The Director, Quality Management and Test Engineering will establish and lead a quality assurance and test execution practice within AARP’s Information Technology Services organization. To that effect they will design, lead and deliver the policies and practices required to stand up a software quality organization which, among other responsibilities, will oversee a testing team. Furthermore this role will establish quality standards for all IT-related deployments (SW and HW). This role will monitor and ensure quality standards are achieved across all facets of a development lifecycle. They will oversee a team of QA professionals and an outsourced testing provider. This role will work with cross-functional leaders to dramatically increase the quality of our delivery by decreasing business disruptions associated with defects. In addition to establishing and monitoring quality standards for ITS, this role will conduct quality reviews for pertinent management teams.
Areas of Responsibility:
- Budgetary responsibilities for all ITS SQA and testing services
- Primary operational lead overseeing outsourced testing services vendor(s)
- Formulation of specific quality goals for ITS on an annual basis
- Development of key quality and testing metrics and reporting
- Design and rollout of policies and practices required to stand up an SQA and testing function
- Establish and facilitate pertinent quality reviews within ITS
- Establish and over communicate the ‘case for change’ with regards to an increased quality and testing rigor
- Identify and coordinate process improvements resulting from pertinent quality related ‘lessons learned’
- Responsible for forecasting and allocating finite resources across a diverse portfolio of projects
- Establish and implement quality and testing process tailoring
- Responsible for SQA related deployment approvals
- Builds, motivates and manages a top-notch team that can deliver on objectives, consistent with the culture and philosophy of AARP.
- Drives the long-term success of ITS project delivery and technology services by establishing and maintaining a high degree of testing and quality assurance standards.
- This position will establish a quality assurance function and oversee a sourced test execution service(s).
- High degree of experiential knowledge and a proven track record of successful change management is pivotal in establishing the value of this service and its associated rigor.
- This position’s impact is significant in the areas of increasing project delivery and maintaining stability of post deployment technology based services.
Interactions for this role are as follows:
- Portfolio Management Team - Works with this team to establish quality checkpoints within a phase gate project methodology. Lead testing phase approach, metrics and report creation.
- Business Analysis Team – Work with this team to establish test planning policies and UAT support practices.
- Development and Integration Teams – Works closely with this team to develop quality standards prior to submission to test team and establish a cycle of effective process improvements.
- Vendors – Primary operational lead of the outsourced testing vendor(s). Setting direction with the testing vendor(s) and monitors their performance. In addition, this role will interact and work closely with other pertinent vendors to establish quality standards prior to project delivery.
- Management - Regularly interfaces with vice presidents and senior staff within each ITS functional area. Will be called upon to provide industry insights and assist with formulating the strategic direction for ITS quality assurance and testing services. Also ensures that leadership is set for direct/dotted line reports (in the near future).
Skills/Experience:
Experience Level:
- Completion of a bachelor’s degree, preferably in a technology related field of study and 10+ years of relevant experience in software quality assurance, software testing, software development in an information technology and/or engineering organization. 3+ years leading an SQA or testing team. Prior experience as a software development manager a plus.
Functional Competencies:
- Experience with software configuration management, release management, change management
- Experience in quality assurance and testing process tailoring
- Experience with overseeing test planning/execution for SW and HW projects
- Expertise with the various types of testing: feature, regression, load, stress and user acceptance
- Experience in using test numerous test-based tools
- Experience with formulation, design and rollout of QA and testing methodologies for both agile and waterfall software development lifecycles
- Highly knowledgeable with ITIL and CMMI process models and concepts
- Familiar with portfolio management practices
Experiential Knowledge:
- Highly level of expertise in managing outsourced/offshore vendors
- Proven track record of continuous process improvements resulting from quality assurance analysis
- Experience in managing outsourced development and testing teams
- Proven track record of collaboration with PMO, BA, Development teams
- Highly analytical and proven track record of data driven decision making
- Proven track record of focusing limited resource on the right things at the right time
- Experience with establishing and monitoring quality standards associated with SaaS providers
Change Management:
- Proven track record of assembling cross functional teams to successfully implement quality assurance and testing processes, reporting standards, q-gates and quality reviews
- Astute practitioner of change management practices
- Experience with establishing a quality assurance and testing practice
- Ability to establish, effectively communicate and institutionalize quality standards for IT organization
- Keenly self-aware of an organizations cultures, influencers, pain points and opportunities
- Experience with correctly identifying errors resulting from defects across all SDLC phases
- Leadership Experience:
- Ability to modulate presentation of material across varying levels in the organization
- Experience leading remote teams
- Utilizes influence management not compliance to institutionalize practices
- Experience and comfortable working in an ambiguous and process immature environment
- Experience managing an employee base of 5-10+ employees
Other:
- A bottom-line orientation and a proven track record of exceeding goals.
- Action orientated and a decisive, quick study with proven ability to accurately analyze information, to identify key trends and areas for continuous process improvement.
- Very strong negotiating, selling, and organizational skills and excellent at follow-up and attention to detail -- delivering on-target results.
- Ability to successfully manage multiple projects and clients, to build consensus and buy-in from partners, alliances, and internal constituents, and to form strong and trusting relationship with all client contacts.
- Excellent written, verbal, visual/presentation and interpersonal communications skills.
- Team player dedicated to excellent customer service for internal and external customers.
- Ability to consistently make good decisions through a combination of analysis, wisdom, experience, and judgment.
- Strong leadership skills and proven ability to work effectively with people and teams, to gain internal respect, and to build consensus with superiors, peers, and subordinates - contributors both directly and in a matrix environment.
Compensation/Benefits:
AARP offers competitive benefits with a 401K, 100% company funded pension plan, health, dental, vision and life insurance, STD/LTD, paid vacation and sick, and other benefits.
Job Function:
Organization Info
Listing Stats
Post Date:
Nov 25 2018
Active Until:
Dec 25 2018
Hiring Organization:
AARP
industry:
Nonprofit