Product & Deployment Lead

Description:

We are seeking for a Product & Deployment Lead, EMEA in charge of a team deploying the Global SMS application across multiple countries.

This role ensures that:

Deployment activities are delivered on time, within scope, and in compliance with local regulations and organizational standards.
The deployment framework is always enhanced and scalable for future deployments.

The position requires:

Close collaboration within the team and with cross-functional teams, including development, infrastructure, security, and business stakeholders.
Analytical skills to identify opportunities (automation, simplifications, continuous improvements, …)

Key Responsibilities:

Lead a SMS deployment team
Execute initial discovery of SMS solution in “MT0” session, identify enhancements and support adequate functional specification requirements definition.
Prioritize enhancements as pre or post Go Live
Ensure Pre-Go Live enhancements are within the allocated budget and timeline
Lead Data Migration, performance testing, integration testing, business continuity testing, …
Lead UAT (including Data and integration signoff, performance testing if applicable, business continuity testing if applicable, …)
Support change management (Lead country Expert/key user training, support/monitor champions training execution)
Successful deployment within time and budget
Handover support post go live to sustain team
Monitor post Go Live adoption and defects
Monitor team resource allocation with support of project planner to avoid under and over utilization
Monitor and reconcile weekly progress with the project plan
Communicate to stakeholders on progress and budget
Have a deployment MFA and increase score to be above 5.5 (out of 7)

Deployment Strategy & Framework

Contribute to designing the deployment strategy.
Enhance and improve the existing deployment template in order to:
Reduce deployment timeline and cost.
Support standard modular approach.
Optimize the overall process (Country discovery “MT0”, enhancements definition and prioritization, UAT, signoff, …)

UAT/Test Planning & Strategy

Continuously enhance the Azure DevOps (ADO) structure to efficiently collect, manage, and act on UAT feedback.
Review and refine existing test plans and scripts, ensuring they reflect current system requirements and user expectations.
Maintain and evolve testing assets based on:
Functional Specification Documents (FSDs)
System updates and enhancements
Real-time user feedback during UAT cycles
Develop testing strategies that align with product goals, emphasizing traceability, coverage, and risk mitigation.
Collaborate to define and improve the ADO framework for test management and traceability.
Include data migration, interface, perf testing, DRP/Business continuity, etc 

Test Execution & Validation

Lead and execute functional, performance, and user acceptance tests (UAT) to validate system behavior under diverse conditions.
Monitor and report on test progress, ensuring transparency and timely escalation of issues.
Drive defect resolution by coordinating with development and QA teams, ensuring root cause analysis and timely fixes. 

Collaboration & Stakeholder Management 

Partner with country stakeholders
Support change management
Partner with CTO teams (build, interface, data load) and PMO to ensure alignment across deployment and testing activities.
Engage with product design engineers, robust design leaders, and business analysts to ensure test coverage reflects business needs.
Facilitate cross-functional workshops and syncs to align on priorities, timelines, and quality expectations. 

Automation & Continuous Improvement

Propose and contribute to the development of automated regression test suites to enhance testing efficiency and reduce manual effort.
Participate in root cause analysis (RCA) for defects and document lessons learned to improve future testing cycles.
Advocate for continuous improvement in testing practices, tools, and team collaboration. 

Documentation & Compliance

Maintain comprehensive documentation of test results, deployment procedures, and validation reports.
Support internal and external audits by ensuring traceability, compliance, and quality assurance standards are met.
Contribute to knowledge bases and training materials to support onboarding and knowledge transfer. 

Governance & Metrics

Define and track KPIs for deployment success, test coverage, defect resolution, and UAT satisfaction.
Establish governance models for deployment approvals, rollback procedures, and change control.
Provide regular updates to leadership on deployment health, risks, and improvement opportunities. 

Qualifications & Skills

Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills across technical and business domains.
Fluent English level, any additional languages being an asset
Negotiation skills (with partners teams, with country, etc)
Lead external partners teams
Objective oriented
Resilient, adaptative to moving environment, creative and solution finder approach
Proven experience in deployment architecture, test strategy, and system validation in enterprise environments.
Strong knowledge of Azure DevOps, test automation frameworks, and quality assurance methodologies.
Ability to lead cross-functional initiatives and drive strategic outcomes in a fast-paced environment.