the role and I'll come back to you with availability, rates and a copy of my CV.
