Working in close co-operation with the business customers and teams, the Quality Assurance Manager applies analytical and business skills to evaluate existing and identify new or enhanced systems, products and processes which advance business objectives.
Establishes and has overall responsibility for the goals, policies, and procedures for the end-to-end software quality assurance function.
Determines the tools, techniques, staffing and methodologies that ensure the efficient release of quality software features and new products in line with SAFe Agile built-in quality principles.
Creates strategies and specific objectives for the quality function ensuring working agreements are established with internal and external teams.
Ensures that a quality framework is established and documented in line with confirmed strategies and objectives, and any required updates or changes post review sessions are incorporated and socialised with all programme stakeholders as part of continuous improvement efforts.
Ensures the quality framework is embedded into the adopted ways of work and that teams are equipped to align to the defined quality processes and controls.
Develops budgets, policies, and procedures to support the organisation's objectives.
Contributes to the governance authorities within the division.
Drives maturity in the adoption of a test-driven design and development approach.
Manages the quality aspects around planning, designing, building, and implementation of IT services including defects, new development, and major enhancements to systems, and across system ecosystems.
Ensures planning and implementation of quality checks to ensure that quality elements and standards as per the defined quality framework are adhered to, including:
Requirements elicitation and elaboration both functional and non-functional.
Analysis efforts and artifacts.
Architecture efforts and artifacts.
Delivery and test efforts and artifacts.
Ensures the Definition of ready and the Definition of done at epic/feature/user story levels are agreed, documented, maintained, and socialised across and within value streams as well as delivery teams.
Ensures effective coordination of all quality assurance activities across teams together with the responsible delivery leads.
Monitors and ensures adherence to Definition of ready and Definition of done as agreed and defined.
Reviews, evaluates, and analyses complex information for the purpose of ensuring the department meets established quality standards and remains compliant.
Ensures test efforts are comprehensive to ensure overall quality deliverables:
Develops, manages, and executes all phases of quality assurance testing, including analysis of product requirements to process improvement budget & cost control stakeholder relations qualifications produce end-to-end test requirements.
Ensures requirements coverage based on agreed standard.
Develops and continuously seeks to improve organisational standards, policies, and procedures within span of control and monitors implementation to ensure full compliance.
Builds a continuous-improvement culture within the testing teams.
Assists and advises during engineering initiatives to improve best practices and streamlined software delivery while striving for continuous improvement.
Contributes to working practices to support multiple streams of development projects, feature teams, and cross-functional teams.
Effectively manages all quality aspects for the platform function and its objectives in line with approved budgets, reports variances as required, and recommends/implements remedial action within span of control.
Assesses expenditure and resolves gaps.
Manages third-party vendors, ensuring effective cost management of third-party suppliers.
Builds and maintains relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
Provides specialised and technical support to internal and external stakeholders in matters relating to the platform team.
Negotiates solutions with business stakeholders.
Represents the organisation by providing input, motivations, and opinions on business, product, and technical strategy.
Drives knowledge-sharing, collaboration, and information exchange across the wider enterprise.
Develops key relationships within the group with a view on capitalising, learning from other technology areas.
Develops key relationships with third-party service providers.
Manages offshore service providers where necessary to adequately provide capacity and speed of delivery.
Handles vendor relationships to deliver products and services.
Establishes and operates a Quality Assurance community of practice to drive the adoption of best practices and defined ways of work.
Qualifications and experience:
Degree / Diploma in Technology / Information Management.
Relevant Qualification in Quality Assurance and Governance Principles.
Post Graduate Degree in Technology / Information Management.
SAFe Agile certification.
8+ years relevant experience of which 5 years management experience in terms of quality assurance and testing in a software development environment.
Demonstrable experience in the adoption of Test Driven Design and Development.
Previous experience in business analysis and associated best practice principles preferred.
Deep technical expertise and a good understanding of the underlying business processes and systems.
Experience of working in a high-pressure environment and working to tight deadlines.
Experience of working with multiple third-party vendors.
Experience in advocating development practices like test-driven development, continuous integration, and continuous deployment.
Experience in working on several successful projects in the web and mobile environment.
Previous exposure to full life cycle systems development.
Solid understanding of agile methodologies.
Exposure to complex change environments and experience in project integration.
Exposure to IT project and programme management, IT lifecycle, and ITIL processes.