Hear from Ashley Snowdon

In the early 2000s, I was travelling back and forth between Asia and NHBC as a temp and I finally went permanent as a customer services rep in 2006. However, I really wanted to work in IT and in 2007 I secured an entry level role in the newly formed Test and Quality Team in IT. Over the next six years my career progressed, and I became a senior tester and then testing team leader. From there, my current role of service transition manager was created. The primary responsibility of this role is to lead the Test and Quality Team and manage processes within IT.

The people are great. I collaborate with many people across NHBC and within IT; these people are always willing to work together and complete the best job they can. I have made some friends along the way too. I continue to progress my career at NHBC, even in my current role which has evolved so much over the years. I have been able to gain many new skills and competencies which has kept my current position feeling fresh.

’I'm excited about my role and that of my team in NHBC, as we are about to embark on modernising our legacy systems. The Test and Quality Team will play a big part in this project, working with many stakeholders to ensure the end-product meets business requirements and quality levels. We are looking forward to leveraging more automation to speed up delivery too.

NHBC is a great place to work and there has been positive progress around our reward and benefit packages to help retain existing staff and attract new talent.

I have been lucky to have great managers who have believed in me and supported me along my NHBC journey, along with our Learning and Development Team and HR colleagues. They have always been there for me on a professional and personal level. My team and I also support each other with the challenges we face in our roles.

I love being able to recruit someone who has limited experience of software testing, and then help to create and support their personal development plans. It’s great to watch them grow in a new role and very rewarding to promote them into more senior roles as they gain experience down the line.

I really couldn’t have done this without the awesome team members I manage. I have a great group of people in the Test and Quality Team, some old and some new, and would like to thank them for all their hard work over the years. They should be proud of the value they add to NHBC.