Head of Software Quality Assurance

• locations
• Manchester

• time type
• Full time

• posted on
• Posted Today

• job requisition id
• R7647

At AQA, we’re committed to advancing education and we’re committed to our people. As the largest provider of academic qualifications in the UK, we mark over 10 million exam papers each year and it’s our people who make this happen.

Head of Software Quality Assurance

 

Permanent

Manchester: £71,700 – £87,400

Hybrid Working -  (2–3 days per week in the office)

Introduction

Join AQA at a pivotal moment as you help shape the future of digital assessment at a national scale. This is an opportunity to contribute to the evolution of the systems that underpin GCSEs and A‑levels, used every year by learners, teachers and schools across the country. As AQA continues to modernise its technology landscape, you will join a rapidly growing team within Assessment Technology that plays a crucial role in delivering secure, resilient and innovative digital products. You’ll be part of a world‑leading education organisation that is committed to delivering better outcomes for learners and making assessment more accessible, efficient and future‑ready.

Purpose of the role

As the Head of Software Quality Assurance, you will lead the transformation and management of quality engineering across AQA’s digital products and services. You will manage and develop a team of Test Managers, Test Analysts, Test Automation and quality specialists, working across multiple product areas and delivery teams. Your role is central to ensuring that quality is embedded early in the delivery lifecycle, supporting our shift towards more modern engineering practices and accelerating delivery without compromising the standards expected of mission‑critical assessment technology. The work you lead will directly support teachers, schools and learners, ensuring our products are reliable, secure and designed with the user at the heart.

Key responsibilities

In this role, you'll be responsible for:

• Leading, developing and embedding a scalable, modern quality engineering practice that operates effectively across diverse delivery teams and product portfolios.

• Driving an automation‑first culture by championing shift‑left practices, continuous testing and modern engineering workflows.

• Partnering closely with Product, Architecture and Delivery Leadership to define and maintain pragmatic, adaptable quality standards aligned to product risk and team maturity.

• Establishing data‑driven insights and actionable quality metrics—including automation coverage, defect trends and cycle time—to inform decision‑making and continuous improvement.

• Building capability and consistency across internal teams and strategic delivery partners to ensure quality remains a shared responsibility across the lifecycle.

What we are looking for

You’ll thrive in this role if you’re motivated by improving quality outcomes at scale and enjoy building strong, collaborative teams. You’ll also bring:

• Proven experience leading a large QA or quality engineering function across multiple delivery teams.

• A strong understanding of shift‑left testing approaches, test automation frameworks, test pyramids and continuous testing methods.

• Experience working within varied agile delivery models, including SAFe, Scrumban or hybrid approaches.

• A track record of developing QA professionals, including coaching Test Managers and building consistent capability.

• Excellent communication, influencing and relationship‑building skills, with the ability to translate quality concepts for non‑technical stakeholders.

What’s in it for you

Joining AQA means contributing to work with genuine national impact. You’ll play a key part in transforming the systems that support assessment, helping improve the experience of teachers and learners nationwide. You’ll also benefit from:

• 25 days’ annual leave, rising to 30 with service, plus bank holidays and extra closure days at Christmas

• a 35-hour working week with flexible working arrangements

• an excellent contributory pension scheme (6%–11.5% depending on your contribution)

• life assurance, BUPA PMI, and health cash plan

• enhanced maternity and paternity schemes

Diversity and inclusion statement

At AQA, we are committed to fostering a workplace that celebrates diversity and promotes equity and inclusion. We believe that a diverse team brings richer perspectives and drives better outcomes. Our ED&I strategy ensures that everyone—regardless of religion, ethnicity, gender identity or expression, age, disability, sexual orientation, or background—is valued, respected and empowered to thrive. We actively promote inclusive language, avoid stereotypes and strive for representation across all dimensions of diversity. We welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds and lived experiences.

Application process

Please submit your CV and application through our careers site. Closing date for applications is Sunday 29th March. Interviews will take place w/c 6th April (MS Teams) & 13th April (F2F)

Recruitment Agencies

We have a preferred supplier list (PSL) in place.

Unsolicited CVs will be treated as a gift. We will not be subject to or liable under your terms and conditions for agency fees.

Full Job Description

Summary

Build and lead a transformative, scalable cross-cutting QA practice operating in a matrix structure across all delivery teams and product portfolios, supporting both internal development and strategic development partners

Reduce reliance on predominantly manual testing in favour of automation-first, built-in quality at an accelerated pace

Establish practical principles that are adaptable to context, team maturity and product risk to shift quality ‘left’, pragmatically automating testing where it adds most value, building testability into design and prioritising fast feedback over maximising coverage

Make quality a shared responsibility across the full development lifecycle between product, architecture, internal & partner led development and delivery.

The role must recognise that teams operate across different delivery models (eg SAFe, Scrumban and hybrid agile) and therefore focus on pragmatic improvement rather than rigid process adherence. The aim is progress, not perfection.

Responsibilities:

Define and own a clear, pragmatic Quality Engineering Strategy, promoting ‘shift-left’ practices and working across SAFe and Scrumban aligned teams, alongside teams that are early in their agile adoption journey

Line manage all QA and test professionals across delivery verticals, building common capabilities as a single community of practice, supporting career development

Establish consistent, pragmatic quality standards and ways of working across teams using a variety of agile approaches

Embed quality early in the delivery lifecycle by partnering with Product, Architecture and Delivery Leadership

Drive adoption of test automation and continuous testing methods, ensuring automation coverage is optimised for the test stage to improve cycle time without negatively affecting quality metrics

Provide oversight of quality risks and outcomes, take a data led evidence approach to inform decisions and continually improve

Align internal test teams and strategic delivery partners to internal ‘metrics that matter’ that optimise quality and speed, including test automation coverage, defect density, defect leakage and cycle time

Operate within a matrix environment, collaborating with Delivery Leads who own delivery priorities and target outcomes

Champion a culture where quality is the responsibility of everyone, supporting teams through coaching rather than enforcement.

To be successful in this role, you will need to demonstrate:

Essential Criteria

Proven experience leading a large QA or quality engineering function across multiple teams

Demonstrated success delivering test quality transformation and culture change

Experience working in a matrix environment with delivery, product & engineering leads

Experience line managing QA & test professionals and building capability

Strong understanding of shift-left testing, test pyramids, continuous testing and automation-first approaches

Practical experience with test automation approaches, CI/CD and modern engineering workflows

Experience operating across multiple teams and delivery models

Pragmatic mindset, knowing when to push and when to adapt

Collaborative leadership style

Strong communication skills, able to translate technical quality topics into language that can be understood universally by business stakeholders

Strong coaching and influencing skills

Experience working with external software delivery partners

Desirable Criteria

Delivery framework experience, working with SAFe and/or Scrumban approaches

Understanding of product-led delivery

Hands-on experience building and managing automation frameworks

Experience with API, performance and security vulnerability testing

Familiar with cloud architectures and testing challenges

Experience operating across regionally dispersed, large multi-team organisations with extended use of third party offshore partner delivery teams and foundation test practices

Experience leading cross-cutting communities of practice / guilds to propagate good practice