QA Manager - Merchant

About the Role

Takealot.com, South Africa's premier online retailer, is seeking an accomplished QA Manager (Merchant) to join their innovative and rapidly growing team. This role reports to the QA Test Manager and is ideal for an individual passionate about quality assurance and eager to lead multi-team QA initiatives to align with business goals.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership and oversight to several QA teams working across diverse products and stakeholders.
• Establish and maintain strong communication and coordination channels between QA teams and product stakeholders.
• Develop a self-reliant environment empowering teams to make independent decisions, allowing focus on strategic QA advancements and innovations.
• Participate directly in QA processes to gather insights and lead technical improvements.
• Forge and maintain strategic partnerships with product teams across divisions for QA alignment with broader business objectives.
• Contribute actively to the Quality Assurance Community of Practice within the engineering team to share knowledge and best practices.
• Lead hiring efforts to build a skilled and reliable QA workforce.
• Enhance software quality by creating and enforcing superior testing methodologies in collaboration with engineers and managers.
• Partner with engineering leadership to shape and manage an integrated automation roadmap, focusing on increasing efficiency and coverage including UI and service tests.
• Ensure comprehensive test case development, execution, and maintenance to effectively identify bugs and meet best practice standards.
• Supervise the creation and upkeep of reusable, sustainable test data ensuring integrity and efficiency.
• Identify gaps in testing coverage proactively and coordinate resolutions with automation engineers and QA analysts.
• Maintain high standards for bug detection, documentation, and tracking aligned with industry best practices.
• Oversee regression testing to guarantee quality control over resolved issues.
• Integrate feedback from production incidents into QA testing to continuously improve coverage and update test cases appropriately.
• Expand code coverage across the technology stack by identifying critical unit, service, and functional tests.
• Prepare and distribute detailed test result reports to team leads, highlighting project implications.
• Pioneer programs to raise QA visibility in project progress and cultivate early QA involvement with product stakeholders.
• Provide mentorship and coaching to QA team members and engineers to boost testing and automation skills.

Candidate Profile

• Excellent at managing relationships with various stakeholders across multiple teams and divisions.
• Proven leader capable of coordinating cross-functional teams to achieve unified quality objectives.
• A collaborative team player and mentor with strong listening and communication skills.
• Decisive and resilient, comfortable working under pressure in fast-paced settings.
• Deep enthusiasm for quality assurance and technology, with a drive to implement innovative solutions.
• Committed to continuous learning and staying current with advances in testing practices.
• Self-motivated and adaptable, with the ability to quickly learn new tools and processes.
• Efficient working style, able to perform both independently and within teams.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities in refining requirements and achieving strategic objectives.
• Effective communicator who can convey complex ideas clearly and facilitate cross-team collaboration.

Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree or Advanced Diploma in Information Systems, Computer Science, Mathematics, Engineering plus at least 5 years in Software QA within a technology environment, including 2 years in QA management.
• Alternatively, candidates without the degree/diploma must possess a minimum of 8 years’ Software QA management experience, with 4 years specifically in a managerial role.
• Experience managing QA activities across multiple teams ensuring cohesive strategies and adherence to best practices.
• Strong expertise designing and implementing scalable QA processes and continuous improvement strategies.
• Proven involvement in all stages of SDLC testing including development, unit, API, performance, and system testing.
• Hands-on knowledge of both glassbox and behavior-driven testing approaches, with experience writing thorough test plans and cases.
• Proficiency in SQL and scripting languages, along with familiarity with Jenkins or similar CI/CD tools.
• Experience with automation frameworks (such as Playwright) and internal testing tools developed in Python and Kotlin, including configuration management and version control.
• Exposure to performance and security testing is a plus.
• Ability to quickly adopt emerging technologies and tools to enhance QA processes.

Additional Information

• Serve a vast customer base of over 2.5 million online shoppers, showcasing your expertise at scale.
• Collaborate with expert industry leaders and accelerate your professional growth.
• Engage with the thriving Takealot Group comprising brands like takealot.com, Superbalist.com, and Mr D, with opportunities for advancement from within.
• Enjoy a competitive Total Remuneration Package with complete flexibility tailored to personal needs.
• Work remotely or choose a hybrid approach with access to office facilities as preferred.
• Benefit from mentorship programs to help you learn from seasoned professionals.
• Join the Naspers Tech Community for collaborative growth, plus access to online learning platforms like Udacity and Coursera for continuous development.
• Participate in social and recreational events, including hikes and mini golf.
• Access extensive staff discounts across millions of products in 28 departments.
• Birthday leave to celebrate your special day.
• Utilize preferred hardware setups including Mac or Windows and multiple monitors.
• Confidential access to counseling, legal advice, and financial guidance whenever needed.
• Tech stack includes ReactJS, Python, Scala, Kotlin, Swift, Google Cloud, Kafka, Redis, Kubernetes, and machine learning technologies.
• Free parking is available.
• Takealot is an equal opportunity employer prioritizing applicants from previously disadvantaged groups and persons with disabilities.