Daniel Wilson daniel wilson

CP1 · About

Tester, author, web designer, runner.

I've been testing software since 2009. I started on games at SEGA and have spent most of the years since in finance and insurance, where a bug costs real people real money.

I wrote a book about testing for the people who work alongside testers. In the evenings I build websites for small businesses as Little Oceans. At weekends I run ultra-marathons, ideally over mountains.

I'm organised, I notice details, and I believe in Oxford commas.

CP2 · Career, 2009 to now

Seventeen years of finding things before customers do.

1. 2009 · BA (Hons) Digital Music & Computer Games Design, 2:1

2. 2009

   SEGA Europe

   Functionality Tester · Chiswick

   Testing AAA games through pre-alpha, alpha and beta, straight out of university.

   More

   • Daily test and feedback reports for several external development studios.
   • Software and hardware environment management.
   • Writing and maintaining test scripts.

3. 2011

   Software Quality Systems

   Consultant · Moorgate

   Three weeks in South Africa learning to test properly, an ISTQB Foundation, then out to clients.

   More

   • Home Retail Group: the Argos digital browser that replaced the in-store catalogues, worth over £16m a year in savings.
   • Gala Coral: a revenue protection system that flagged cash discrepancies to head office.
   • Rated "Excellent", with 100% positive client feedback.

4. 2011 · ISTQB Foundation (CTFL)

5. 2012

   Think Finance

   Test Analyst · Covent Garden

   Underwriting and verification on quid.co.uk and sunny.co.uk. They liked the consultancy work enough to hire me.

   More

   • Test scripts for system integration, UAT and offshore regression.
   • Agile testing with TDD, BDD and Scrumban.
   • Out of hours support, evenings, weekends and bank holidays.

6. 2014

   Oakam

   Contract Lead Test Analyst · Tottenham Court Road

   Keeping a lender FCA compliant through the rate cap, affordability checks and redress.

   More

   • Validated loan calculation outputs for FCA compliance.
   • Wrote the white papers that introduced defect, regression and reporting processes.

7. 2015

   Elevate

   Contract Senior QA · Covent Garden

   sunny.co.uk across three teams: payments, customer experience and risk. Team of the Year 2015.

   More

   • Managed six to eight offshore testers across two teams.
   • Regression automation with Selenium IDE.
   • Interviewed junior and senior QA analysts.

8. 2015 · ISTQB Intermediate (ICST) · 2016 · BCS Business Analysis (FCBA)

9. 2017

   Cabot Credit Management

   Contract QA Lead · Brackley

   A re-platforming that brought several businesses onto one system. I trained 15 business users to run UAT.

   More

   • Coordinated system, integration and user acceptance testing.
   • Tested Direct Debit, AUDDIS and BACS files so repayments migrated correctly.
   • Kept the migration PCI-DSS and FCA compliant.

10. 2017

    Connells Group

    Senior Test Analyst · Dunstable

    Led four test analysts and helped the move from Waterfall to Agile.

    More

    • connells.co.uk, sequence.co.uk, hatched.co.uk and a company-wide Windows 10 upgrade.
    • Made the case for, and introduced, cross-browser and cross-device testing tools.

11. 2018

    NewDay

    Credit Risk Testing Specialist · King's Cross

    Decision systems for Aqua, Fluid, Amazon, Argos and more. Shipped defects went from three per release to one a year.

    More

    • Embedded in the credit risk team, implementing new decision strategies.
    • Key out of hours contact for Experian and Provenir.

12. 2019 to now

    Simply Business

    Senior Software Test Engineer · Moorgate

    Self-serve policy management for UK and US customers. Team of the Year 2019.

    More

    • Tested One Time Code login, Renewal Fee and the US Customer Account.
    • Introduced cross-browser and cross-device testing for engineering.
    • Ruby on Rails, React, Cypress, BrowserStack, AWS and New Relic.

Download CV (PDF)

CP3 · 2025 · The summit

I wrote the book on software testing.

A jargon-free guide to software testing for the people who work alongside testers.

The Book On Software Testing · Daniel Wilson

The Book On Software Testing: A Guide for Non‑Testers

A jargon-free guide for Product Owners, Project Managers, Business Analysts and developers who work with testers but don't quite get what they do all day.

It covers why quality matters, how testers think, and where testing fits into every stage of delivery, with everyday comparisons like a chef tasting ingredients and triage in an emergency room.

Hardcover · December 2025

Buy it on Amazon

CP4 · Little Oceans

I build websites for small businesses.

Little Oceans is my web studio in Bedfordshire. Every site is hand-coded, fast, and looked after once it's live.

See more at Little Oceans

CP5 · Running

Ultra-marathons, mountains, and ultra-marathons over mountains.