IT Defect Manager

Job Title: IT Defect Manager Location: Remote- UK Salary/Rate: up to £650 inside IR35/according to experience Start Date: 13/04/2026 Job Type: 5 month Contract- may be extended

We have an exciting new fully remote contract opportunity seeking an experienced and highly organised Defect Manager to take ownership of the defect management process across multiple projects and environments, with a particular focus on an Oracle programme. This is a key role responsible for ensuring defects are effectively logged, prioritised, tracked, and resolved in a timely and structured manner across the full delivery life cycle. This is within the Rail industry.

You will work closely with cross-functional teams and third-party vendors, ensuring clear communication, robust governance, and continuous improvement of defect management practice

Job Responsibilities/Objectives

• Own and manage the end-to-end defect life cycle, from detection through to resolution and closure
• Maintain and enforce defect management processes across ERP and non-ERP systems
• Establish and lead defect triage processes in collaboration with QA, Test Managers, Test Architects, Development teams, Business Analysts, Product Owners, and Project Managers
• Manage defects across third-party organisations and navigate associated complexities
• Oversee defect management for system integration and UAT phases
• Track defect metrics and produce regular, insightful reports for key stakeholders
• Monitor SLAs for defect resolution and escalate risks and issues where required
• Facilitate daily (or twice-daily) defect review meetings depending on project needs
• Ensure defects are logged consistently and with sufficient detail in tools such as JIRA or Excel (for Unit Testing)
• Drive continuous improvement in defect management processes and tooling
• Collaborate with Testing, Release Management (ERP & non-ERP), and Integration teams to support releases and hotfixes

Required Skills/Experience The ideal candidate will have the following:

• Proven experience managing defects within structured QA or testing environments
• Strong understanding of the SDLC and STLC
• Hands-on experience with defect tracking tools, particularly JIRA
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills
• Strong analytical skills with high attention to detail
• Ability to thrive in fast-paced, high-pressure delivery environments
• Experience working within Agile, Waterfall, or hybrid delivery models
• Demonstrated experience managing defects across third-party vendors and business teams, particularly during UAT

Desirable Skills/Experience Although not essential, the following skills are desired by the client:

• Experience working on Oracle programmes or strong Oracle system knowledge
• Experience extracting and analysing defect data for reporting and insights

If you are interested in this opportunity, please apply now with your updated CV in Microsoft Word/PDF format.

Disclaimer Notwithstanding any guidelines given to level of experience sought, we will consider candidates from outside this range if they can demonstrate the necessary competencies. Square One is acting as both an employment agency and an employment business, and is an equal opportunities recruitment business. Square One embraces diversity and will treat everyone equally. Please see our website for our full diversity statement.

The ideal candidate will have the following:

• Proven experience managing defects within structured QA or testing environments
• Strong understanding of the SDLC and STLC
• Hands-on experience with defect tracking tools, particularly JIRA
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills
• Strong analytical skills with high attention to detail
• Ability to thrive in fast-paced, high-pressure delivery environments
• Experience working within Agile, Waterfall, or hybrid delivery models
• Demonstrated experience managing defects across third-party vendors and business teams, particularly during UAT

Desirable Skills/Experience Although not essential, the following skills are desired by the client:

• Experience working on Oracle programmes or strong Oracle system knowledge
• Experience extracting and analysing defect data for reporting and insights

Square One is acting as both an employment agency and an employment business, and is an equal opportunities recruitment business. Square One embraces diversity and will treat everyone equally. Please see our website for our full diversity statement.