Test Manager | Austin, TX

at  Blizzard Entertainment

JOB DESCRIPTION:

The concept of “Blizzard polish,” that is, the infinite care and loving detail put into every aspect of our games, is something we take seriously and pride ourselves on delivering to our players. It’s a responsibility shared across the company – and its undisputed heart and soul is Blizzard Entertainment Quality Assurance (QA). Blizzard QA is a close-knit team; we care about problem solving, providing opportunities for professional growth, and succeeding together. We genuinely love what we do for a living and expect the same from everyone who joins us. If your career is ready for its next great challenge, get in touch and let’s get to work!
The Test Manager at Blizzard oversees QA operations and testing for a product, ensuring software quality and process improvement. This role involves managing the end-to-end test team, aligning with departmental and organizational strategies. The Test Manager establishes standards for cross-functional teams, manages product test schedules and resources, and drives a strategic vision for quality assurance. Responsibilities include addressing project-impacting issues, managing team members’ performance for excellence, and promoting software development best practices. This role plays a crucial role in delivering epic gaming experiences for customers and key internal partners.
This role is anticipated to be a hybrid work position, with some work on-site and some work-from-home. The potential home studio for this role is Austin, TX.

EXPERIENCE

• Minimum 8 years of experience in Quality Assurance.
• Minimum of 5 years directing the work of individual contributors and multiple levels of leadership and teams.
• Experience with game engines, content and asset editors, and shared technologies.

KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS

• High School diploma or equivalent required. Bachelor’s Degree in a related field preferred.
• Thorough understanding of Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), specifically QA processes in agile and waterfall development environments.
• Be an expert in one or more software testing methodologies.
• Practical knowledge of relational databases such as Oracle, MySQL, & SQLServer. Working experience with Jira process.
• Proven ability to analyze, interpret, and act on data sets and complex workflows.

• Oversee the end-to-end management of the test team for a product or section of a product, ensuring alignment with department and organizational strategies across globally distributed teams.
• Establish standards for cross-functional teams, encompassing strategy, test execution, and reporting, while ensuring the quality of all deliverables, workflows, and relationships.
• Manage product test schedules, team needs, dependencies, and resources, collaborating with key quality stakeholders to incorporate advanced testing methods into the testing strategy.
• Analyze data to report on and shape the quality strategy, promote software development best practices, and enhance the customer experience.
• Conduct regular business reviews, provide quality-related services to production leadership, and manage the master test plan for the product.
• Lead, partner, and collaborate on quality initiatives and projects with regional teams, partners and stakeholders, and QA teams to contribute to the long-term QA vision and foster proactive and engaging communication with stakeholders.
• Partner with teams across Blizzard to lead quality initiatives, ensuring project issues are resolved effectively.
• Provide leadership, support and guidance to assigned team, ensuring their performance is managed effectively and fostering a productive, positive, collaborative work culture.
• Champion efforts that build synergy, trust, collaboration, and inclusivity within the organization. Own and manage relationships with key partners, resources, colleagues, and leaders ensuring transparency around critical decisions and trade-offs.
• Performs other duties as assigned.