Senior Digital Accessibility Consultant

Join us as a Senior Digital Accessibility Consultant where you will be responsible for shaping the strategic direction of digital accessibility efforts across key Business Units and platforms. You will work collaboratively with various departments to integrate accessibility best practices into our digital solutions, ensuring compliance with global accessibility standards and regulations.

You will develop and execute strategic accessibility roadmaps for various areas of the bank and provide strategic guidance and mentorship to business and technology stakeholders as well as more junior accessibility team members. You will lead cross-functional teams to drive accessibility initiatives, including system or supplier remediation activities as well as building organisational capacity and capability. You will provide accessibility governance and oversight, engaging and influencing diverse and senior stakeholders to drive accessibility efforts and foster a culture of inclusion.

To be successful in this role you should have:

• A proven track record in leading digital accessibility initiatives at a senior level.
• Expert knowledge and practitioner of global accessibility standards and regulations (e.g. WCAG), including using assistive technologies and accessibility testing tools.
• Exceptional communication, influencing and stakeholder management abilities.
• Continuously challenging existing practices, looking for ways to simplify and/or automate processes, and recommending "Best in Class" new ideas.

Some other highly valued skills include:

• Experience with delivering and governing digital change using a range of methodologies.
• A working knowledge of agile and Jira.
• Strong ability to communicate effectively and self-organise - clearly articulating and managing areas like risk, technical recommendations and regulatory requirements.
• Strong knowledge of front-end code (e.g.: HTML/CSS/JavaScript), mobile development technologies and accessibility specific technologies (e.g.: ARIA).
• Certified as an accessibility professional (e.g., IAAP CPACC / WAS)

You may be assessed on the key critical skills relevant for success in role, such as strong experience in project management, stakeholder management and planning as well as job-specific technical skills.

Purpose of the role

To design, develop, and execute testing strategies to validate functionality, performance, and user experience, while collaborating with cross-functional teams to identify and resolve defects, and continuously improve testing processes and methodologies, to ensure software quality and reliability.

Accountabilities

• Development and implementation of comprehensive test plans and strategies to validate software functionality and ensure compliance with established quality standards.
• Creation and execution automated test scripts, leveraging testing frameworks and tools to facilitate early detection of defects and quality issues.
• Collaboration with cross-functional teams to analyse requirements, participate in design discussions, and contribute to the development of acceptance criteria, ensuring a thorough understanding of the software being tested.
• Root cause analysis for identified defects, working closely with developers to provide detailed information and support defect resolution.
• Collaboration with peers, participate in code reviews, and promote a culture of code quality and knowledge sharing.
• Stay informed of industry technology trends and innovations, and actively contribute to the organization's technology communities to foster a culture of technical excellence and growth.

Vice President Expectations

• To contribute or set strategy, drive requirements and make recommendations for change. Plan resources, budgets, and policies; manage and maintain policies/processes; deliver continuous improvements and escalate breaches of policies/procedures.
• Advise key stakeholders, including functional leadership teams and senior management on functional and cross functional areas of impact and alignment.
• Manage and mitigate risks through assessment, in support of the control and governance agenda.
• Demonstrate leadership and accountability for managing risk and strengthening controls in relation to the work your team does.
• Demonstrate comprehensive understanding of the organisation functions to contribute to achieving the goals of the business.
• Collaborate with other areas of work, for business aligned support areas to keep up to speed with business activity and the business strategies.
• Create solutions based on sophisticated analytical thought comparing and selecting complex alternatives. In-depth analysis with interpretative thinking will be required to define problems and develop innovative solutions.
• Adopt and include the outcomes of extensive research in problem solving processes.
• Seek out, build and maintain trusting relationships and partnerships with internal and external stakeholders in order to accomplish key business objectives, using influencing and negotiating skills to achieve outcomes.

All colleagues will be expected to demonstrate the Barclays Values of Respect, Integrity, Service, Excellence and Stewardship – our moral compass, helping us do what we believe is right. They will also be expected to demonstrate the Barclays Mindset – to Empower, Challenge and Drive – the operating manual for how we behave.