Osborne Clarke is continuing to invest in our technology estate to support the firm’s growth and our clients’ evolving needs. As part of this, we are expanding our Information Technology (IT) function and have created a Test Analyst role within our Applications Delivery team. This role can be based in either our Bristol or London office offering hybrid working, on a 12 month fixed term contract.
This role will play a key part in safeguarding the quality of the software and solutions we deliver for our people and our clients, helping to ensure our IT systems are robust, reliable and fit for purpose before they go live.
The role
The Test Analyst will sit within our ITS Applications Delivery team and work closely with colleagues across Change & Transformation, Software Engineering, Service Delivery and the wider business. You will contribute to the definition of test approaches for projects, design and execute test cases, and help to identify and resolve defects before deployment.
You will be involved across the full testing lifecycle – from planning and test design through to execution, reporting and continuous improvement – supporting both internal OC solutions and technology delivered to our clients.
Key responsibilities include:
Test planning & approach
- Contribute to the creation of overall testing strategies for projects and changes.
- Lead the definition of test approaches for more complex pieces of work, including risk‑based coverage, entry/exit criteria and acceptance criteria aligned with business and technical objectives.
- Work closely with project managers, business analysts and developers to understand scope, priorities and timelines and to plan appropriate test activities.
Test design & execution
- Analyse business and technical requirements, user stories and specifications to design clear, structured test cases, scenarios and test data.
- Ensure test coverage across functional, integration and regression testing.
- Execute manual test cases accurately and consistently, recording results and evidence.
- Identify, reproduce and clearly describe defects and unexpected behaviour.
- Defect management & collaboration
- Raise, update and retest defects using agreed test management and defect tracking tools (for example Azure DevOps, Jira or similar).
- Collaborate with developers, business analysts, other testers and project managers to clarify issues, support diagnosis and confirm resolutions.
- Provide regular, concise updates on test progress, issues and risks to the Test Lead, Senior Test Analyst or Project Manager, escalating concerns in a timely and constructive way.
Documentation, reporting & improvement
- Produce and maintain test artefacts including test approaches, test cases, test data and test reports for audit, reference and compliance purposes.
- Help to ensure testing processes and standards are consistently followed and that test documentation is kept up to date.
- Identify opportunities to improve testing practices, tools and processes, contributing to the continuous enhancement of quality assurance across ITS.
- Take ownership of testing aspects related to the solutions for which you are responsible.
Learning, development & ways of working
- Take responsibility for developing your testing skills and domain knowledge, seeking guidance and feedback from more experienced colleagues and applying this in day‑to‑day work.
- Work as a supportive member of the IT Department, promoting effective communication, collaboration and a culture of mutual understanding.
- Maintain heightened awareness of information security and the risks associated with elevated access permissions, acting in line with our Information Security Policy and best practice.
- Provide professional support to Osborne Clarke fee earners, support and business services teams so that our clients receive consistently excellent service.
We are looking for:
- Solid, hands-on experience in software testing or quality assurance (typically 5+ years), with exposure to multiple projects or systems.
- Practical experience of working within at least one delivery methodology (e.g. Agile or Waterfall); ISTQB Foundation or equivalent certification (or working towards it).
- Proven ability to design and execute clear, repeatable test cases based on requirements, user stories or specifications, using standard test design techniques (such as boundary value and positive/negative testing).
- Experience using test management and defect tracking tools (e.g. Azure DevOps, Jira or similar) for test scripting, execution and defect logging.
- Good analytical and problem‑solving skills, with the ability to understand how systems are intended to behave and to spot inconsistencies or issues.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to describe issues and risks clearly and concisely and to collaborate effectively with developers, business analysts, project managers and other testers.
- Well organised and attentive to detail, able to follow agreed processes, keep test artefacts up to date and manage your own workload.
- Capable of working independently on assigned test tasks while being a supportive team member, knowing when to ask for help or escalate issues.
- Experience in professional services or other regulated environments (such as legal, financial services or insurance).
- Experience working across both Agile and more traditional (Waterfall/Hybrid) delivery environments.
- Exposure to enterprise platforms such as Microsoft Azure, Office 365 integrations or IT service management tools (e.g. ServiceNow).
- Awareness of test automation tools (e.g. Playwright, Selenium, Cypress) and where automation can add value.
- Basic awareness of non‑functional testing types (e.g. performance, load, security, usability) and an interest in developing your skills in these areas.
- Confidence working with test data in spreadsheets and, ideally, some experience with simple data queries or checks (e.g. basic SQL).
Salary and benefits
We offer competitive salaries and generous benefits. We value the health and wellbeing of our people and our wide range of initiatives and benefits support this.
Our recruitment process
Please note that although we include closing dates for our roles as a guide, we review and progress applications on a rolling basis. At Osborne Clarke we do not make any recruitment decisions using automated decision-making.
We are committed to providing an environment where you can perform to the best of your abilities at every stage of your recruitment experience and beyond. If you require any adjustments to be made during the application stage, interview process, or when working with us, please let us know in confidence.