Manager IT Software Digital Quality Engineering

At Academy Sports + Outdoors our vision is to be the best sports + outdoors retailer in the country — but what truly sets us apart is our people. We’re a passionate, purpose-driven team that’s as committed to each other as we are to our customers.

We’ve spent over 80 years building a culture that puts people first. We believe in creating opportunities for growth, fostering meaningful connections, and supporting every Team Member’s journey. What fuels us? Our belief in the power of fun.

Here, you won’t just help customers gear up for their next adventure — you’ll launch one of your own. Whether you're starting out or leveling up, Academy is a place where fun can’t lose!  

Education:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Systems Engineering, or other related Engineering disciplines.

Work Experiences:

• Minimum 10+ Years of progressive experience and deep knowledge of software QA design and methodologies.
• Establish and enforce quality assurance standards, best practices, and testing processes across the software development lifecycle.  
• Experience in developing comprehensive test plans, strategies, and test cases to cover all functional and non-functional requirements for ECom application releases &  Customer Data Platform (CDP) such as Treasure data, ActionIQ, Bloomreach, Tealium, Segment, Adobe, or similar composable/hybrid implementations
• Experience governing QA Managed Services teams through an outsourced model where a dedicated team manages all aspects of testing, including test strategy development, execution, defect tracking, and reporting
• Experience in providing QA solutions geared towards targeted customer interaction and a general understanding of a wide variety of marketing data/technology platforms, including Content management platforms, personalization platforms, CRM platforms, Experience management software, Email marketing tools, E-commerce, Mobile tracking software (preferred but not required)
• Understanding of data privacy regulations
• Knowledge of distributed data processing frameworks such as Kafka is preferred.
• Experience in analyzing testing data to identify trends, generate quality reports, and communicate key metrics to stakeholders.
• Experience in managing and guiding a QA team that provides functional, nonfunctional, automation, and digital professional services and has made continuous improvements in the practice.
• Experience in collaborating closely with product managers, developers, project managers, and other cross-functional teams to ensure quality is integrated throughout the development process. 
• Experience in identifying areas for improvement within QA processes, evaluating new testing tools and methodologies, and implementing changes to enhance overall quality. 

Skills:

• Excellent interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills, with the ability to interface effectively with individuals at various levels, both internal and external
• Excellent analytical, research, documentation, project planning, and implementation skills. 
• The ability to apply novel techniques to improve existing processes, applications, and solutions is required.
• Significant creativity, ingenuity, and innovation coupled with the ability to independently develop new solutions to difficult problems is essential. 
• Expert-level knowledge of the complete development process, including specification, documentation, and software quality engineering. 
• Demonstrated ability to interact effectively with team members within the IT organization, as well as with business staff outside of the IT organization. 
• Self-motivated, with the ability to work on multiple projects in a fast-paced environment
• Ability to remain organized, pay strict attention to detail, and meet critical deadlines within a high-volume, fast-paced environment
• Excellent analytic skills with the ability to use key tools to dive deep and provide analysis consistently on performance metrics
• Leadership and mentoring abilities to guide and develop QA team members 

Responsibilities:

• Provides management and oversight to the staff and activities of the ECom Managed Services & Personalization software QA team. Is responsible for the project management, supervision, and coordination of software testing for all assigned releases. 
• Works with IT leadership to establish and/or improve the effectiveness and efficiency of industry-best practices and QA standards, processes, and procedures, to ensure software quality and successful process audits (including PCI, SOX). 
• Ensures ECom QA Managed Services team performs complex functional, system, Test automation, performance test, data engineering, integration, and regression/acceptance testing to support internal applications and customer-facing websites and related back-office applications that enable the organization to deliver high-quality software services to customers.
• Is responsible and accountable for driving the quality of periodic software releases with a focus on developing and implementing a robust testing strategy that aligns with the Agile development process. 
• Select and manage appropriate testing tools and technologies based on the ongoing needs, post evaluating multiple options.
• Ensures the Peak season readiness, lower environment Performance test plan is laid out and executed on time with timely periodic reporting.
• Ensures QA team adheres strictly to the QA related portions of the WageWorks SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle) process, including requirements review and evaluation, detailed test plan and test case development and execution, and product readiness. Ensures the completion and archiving of associated quality records. 
• Prepares activity, progress, and status reports regarding software QA activities for review by senior and executive IT leadership. Ensures detailed reports on issues identified in QA testing, including steps to reproduce defects, are provided to Development. 
• Monitor & ensure the agreed Service Level Agreements and KPIs are met every month.
• Engage with 3rd party vendors, clients, or partners to ensure interfaces are tested, diagnose and resolve issues, and ensure UAT is complete. 
• Works closely with software development staff, release engineers, business analysts, database developers, and product owners to diagnose technical and quality issues, identify potential software limitations, resolve defects, and verify corrective actions. 
• Works with departments to triage field-reported issues to be addressed by the development team. Suggests improvements to methods, procedures, and efficiencies that lead to better products and/or solutions. 
• Responsible for ensuring test automation maturity and wider coverage, to excel in quality and cost objectives. 
• Mentors and guides QA Engineers; ensures staff have appropriate training, skill levels, and expertise.
• Makes significant contributions to the Testing Center of Excellence maturity and helps drive IT methodology and technical direction. 
• Analyzes and Reviews business requirements, scope documents, and detailed functional requirements to analyze proposed features and product changes; determines and provides QA testing effort estimates. 
• Working in a team environment, selects appropriate techniques to solve challenging problems. Modifies or improves existing solutions by analyzing known procedures and applying novel techniques to determine appropriate actions. 
• Ensures accurate server setup and product configuration of the QA environment in collaboration with IT Operations. Maintains performance and functional testing suites and tools, integrating enhancements as needed. 
• Develop a thorough understanding of Academy policies, procedures, and safety rules
• Responsibilities may change; team members may be required to perform other tasks as assigned

Physical Requirements & Attendance

• Acceptable level of hearing and vision to perform job duties
• Adhere to company work hours, policies, procedures, and rules governing professional staff behavior

Academy is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate with regard to employment opportunities or practices on the basis of race, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other category protected by law.​