Performance QA Lead

About Scrumconnect Consulting

Scrumconnect Consulting is a UK-based, award-winning digital consultancy delivering technology and transformation services across the public sector. We work with government departments and regulated organisations to build secure, scalable, and user-centred digital services that meet GOV.UK Service Standards and the DDAT framework.

Performance QA lead:
I think we need to be realistic about the environment the person will be coming into. The pressure isn't going to disappear overnight. Even with the improvements we are putting in place, the programme will continue to have tight timelines, competing priorities, different opinions, dependencies and occasions where there is a short window to deliver something. Those things are part of the current environment, and it will take time for the changes we are making to have an impact.
Because of that, I think the maturity of the lead is particularly important. We need someone who can absorb that pressure, stay composed, communicate clearly and help the team work through it rather than becoming overwhelmed by it. They should be able to recognise when something needs escalation, but also bring structure and calmness to the team when things get difficult.
So for me, the next Performance Lead needs to be more than technically strong. They need to have the experience of working through complex delivery situations and be comfortable managing pressure, ambiguity and differences of opinion. The expectation isn't that they won't experience stress, but that they have the maturity and experience to manage it constructively and prevent that pressure from becoming a wider team issue.
Priyanka has demonstrated good technical capability, particularly with JMeter, but I think the experience required to lead through this type of environment is a different skill set. That's the area I'd particularly focus on when we look for the replacement.
Ultimately, I think we need someone who can deliver, lead and mentor the team, while providing a calm and stable presence when the inevitable pressure comes . That will be especially important as we move into the Gatling migration and the next phase of performance engineering. Priyanka can roll off from this project only after all the handover is given to the new person. We have spent considerable amount of effort in bringing her up to speed.