IT Quality Assurance Manager

Be Here. Be Great. Working for a leader in the insurance industry means opportunity for you. Great American Insurance Group's member companies are subsidiaries of American Financial Group. We combine a "small company" culture where your ideas will be heard with "big company" expertise to help you succeed. With over 30 specialty and property and casualty operations, there are always opportunities here to learn and grow.

At Great American, we value and recognize the benefits derived when people with different backgrounds and experiences work together to achieve business results. Our goal is to create a workplace where all employees feel included, empowered, and enabled to perform at their best.

P&C IT Services provides professional services to help our business units and corporate functions use technology to create, manage, and optimize information and business processes.  IT Services can include a wide range of activities such as: software development, data management, Cloud services, IT security, network security, technical support, establishing and overseeing access rights, procuring and maintaining equipment or software, managing the infrastructure, and defining security procedures,  The overall goal of IT Services is to provide technology solutions that increase efficiency, reduce costs, and give our company a competitive advantage over our competitors.

The QA Senior Specialist is accountable for end‑to‑end quality ownership for one or more products or programs, ensuring that quality strategy, execution, and outcomes support the successful delivery of business‑critical initiatives.

This role serves as the single point of accountability for quality, partnering closely with Product, Delivery, Architecture, Engineering, and Vendor teams to embed quality throughout the SDLC. The role balances hands‑on quality leadership, people management, and vendor oversight, while driving modern QA practices, including AI‑enabled testing, analytics, and insights.

The QA Senior Specialist also acts as the primary escalation point for quality risks, ensures consistent application of QA standards, and develops QA talent (internal and contracted) to meet current and future delivery demands.

Key Responsibilities

Quality & Delivery Leadership

• 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.

People Management & Team Leadership

• 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.

Vendor & Contracted Resource Oversight

• 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.

Defect, Risk & Continuous Improvement

• 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.

Modern QA & AI‑Enabled Practices

• 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.

Communication & Stakeholder Management

• 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.

Qualifications

• 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.

Business Unit:

Property & Casualty IT Services

Benefits:

We offer competitive benefits packages for full-time and part-time employees*. Full-time employees have access to medical, dental, and vision coverage, wellness plans, parental leave, adoption assistance, and tuition reimbursement. Full-time and eligible part-time employees also enjoy Paid Time Off and paid holidays, a 401(k) plan with company match, an employee stock purchase plan, and commuter benefits.

 

Compensation varies by role, level, and location and is influenced by skills, experience, and business needs. Your recruiter will provide details about benefits and specific compensation ranges during the hiring process. Learn more at http://www.gaig.com/careers.

 

*Excludes seasonal employees and interns.