Mentoring, Mental Health and Neurodiversity in QA — feat. Simon Prior (EasyJet)

Show notes

A test manager on mentoring, community, burnout and championing neurodiversity in QA teams. Simon Prior traces his journey from C++ developer at McAfee to QA manager, then test manager at the National Lottery and EasyJet. He shares how the testing community (Twitter, Ministry of Testing, his Aylesbury meetup) fuels his growth, and stresses STEM outreach because testing is rarely taught at university. Much of the conversation is candid about mental health, including his own burnout and collapse, and how trusting and empowering teams prevents it. He advocates for a culture of quality, shifting left, valuing exploratory testing alongside automation, and building neurodiversity awareness so everyone can feel safe at work. **In this episode:** - Mentoring & Community - QA Leadership - Career Development in QA - Quality Culture - Shift-Left Testing - Exploratory Testing - Communication &am