We're seeking a highly motivated and experienced Senior Project Manager to lead critical initiatives within our Front-Office Lending (FOL) Unit. This is a unique opportunity to shape the future of our lending platforms, playing a pivotal role in both the ongoing enhancement of our existing system and the strategic rollout of a new, cutting-edge platform.
This role is a hybrid position based in Luxembourg.
About Our Team
The FOL Unit is at the heart of our lending operations, maintaining two core applications:
- Serapis: Our established Java-based front-office lending system, encompassing the entire loan lifecycle from origination to post-signature monitoring.
- Iris: A new, innovative PEGA-based lending platform currently being rolled out (Iris – NCLS – Stream 1). This platform will strategically replace parts of Serapis, beginning with core appraisal functionalities in 2025.
You'll be instrumental in coordinating QA activities, managing release schedules, and ensuring the successful delivery of both the flagship Iris "Core Appraisal" project and ongoing Serapis maintenance.
What You'll Do
As a Senior Project Manager, you'll be responsible for a dynamic range of activities, including:
Program Management & Planning
- Develop and maintain comprehensive project plans (Gantt charts) for both Iris – NCLS Stream 1 and Serapis Maintenance & Support.
- Orchestrate all QA and testing activities, ensuring seamless alignment with development, business, and operations teams.
- Lead Agile ceremonies, including daily stand-ups, sprint planning, and retrospectives, fostering a collaborative and efficient environment.
Stakeholder & Resource Management
- Serve as the key liaison between the FOL Unit, dedicated development teams (Java for Serapis, PEGA for Iris), business analysts, and external vendors.
- Strategically manage resource allocation for QA analysts, test automation engineers, and DevOps specialists, securing additional capacity during peak demand.
- Provide clear and concise progress, risk, and budget status reports to our Steering Committee and other governance bodies.
Risk & Quality Management
- Implement and oversee robust risk management processes, identifying testing risks, defining effective mitigation strategies, and escalating issues as needed.
- Champion and enforce stringent QA guidelines and standards (ISTQB, ITIL, and internal policies) to ensure all deliverables meet organizational requirements.
- Conduct thorough post-release reviews and facilitate lessons-learned sessions to drive continuous improvement across all projects.
Agile & Release Coordination
- Plan and coordinate multiple release waves for both Iris and Serapis, meticulously managing test cycles, UAT, regression testing, and go-live readiness.
- Collaborate closely with Scrum Masters and Product Owners to prioritize user stories from a QA perspective, ensuring quality is embedded from the outset.
- Ensure a smooth transition from test environments to production, overseeing smoke tests and comprehensive post-release validation.
What You'll Bring
- Experience: Minimum 7 years leading a QA/testing team within a large IT organization (over 500 employees).
- Domain Knowledge: At least 7 years of experience in financial and lending products within a banking or investment environment.
- Certification: ISTQB (Foundation or higher) or an equivalent certification.
- Methodology: A proven track record in Agile (Scrum/SAFe) environments, demonstrating expertise in organizing sprints, backlog management, and Agile coaching.
- PEGA QA: Demonstrated experience with QA best practices in a PEGA context, including familiarity with the PEGA Test Framework and PEGA BPM.
- Tools: Proficiency with JIRA, Confluence, and MS Project (or equivalent) for effective planning and tracking.
- Communication: Excellent English skills with the ability to clearly articulate complex QA challenges to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Preferred Qualifications
- CI/CD & DevOps: Familiarity with continuous integration/delivery pipelines as used for Serapis (Java) or Iris (PEGA).
- Regulatory Knowledge: Understanding of EU project governance and compliance standards relevant to the investment banking sector.
- Budget & Contract Management: Experience managing budgets and vendor contracts in a banking or investment environment.
Opportunities are numerous. From bare applications development to of IT infrastructures management including conception, architecture and requirements analysis.
Although open to technologies used by our customers, ABAKUS IT-SOLUTIONS seeks mainly but not only consultants mastering: Windows and Linux Servers, networks, developments (JAVA, SAP, .NET,…) as well as highly specialized experts for example in cybersecurity or in Content Management System (CMS) (SharePoint, Drupal, WebLogic…).
In terms of non-technical competencies, ABAKUS IT-SOLUTIONS hires dynamic persons, open to the world, interested by innovation and having a keen sense of client relationship.
A very good command of English is essential, the capacity to speak French, German or Dutch is an asset.
Even though most of our positions require at least 3 years of experience, some are open to new starters.
