Quality Engineering Manager

Title of Position : Quality Engineering Manager

Department: Quality Engineering

Reports to (Title): Assistant Director, Quality Engineering

Position Description

The Quality Engineering Manager is a technical leader and people manager responsible for a team of quality engineers who validate UNOS software across multiple product pillars. The ideal candidate contributes directly to quality engineering work, mentors engineers, and upholds quality engineering standards across the team. This role drives an automation-first, engineering-driven approach to quality.

UNOS software supports the national organ transplant system, where defects can directly impact patient outcomes. This role adapts priorities to meet evolving delivery demands and integrates industry best practices in quality engineering to advance departmental objectives. Decisions are made within department policies and operational plans, under moderate direction from management.

Department Scope

The Quality Engineering department is responsible for the practices, tooling, and standards that ensure UNOS software is ready for release:

- Functional test automation across UI, API, integration, and data layers using C#, .NET, Playwright, BDD with Gherkin, and SQL-based validation.

- Automation frameworks, shared libraries, and test-data strategy.

- Performance and load testing using Azure Load Testing and JMeter.

- Azure DevOps CI/CD integration for functional, performance, and security testing, with quality metrics and release-readiness reporting.

- Quality practices for AI-enabled features and AI-assisted testing, within guardrails set by the Principal Quality Engineer.

- Test evidence and traceability that support compliance with HIPAA, NIST-based frameworks, and federal contract obligations.

Key Responsibilities

Engineering Leadership

- Lead the team in delivering across the department scope, providing technical direction, exercising sound technical judgment, and contributing directly to quality engineering work where it has the greatest impact.

- Cultivate an automation-first culture where coverage is automated at the appropriate test layer and manual testing exceptions are deliberate, documented, and risk-based.

- Apply working proficiency with the department's tooling to review code and pull requests, debug tests, query databases, exercise APIs, and unblock engineers.

- Execute within the architecture, standards, and shared tooling owned by the Principal Quality Engineer, escalating systemic or platform-level issues.

Quality Delivery

- Review quality strategies and coverage for high-risk features and releases, ensuring dependencies and residual risk are understood before release decisions are made.

- Direct performance and load testing, establishing baselines, testing high-risk releases, and partnering with Software Engineering and Enterprise Technology to resolve issues.

- Keep regression suites reliable and efficient, and lead resolution of moderately complex test failures and escaped defects using pipeline results, logs, telemetry, and database evidence.

- Drive responsible use of AI-assisted testing tools and establish quality practices for AI-enabled features, including evaluation criteria, testing of non-deterministic output, and regression testing when models or prompts change.

- Partner with Software Engineering, Product, Architecture, DevOps, and PMO to shift quality earlier in delivery, improve testability, and resolve dependencies.

Team Development & Performance

- Manage and develop a team of Quality Engineers and Senior Quality Engineers, providing technical guidance and coaching grounded in direct engineering experience.

- Build and sustain an engineering-first team culture, assessing technical capability and raising depth in automation, debugging, and test strategy.

- Conduct performance management with clear expectations, ongoing feedback, and directness when addressing issues.

- Recruit, develop, and retain quality engineering talent with the coding, automation, and analytical skills the role requires.

Operational & Financial Accountability

- Set targets for and report on quality metrics such as automation health, escaped defects, and change failure rate; communicate release readiness and residual risk.

- Develop and execute team quality roadmaps aligned to department objectives, including automation modernization and technical-debt reduction.

- Oversee testing estimates, capacity, and resource allocation within department policies, budgets, and the operating plan, escalating delivery constraints with practical options.

- Partner with Information Security and GRC teams to integrate security testing into pipelines and support compliance assessments and audits, keeping test evidence audit-ready.

- Manage testing tool vendors and licenses, partnering with procurement and finance on budget tracking.

- Perform other duties and support additional administrative priorities as assigned, consistent with the general scope and level of the position.

Minimum Requirements

- 5+ years of progressive experience in quality engineering, software testing, or software engineering, including 3+ years building or maintaining modern test automation.

- 2+ years of people management experience leading technical teams; 5+ years preferred.

Critical Skills

- Working knowledge of automated test development, with the ability to read, review, and troubleshoot automation code (C# and .NET strongly preferred; Java or TypeScript considered).

- Experience with UI automation using Playwright or a comparable framework, BDD with Gherkin, API testing with tools such as Postman, and SQL-based data validation.

- Experience designing and interpreting performance and load tests using Azure Load Testing, JMeter, or equivalent tools.

- Strong understanding of automation design and regression health, including test-layer selection, test isolation, and test-data management.

- Experience working in environments subject to regulatory or compliance requirements (HIPAA, NIST, federal contracts).

- Working knowledge of Software Engineering, DevOps, and Architecture practices sufficient to understand dependencies, risks, and escalation paths.

- Strong communication and cross-functional collaboration skills, including using quality metrics and release-readiness data to communicate risk and influence technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Additional Skills & Qualifications

- Experience supporting automation modernization or migration, such as Selenium to Playwright or .NET Framework to current .NET.

- Experience with cloud-native observability and security monitoring tools such as Azure Monitor, Application Insights, Grafana, and Microsoft Sentinel.

- Experience with Azure DevOps Test Plans, OAuth 2.0, or OpenID Connect.

- Familiarity with Agile/Scrum or Kanban delivery practices.

Education & Certifications

- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent professional experience.

- Microsoft Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) certification required.

- ISTQB Certified Tester Foundation Level (CTFL) or ISTQB Advanced Level Test Management (CTAL-TM) certification preferred.

Physical Requirements

- General office demands

Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer.

- Frequent reaching, handling, and fine manipulation for using office equipment, filing, and managing paperwork.

- Manual dexterity sufficient to operate a keyboard, mouse, and other office tools.

- Occasional standing, walking, and bending.

- Ability to lift up to 10-20 pounds occasionally.

- Vision abilities required include close vision for computer work and reading documents.

- Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.