Manager, QA Automation and Partnerships (Remote)

We take great strides to ensure our employees have the resources to live well, be healthy, continue learning, develop skills, grow professionally and serve our local communities. We invite you to apply for a career with Blue Cross.

Please note that effective Jan. 4, 2022, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana implemented a policy requiring any employee who enters any of our offices or who interacts in person with anyone for company business purposes to be fully vaccinated for COVID 19, unless legally entitled to a reasonable accommodation related to religious or medical exemptions. At this time, that policy is suspended and vaccination is not required to enter our facilities. Please note this is subject to change at any point in time to ensure compliance with company policy or government mandates and certain client facing roles may have separate protocols.

Residency in or relocation to Louisiana is preferred for all positions.

We will consider remote work in the following states: LA, AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, MS, NH, NC, PA (limited counties), TN, TX, VA, WV, WI, OK, MO, UT, SC, & IA.

POSITION PURPOSE
Responsible for developing, leading, and improving Test Automation including test Environment and test data management Initiatives. Is responsible for the relationship between managed services and QA ensuring proper staffing, training and communication. Looks for opportunities to promote test automation and test data management where applicable through various projects in the organization. Also responsible for guiding and mentoring staff in the Test Automation, Test Environment and Test Data Management disciplines while looking for opportunities to promote growth of staff. Accountable for complying with all laws and regulations associated with duties and responsibilities.

NATURE AND SCOPE

• Manages People
• This role directly manages 8 - 15 workers
• This role reports to this job: DIRECTOR, IT QUALITY ASSURANCE
• Necessary Contacts: Be in contact with all levels of management and staff in the organization
  Work closely with the IT QA managers to determine projects that would benefit from automation, also ensuring cooperation between the QA discipline and automation discipline
  Work closely with project managers to provide automation resources to projects
  Work with vendors that provide the tools used for automation
  Attends technical meetings and conferences presenting papers and representing COMPANY views on committees, etc.
  Works with peers and Directors to provide QA managed service automation resources
  Regularly participates in vendor negotiations.
  Meets with vendors resolving problems
  Meets with all levels of customer management to exchange information

QUALIFICATIONS

Education

• Bachelor's Computer Science or related field required
• Four years of related experience can be used in lieu of a Bachelor's degree.

Work Experience

• Completion of an approved educational program or related experience may be accepted in lieu of degree. required
• 5 years of QA automation experience required
• 2 years of leadership experience required
• Experience may run concurrently
• Experience and high degree of knowledge with automation test planning, estimation, and execution. required

Skills and Abilities

• High degree of competency with IT methodologies such as development, software development lifecycle, and organizational development best practices.
• Knowledge of automation framework methodologies and implementing/maintaining an automation framework.
• Experience with writing automation requirements, design specs, test plans, implementation plans, and other similar artifacts.
• Perform code reviews, verifying that standards are being followed and met.
• Evaluating different tools and making a decision on the best tool set for staff to use.
• Established processes and procedures that enable staff to function consistently and efficiently.
• Knowledge of HP's suite of tools (LoadRunner, Unified Functional Testing (UFT), LeanFT, etc.) a plus, along with knowledge of Microsoft Team Foundation Server (TFS) and Microsoft Test Manager (MTM).
• Good communication and negotiation skills in order to interact with site peers, local management, and executives on technical issues on project planning.
• Has demonstrated creativity in assignments and leadership in technical field of specialization.
• Has made extensive use of improved programming/analysis technology.
• Familiarity with process models and control frameworks like COBIT and ITIL frameworks for IT processes and best practices preferred.
• High degree of competency with IT methodologies such as project management, software development lifecycle, and organizational development best practices.
• Must have demonstrated capacity to successfully lead and direct a group of automation engineers, analysts, and/or programmers.
• DECISION MAKING:
  Must have demonstrated ability working independently to help shape policy and to make complex data processing decisions involving new applications, systems studies, software purchase requirements analysis, business evaluations, cost effectiveness innovations, installation decisions, and business planning for systems that use advanced state-of-the-art technology.
  Must have demonstrated ability making decisions that require significant use of extensive technical, functional, leadership, and managerial skills to maximize benefits, while minimizing impacts on all external/internal information systems and headquarters/field personnel.
  
  ANALYTICAL & CREATIVE:
  Must have experience identifying, defining, quantifying and solving significant highly complex, technical and management issues on a regular basis
  Must have experience correlating requirements and information from multiple sources, anticipating both current and future processing and management information needs, analyzing their potential impacts, and creating new technical solutions for these needs.

Licenses and Certifications

• Quality Management related certification is required QA certification within one year required
• ITIL Foundation and/or COBIT certification within one year preferred

ACCOUNTABILITIES AND ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Improve test environment and data management efficiencies through the use of automation tools
• Improve Testing Automation efficiencies through the use of appropriate tools
• Provide test environment support and managing incidents
• Escalate critical and blocking issues when necessary and drive them to closure
• Establish a Test Environment, Test Automation, and Data Management strategy/roadmap and work with IT/Business to implement that strategy.
• Implement test environment, test automation, and data management processes as a shared service
• Establish an environment , test automation, and test data request/scheduling service
• Identify and present key performance indicators
• Contribute toward the development of a data masking strategy
• Identify and lead the implementation of process improvement initiatives
• Work with the Director to establish offshore strategy
• Lead the planning, design, and generation of test data
• Collect/Lead test environment and test data requirements for project/initiatives
• Work with architects and technical leads to create, update, and review architecture designs
• Provides team leadership, technical/soft skill mentoring and knowledge transfer for large groups of professionals to meet client needs and expectations.
• Understands IT Departmental Goals and Objectives and delivers work products to contribute to those goals.

Additional Accountabilities and Essential Functions
The Physical Demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the Accountabilities and Essential Functions of the job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable an individual with disabilities to perform the essential functions

• Perform other job-related duties as assigned, within your scope of responsibilities.
• Job duties are performed in a normal and clean office environment with normal noise levels.
• Work is predominately done while standing or sitting.
• The ability to comprehend, document, calculate, visualize, and analyze are required.

#LI-Remote

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An Equal Opportunity Employer

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Additional Information

Please be sure to monitor your email frequently for communications you may receive during the recruiting process. Due to the high volume of applications we receive, only those most qualified will be contacted. To monitor the status of your application, please visit the "My Applications" section in the Candidate Home section of your Workday account.

If you are an individual with a disability and require a reasonable accommodation to complete an application, please contact [email protected] for assistance.

In support of our mission to improve the health and lives of Louisianians, Blue Cross encourages the good health of its employees and visitors. We want to ensure that our employees have a work environment that will optimize personal health and well-being. Due to the acknowledged hazards from exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, and in order to promote good health, our company properties are smoke and tobacco free.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana performs background and pre-employment drug screening after an offer has been extended and prior to hire for all positions. As part of this process records may be verified and information checked with agencies including but not limited to the Social Security Administration, criminal courts, federal, state, and county repositories of criminal records, Department of Motor Vehicles and credit bureaus. Pursuant with sec 1033 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, individuals who have been convicted of a felony crime involving dishonesty or breach of trust are prohibited from working in the insurance industry unless they obtain written consent from their state insurance commissioner.

Additionally, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana is a Drug Free Workplace. A pre-employment drug screen will be required and any offer is contingent upon satisfactory drug testing results.