Director, Quality Assurance

Here at Appian, our core values of Respect, Work to Impact, Ambition, and Constructive Dissent & Resolution define who we are. In short, this means we constantly seek to understand the best for our customers, we go beyond completion in our work, we strive for excellence with intensity, and we embrace candid communication. These values guide our actions and shape our culture every day.  When you join Appian, you'll be part of a passionate team that's dedicated to accomplishing hard things.

Here at Appian, our core values of Respect, Work to Impact, Ambition, and Constructive Dissent & Resolution define who we are. In short, this means we constantly seek to understand the best for our customers, we go beyond completion in our work, we strive for excellence with intensity, and we embrace candid communication. These values guide our actions and shape our culture every day.  When you join Appian, you'll be part of a passionate team that's dedicated to accomplishing hard things.

 

In the Business Technology group, we're not just a team; we are the embodiment of Appian’s vision, harnessing our own cutting-edge software to power every corner of our vibrant company. The team collaborates extensively with stakeholders across the business and is responsible for delivering applications that simplify operations. From data analysis, to stakeholder management, to creative problem solving, our teams combine their skills and leverage technology to tackle challenging business problems across the enterprise.

 

Join us as a Director, Quality Assurance within our Business Technology team. You will stand as a champion for engineering quality by ensuring we account for complex system interactions, delegating quality tasks, and scaling a QA team. If you're searching for an opportunity that will allow you to create meaningful software solutions while working closely with business stakeholders in a fast-paced, agile environment, join us! The Business Technology Apps team will provide you with the support and growth you need to strengthen and evolve your skills -- and your contributions will immediately impact and always make a difference.

 

This role is based at Appian's Headquarters in McLean, VA. Employees hired for this position will have the opportunity to work in a flexible, hybrid environment. If you are not already located in the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Area, your willingness to relocate will be a contingency for this position.

 

To be successful in this role, you will:

• Own the QA strategy and establish QA best practices and standards, leveraging existing testing resources for manual and automated testing.

• Define QA charter and variations for various technology stacks, including custom development and commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) solutions. Once established: build, maintain and improve these test artifacts for rapid and efficient reuse.

• Manage team financials, including budgeting and resource planning

• Serve as a leader responsible for management of a team of Quality Assurance Engineers, participating in attracting, retaining, and growing QA staff.

• Collaborate with developers on an agile team to review Acceptance Criteria, evolve SDLC, and implement test-driven development practices.

• Support existing features by conducting regression testing and incident postmortems, aiding in the analyses and documentation of root causes, defects, and anomalies.

• Facilitate release activities for multiple applications, ensuring timely and complete deliverables.

• Advise and champion for applying test automation design and techniques.

• Step-in when needed to manually test and troubleshoot new features.

 

Basic qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree, B.S. in Computer Science or related field preferred

• 12-15+ years of experience supporting Quality Assurance initiatives 

• 8+ years developing quality processes

• 5+ years managing both individuals contributors and line managers

• 5+ years experience developing test automation infrastructure and coding automated tests

 

Nice to Haves:

• Advanced degree in Computer Science or related field

• Previous experience establishing a quality assurance team and practice

• Previous experience using and testing a SaaS platform, preferably a low-code platform

Tools and Resources 

• Training and Development: During onboarding, we focus on equipping new hires with the skills and knowledge for success through department-specific training. Continuous learning is a central focus at Appian, with dedicated mentorship and the First-Friend