Manager, Quality Assurance - HYBRID Lansing, MI

<strong>AF Group (Lansing, Mich.) and its subsidiaries are a premier provider of innovative insurance solutions. Insurance policies may be issued by any of the following companies within AF Group: Accident Fund Insurance Company of America, Accident Fund National Insurance Company, Accident Fund General Insurance Company, United Wisconsin Insurance Company, Third Coast Insurance Company, or CompWest Insurance Company.</strong>

Lansing, USA

AF Group

<p class="p1"><strong>AF Group&rsquo;s focused and passionate team uses industry-leading best practices, analytics and resources to manage risk and minimize loss for our policyholders while strengthening businesses with our valued independent agent partners.</strong></p> <p class="p1"><strong>We strive to continuously increase the long-term value of our organization by outperforming our industry peers and fostering a culture of underwriting and claims excellence.</strong></p> https://www.afgroup.com/

keywords: job description,compensation,management,teamwork,quality assurance,reporting,analysis,education,experience,knowledge,skills

Mid-level Manager

Competitive Compensation and Benefits Package

Overview: The Quality Assurance Manager will serve a critical leadership role within the Technology Shared Services organization.&nbsp; This role will be responsible for leading team members and actions required for the execution of AF Group&rsquo;s Quality Assurance program and delivering on its commitment to supporting Quality through Operational Excellence.&nbsp;<br /><br /><em>Actual compensation decision relies on the consideration of internal equity, candidate&rsquo;s skills and professional experience, geographic location, market and other potential factors. It is not standard practice for an offer to be at or near the top of the range, and therefore a reasonable estimate for this role is between $90,400 and $151,500.</em>
Responsibilities: <ul> <li>Responsible for the management of resources that lead the Test Solution process, comprising of: <ul> <li>Test Phases &ndash; Unit, System, Integration, Functional, Regression, Acceptance</li> <li>Test Execution</li> <li>Test Deliverables &ndash; Approach, Scenarios, Conditions &amp; Expected Results, Test Cycle Control Sheet, Test Scripts</li> <li>Test Review Process &ndash; Informal Review, Formal Review, Sign-Off, Quality Assurance Review</li> <li>Test Metrics and Reporting</li> <li>Leveraging automation to drive testing practices and operational efficiency</li> </ul> </li> <li>Collaborate with internal technology teams and partners to define, design, and deliver on user stories and customer demand.</li> <li>Meet regularly with customers (Stakeholders, Product Owners) in our businesses to understand their requirements, capture user stories, and support their quality expectations.</li> <li>Works with IT Management to improve the software engineering process and practices associated with continuously building, deploying, and updating software and test environments.</li> <li>Designs improvements for current processes to ensure team development, foster curiosity and knowledge sharing.</li> <li>Oversees capacity scheduling based on requests from the Agile and/or project teams.</li> <li>Resolves issues impacting testing needs and/or testing progress.</li> <li>Responsible for workload optimization of QA environments.</li> <li>Define, track, and report on KPIs and success metrics relevant to current product offerings.</li> <li>Assists in developing departmental plans, goals, objectives, policies and procedures.</li> <li>Key partner in presenting strategic alternatives and their relative benefits to business and IT stakeholders.</li> <li>Participates in development of annual departmental budgets, monitor budgets, and identify budget discrepancies.&nbsp; Research root cause and make recommendations.</li> <li>Creates and monitors individual performance plans, team reports and productivity statistics.</li> <li>Coordinate collection and preparation of operating reports, such as time-and-attendance records, new hires, transfers, budget expenditures, and statistical records.</li> <li>Works with minimum supervision and exercises sufficient discretion and independent judgment.</li> </ul> <p><strong>DIRECTION EXERCISED:</strong></p> <p>Directly supervises exempt and non-exempt, UAW represented and non-represented staff in accordance with company policies, UAW contract and applicable Federal and State laws. Responsibilities include but are not limited to effectively interviewing, hiring, terminating, and training, employees; planning, assigning, and directing work; appraising performance; rewarding and counseling employees; addressing complaints and resolving problems; supporting and encouraging the engagement process.</p>
Requirements: <p><strong>EDUCATION:</strong></p> <p>Bachelor&rsquo;s degree in computer science or related field.&nbsp;Combinations of relevant education, certifications, and experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.&nbsp; Continuous learning, as defined by the Company&rsquo;s learning philosophy, is required.&nbsp; Certification or progress toward certification is highly preferred and encouraged.</p> <p><strong>EXPERIENCE:</strong></p> <p>Seven years of progressive responsibility in an IT environment with demonstrated technical knowledge which provides the necessary skills, knowledge and abilities.&nbsp; &nbsp;Three years management, supervisory or lead experience in IT required.&nbsp; &nbsp;Experience within the insurance industry highly preferred.</p> <p><strong>SKILLS/KNOWLEDGE/ABILITIES (SKA) REQUIRED:&nbsp;</strong></p> <ul> <li>Exceptional leadership and interpersonal skills.</li> <li>Deep expertise and experience with running high performing QA teams, and resource management.</li> <li>Experience with vendor management and vendor governance.</li> <li>Demonstrated ability to build and leverage automation to enhance testing efficiencies.</li> <li>Highly organized, detail-oriented and able to manage multiple ongoing priorities.</li> <li>Strong communication skills (written, verbal, presentation).</li> <li>Strong negotiation skills to influence key stakeholders.&nbsp;</li> <li>Strong customer management skills.</li> <li>Ability to build strong, high performing teams.</li> <li>Able to develop strong working relationships with business partners.</li> <li>Strong strategic as well as tactical planning.</li> <li>Experience creating efficient processes and capabilities.</li> <li>High level understanding of the IT organization and IT capabilities, strategies and priorities.</li> <li>Understanding implications of changes to existing and new services as a result of strategies.</li> <li>Knowledge of industry leading agile frameworks (Disciplined Agile, SAFe, Scrum, Kanban, others)</li> <li>Ability to work with and empower others on a collaborative basis to ensure team success.</li> <li>Ability to effectively present budgetary and/or cost information and respond to questions.</li> <li>Ability to effectively manage multiple priorities/deadlines, delegating to team when needed.</li> </ul> <p><strong>WORKING CONDITIONS:</strong></p> <p>Work is performed in an office setting with no unusual hazards.&nbsp;Minimal travel.</p>