Job Description

Job Title: Quality Execution Principal

Location: Hybrid – Weekly travel to Buffalo, NY (4 days per week on-site)

Type: Contract

Travel: Required – 4 days per week in Buffalo, NY (expenses covered)

Position Overview

We are seeking a highly experienced Quality Execution Principal to join a complex, high-impact transformation program within a leading enterprise organization. This individual contributor role is uniquely positioned to drive end-to-end quality execution across multiple streams of delivery while serving as a bridge between strategic Quality/Test leadership and delivery execution teams.

This position requires weekly travel to Buffalo, NY (4 days/week) and is ideal for a senior QA/Quality professional with a proven ability to translate strategy into operational excellence, proactively manage quality risk, and influence across matrixed environments.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Execution and Program Integration

• Serve as a critical execution partner to Test Leadership, translating strategic quality initiatives into actionable, trackable outcomes.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with Test Managers, PMs, Delivery Leads, and Tool Owners to align on quality standards and milestones.
• Proactively identify and resolve cross-cutting risks, blockers, and breakdowns in test delivery and quality governance.
• Embed quality strategy into day-to-day behaviors, ensuring consistent practices across multiple delivery streams.
• Represent Quality/Test Leadership in triage meetings, program forums, and working sessions to surface systemic issues and reinforce program-wide alignment.
• Maintain a program-level view of testing maturity, adoption trends, and readiness metrics.

Test Lifecycle Governance

• Review and validate test plans, test cases, and traceability matrices for alignment with defined testing standards.
• Ensure consistent structuring of test cases by sprint, release, and component, with properly defined outcomes and prerequisites.
• Validate test execution results, verify correct status updates, and ensure all outcomes are properly evidenced.

Traceability and Quality Data Integrity

• Ensure complete traceability across the testing lifecycle—from requirements to test cases to defects—with full audit readiness in Jira and Zephyr.
• Monitor and resolve inconsistencies in test artifacts, including unlinked test cases, unresolved defects, and missing evidence.
• Maintain structured metadata and enforce documentation hygiene across testing tools.

Metrics, Reporting & Insights

• Develop and maintain executive-facing dashboards to communicate test progress, defect health, and readiness indicators.
• Analyze test and defect data to uncover trends, risks, and opportunities for continuous improvement.
• Support Go/No-Go decisions and readiness reviews with accurate, context-rich reporting.

Tooling & Standards Enablement

• Champion consistent and effective usage of Zephyr Scale and Jira across teams.
• Coach delivery teams on tool best practices to ensure alignment with compliance and audit requirements.
• Partner with tool admins to improve configurations, naming conventions, workflows, and reporting logic.

Required Skills & Tools

• Expert-level proficiency in Zephyr Scale and Jira (including JQL, dashboarding, traceability)
• Deep knowledge of testing lifecycle management , test case design, and defect workflows
• Hands-on experience in Agile, SAFe, and hybrid delivery models
• Strong analytical and reporting capabilities (Excel, Confluence, BI tools)
• Excellent interpersonal and cross-functional influence skills
• Able to drive accountability and issue closure without direct delivery ownership

Ideal Candidate Profile

• 10+ years in enterprise QA, test management, or quality governance roles
• Proven track record operationalizing quality strategies across matrixed, multi-vendor programs
• Comfortable balancing strategic alignment with hands-on execution
• Recognized for leadership, structure, and the ability to drive consistent outcomes across distributed teams
• Acts with urgency and discretion—knows when to escalate, when to act, and how to stabilize delivery without derailing progress
• Willing and able to travel to Buffalo, NY, 4 days a week

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