Hybrid IT Quality Assurance Lead

at Cisco

• Job title: IT Quality Assurance Lead
• Job type: Full Time
• Experience level: Senior
• Salary: Not specified
• Degree requirement: Bachelor's Degree
• Tech skills: SDLC
• Location requirements: Hybrid, Cincinnati, United States

About the role

• QA Senior Specialist leading quality assurance processes for insurance software products in Cincinnati. Managing teams and vendor resources to ensure delivery of quality solutions.

Responsibilities

• Own end‑to‑end quality strategy, execution, and outcomes for assigned products or programs, from intake through production release.
• Define, maintain, and execute integrated test strategies and plans spanning multiple teams, systems, and vendors.
• Embed quality early by partnering with Product, Delivery, and Architecture to shape scope, acceptance criteria, testability, and risk mitigation.
• Ensure testing requirements, dependencies, and environments are identified early and aligned with delivery milestones.
• Provide go/no‑go quality input for UAT and Production readiness decisions in partnership with Release Management.
• Provide day‑to‑day leadership, coaching, and accountability for assigned QA resources, including both employees and contractors.
• Set clear expectations for QA roles, responsibilities, deliverables, and quality standards across the SDLC.
• Support resource planning, onboarding, allocation, and performance feedback, ensuring capacity aligns with delivery priorities.
• Mentor QA team members to strengthen domain knowledge, technical depth, and quality leadership capabilities.
• Foster a culture of ownership, transparency, and continuous improvement within the QA function.
• Provide oversight and direction for vendor‑based and offshore QA resources, ensuring alignment to internal QA standards, tooling, and delivery expectations.
• Review and validate vendor test artifacts, metrics, and reporting; address quality gaps and performance issues proactively.
• Partner with vendor leads to drive predictable execution, continuous improvement, and cost‑effective quality outcomes.
• Escalate and resolve vendor‑related quality risks or delivery concerns in a timely, data‑driven manner.
• Oversee defect triage, prioritization, root cause analysis, and resolution across impacted teams.
• Analyze quality trends, defect leakage, and production incidents to identify systemic issues and improvement actions.
• Identify, track, and escalate quality risks; proactively remove barriers to delivery.
• Drive continuous improvement in QA processes, standards, and tooling based on data and outcomes.
• Drive adoption of AI‑enabled quality practices, such as test optimization, intelligent test data management, defect pattern analysis, and automated insights.
• Partner with automation and performance teams to ensure appropriate test coverage, efficiency, and CI/CD alignment.
• Leverage quality metrics and analytics to provide clear, actionable insights tailored to technical and executive audiences.
• Provide accurate, timely, and transparent test status, quality metrics, and risk reporting.
• Adapt communication style and depth based on audience (team, program, leadership).
• Act as the trusted quality advisor to Product and Delivery leadership.

Requirements

• 10+ years of experience in IT or Quality Assurance, with progressive responsibility
• 5+ years leading QA for complex products, programs, or value streams, including cross‑team delivery
• Demonstrated experience managing or leading QA resources, including contractors or vendor teams
• Strong knowledge of modern QA practices, SDLC methodologies, and Agile delivery models
• Experience leveraging AI‑enabled or intelligent automation tools to improve testing, reporting, or quality insights
• Proven ability to drive end‑to‑end quality ownership, risk management, and continuous improvement
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent experience
• Strong leadership, collaboration, and stakeholder management skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Commercial insurance or regulated‑industry experience is a plus.

Benefits

• medical, dental, and vision coverage
• wellness plans
• parental leave
• adoption assistance
• tuition reimbursement
• Paid Time Off
• paid holidays
• 401(k) plan with company match
• employee stock purchase plan
• commuter benefits