Job Title: QA Lead
Hybrid Remote: In the office twice a week in addition to remote work.
Reports to: QA Supervisor
Job/Role Description
As a QA Lead, you will be responsible for ensuring the quality and functionality of both new and existing in-game features through comprehensive testing. You will work closely with developers, product managers, and other stakeholders to identify and resolve defects, ensuring an excellent user experience. You’ll take charge of identifying and reporting bugs, crafting and refining test cases, and ensuring every feature meets the highest standards of excellence. Your leadership will be instrumental both to you and the wider QA Testing Team in driving quality standards and improving testing efficiency.
Experience with either sim racing games or Free-to-Play games is considered a plus!
Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities:
- Line manage assigned testers by setting clear objectives and providing regular feedback.
- Mentor assigned testers by fostering continuous development and offering ongoing support.
- Develop and maintain comprehensive knowledge of key 505 Games product franchises, becoming a subject matter expert.
- Contribute to and uphold best practices, processes, and protocols aligned with 505 Games’ production service offerings.
- Tailor QA services, activities, and resources to meet the specific needs of individual projects, coordinating with the QA Supervisor and Production/Development teams to implement service requirements and expectations.
- Collaborate with the QA Supervisor to ensure external partners have the necessary tools, permissions, documentation, and information for successful project execution.
- Work closely with Producers, Developers, and external teams to design and execute project-specific Test Plans and Test Cases.
- Ensure the consistent application of Test Plans across multiple platforms, SKUs, locales, and test cycles.
- Monitor and evaluate critical risk factors on assigned projects, escalating issues to stakeholders as needed and proactively identifying risk mitigation strategies.
- Provide recommendations for resolving critical issues and improving QA processes.
- Offer day-to-day oversight and leadership to QA teams, ensuring optimal service delivery and operational focus.
- Monitor team performance and deliverables, identifying areas for improvement and communicating concerns to stakeholders while ensuring prompt resolution.
- Manage the defect database by ensuring proper formats, workflows, and rules are followed. Maintain database health to provide an accurate representation of issue statuses and categorization.
- Collaborate in determining the submission readiness and release viability of all Final/Master Candidate SKUs for assigned projects.
- Conduct post-mortem project analysis with QA vendors to review challenges, successes, and areas for future improvement.
- Foster clear, consistent communication between 505 Games staff, developers, and QA partners.
- Build and maintain effective working relationships with all collaborating departments and individuals.
Other:
- In addition to your normal duties, you may be required to undertake other duties from time to time
- Ability to travel domestically and internationally
Qualifications and Experience:
- Minimum of a secondary/higher education degree
- 5+ years of experience in QA, with minimum 2+ years in leadership role.
- Proven experience using console development and testing kits.
- Familiarity with game Certification and Localisation processes.
- Multi-project management experience.
- Experience with compliance testing for PlayStation and Xbox.
- External team management, experience working directly with external teams/vendors.
- Solid understanding of the free-to-play gaming market.
- Good knowledge of JIRA and other bug tracking systems.
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite.
Attributes:
- Attention to Detail: Ability to identify even the smallest issues or inconsistencies in game functionality, visuals, and user experience.
- Analytical Thinking: Strong problem-solving skills to diagnose and understand the root cause of issues, as well as suggest effective solutions.
- Communication Skills: Clear and concise reporting of bugs and issues, along with the ability to collaborate effectively with developers and cross-functional teams.
- Adaptability: Willingness to quickly learn new tools, processes, and game mechanics while managing multiple tasks in a dynamic environment.
