This job might no longer be available.
QA Manager - Dawn of Titans / Star Wars Commander
4 years ago
At NaturalMotion, we make games that wow people. We innovate to create experiences that previously were impossible and that would not exist without us. We take pride in making titles that reach a large audience and in creating communities that last. In 2018, NaturalMotion Studios were named one of the Best Places to Work in the UK games industry by gamesindustry.biz.
As the QA Manager, you will assume full responsibility for the establishment, communication, and implementation of a thorough process of testing games on all supported platforms to ensure high-quality games are delivered with great gameplay experience. You will set the reporting standards for the team that ensure timely and accurate information is readily available to the team and key decision makers.
Key Roles & Responsibilities
Reporting to the Executive Producer for the Action Strategy Group, you will be responsible for the strategy and organisation of the QA discipline within ASG. The team has two mid-core live mobile games in operation that you will be responsible for: Dawn of Titans and Star Wars Commander, as well as any new projects in development.
Scope of responsibility: You will lead an internal QA Engineer team of up to 6 people, including full line management responsibility, as well as being responsible for the relationship with multiple remote QA vendor teams. The role is both that of a visionary lead and a tactical lead; meaning that you will be both guiding others to succeed and also directly producing test plans and strategies at a higher level.
Team building: The QA Manager provides mentoring and training to the internal team of QA Engineers directly, as well as proactively evangelising quality best practises across other disciplines in the project team. A key part of your line management responsibility will be ensuring the ongoing development and growth of each team member, as well as building a balanced and effective team.
Project leadership: As the QA Manager, you will also be part of the project leadership team and be the voice of the discipline amongst the leadership group, both on a day-to-day basis and when making larger project steering decisions.
Vendor relationship: Regarding vendors, you will review test estimations of the team and forecast the required vendor team sizes and budgeting for future months, feeding into the wider project finances. The effective use of vendors and their relationship to NaturalMotion is the responsibility of you, the QA Manager.
Required Experience & Skills
- Experience working in a Senior, Principal or Lead (or similar) QA position within a games development studio
- Strong experience directly interacting with other studio disciplines
- Knowledge of common test tooling. E.g. JIRA and TestRail
- Experience of Live Ops, ‘games as a service’ model
- Test planning, scheduling and estimation for internal workload and vendor support requirements
- Experience of the game development lifecycle and how QA integrates with this
- Establishing, assessing and continually improving QA processes
- Experience working with external QA partners
- A passion for quality, getting things done and making things better
Desirable Experience & Skills
- ISTQB series, management or similar certifications/training
- Ability to read code, data and scripting information
- Agile practices and processes
- Test automation
- Technical test tools knowledge. E.g. networking and performance tools
What Do We Offer?
- Competitive salary, discretionary annual bonus scheme and Zynga stock allowance
- Contributory pension scheme
- 25 day’s holiday, plus public holidays and Christmas shutdown
- Private medical care and healthcare cash plan
- Life insurance and critical illness insurance
- Discounted gym membership and free weekly yoga class
- Flexible working hours
- Free fruit, snacks & soft drinks provided daily, as well as free lunch on Fridays
- Annual season ticket loan and cycle to work scheme
- Summer and Christmas parties and Happy Hour every Friday
NaturalMotion is an equal opportunity employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, religion, pregnancy, marital status or veteran status.
Create Your Profile — Game companies can contact you with their relevant job openings.