About the role
Join Creative Assembly and craft deep and detailed games that last, entertaining millions of players across the globe for decades.
The Role
As the Sr QA Co-Ordinator, you will be responsible for leading, managing, and co-ordinating two small remote teams: the Development QA Team, whose primary purpose is to assist the developers of the project in their pursuit of quality, and the Functional QA Team, whose primary role is to run test plans and playthroughs. With a focus on leadership, you will be focused on developing both wings of the remote team, managing performance, assisting and innovating in their assigned areas, managing priorities and workload, and assisting the QA manager and the internal team.
We are looking for someone who is experienced in leading staff, ideally with experience in development QA / quality assistance / push left QA approach. They must have good initiative, autonomy, and have a passion for people management and development. Staff development and mentoring through 1-to-1s, resolving issues both personal and professional, will play a big part of the role. Must be experienced in leading remote teams.
What You’ll Be Doing
Reporting to the QA manager, your role as a Sr QA Co-ordinator will predominately be hands-off the game, where the focus will be on direct leadership, mentoring the team members to strive for success, keeping them motivated, and assisting them to develop their own skills and the processes that they use in their assigned area to best assist the development team.
The role will also involve quality control and assessment of the team, monitoring and helping the QA Manager create useful KPIs and other metrics to objectively assess the team, and autonomously challenging falling performance and weak areas.
- Dev QA Team: Responsible for assisting the Development team in whatever suits the needs of the team at the present time. This may be far more than just testing and creating bugs and test plans, but creating bespoke processes and ways to support the team in their current focus or challenges.
- Functional QA Team: Responsible for ensuring that the breadth of the game is tested and does not regress as other areas are developed, as well as having a pivotal role in logging defects and supporting build deliveries and landings.
On a Day-to-Day Basis, You Will:
- Assisting the QA manager in creating, maintaining, and recording team KPIs
- Monitoring the issue database and Teams communication channels for quality in defect reports and proactively assisting the team in achieving the highest quality of communication possible
- Be responsible for ensuring that your team are supporting their assigned team's needs
- Holding regular weekly 121s with the Dev QA team
- Assist the QA Manager in holding team meetings, retrospectives, and planning sessions
- Oversee the creation and maintenance of the project's test case database
- Assist in quality control of defect reports and the bug database as a whole
- Generally support the cohesion of the external teams with each other and the internal QA team
- Creating reporting on the team's progress and performance for the QA Manager
- Acquire in-depth knowledge of core features for the title, from development to release and all the way through to post-launch support
- Be a role model for staff, mentoring and supporting them in their own career goals
- Assist the Sr Dev QA and QA Manager in managing cover and absence on the team
- Attending Development team retrospectives and planning sessions to gain context and understanding of the wider team
- Assisting the dissemination of information from the internal in-office and ensuring the remote Dev QA team are kept in the loop of the most recent changes and decisions made by the internal team
- Holding performance reviews with the external QA manager
- This role will involve making trips to Sofia, Bulgaria to spend face time with the remote team
- Running Dev QA team retrospectives and planning sessions
- Assisting the QA Manager in constantly innovating, iterating, and tailoring Dev QA processes to achieve maximum efficiency on the team
- Attending daily standups with the internal QA team to align on day-to-day work
- Testing the game holistically as an end user
- Assisting the QA > Dev feedback loop and process
- Working alongside the External QA Leadership to quality control the Functional QA Team, managing coverage, consistency of performance, and general development of the functional QA team's capabilities
What We Are Looking For
Essential
- Experience in directly managing and mentoring remote teams
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to relay important information in the most suited format
- Previous experience in a leadership role within the game industry, particularly QA
- Knowledge on "Quality assistance, push left, development QA"
- Knowledge on game production practices and methodologies
- Experience in managing interpersonal issues on a team
- Experience in creating team KPIs and other team quality measuring and control frameworks
- Experience in innovating process within the game industry
- Proficient time management and organisational skills, able to handle multiple tasks and meet set deadlines and priorities
- Ability to follow set processes and implement them among the team
- Ability to self-manage and generate tasks to drive the process and testing of an area
- A desire to lead, mentor, and develop staff in a fast-paced agile working environment
- Wide-ranging experience playing a variety of PC and console video games, with preference for survival horror
- A passion for video games and a desire to be part of the creative process involved in developing video games
Desirable
- Previous leadership experience working in games or other related fields is highly desirable
- Previous experience working on a AAA title in a development studio
- Knowledge of the development process and the various disciplines involved
- Knowledge of writing technical documentation, as well as understanding technical documentation
- Experience using Jira, TestRail, Perforce, and UE5 engine
- Experience with reporting and reporting software
- The ability to speak Bulgarian and English fluently
About Creative Assembly
We care deeply about the experiences we create and put our players at the heart of our decisions. We are all game makers; no matter our role we are empowered to make significant contributions to our games, supported by skills development and growth opportunities.
Most roles at Creative Assembly are hybrid with 3 days a week in the studio. CA has the right to change requirements based on the needs of the business.
Benefits & Perks
We offer many benefits to support you and your family including:
- Work from Anywhere for a temporary period each year (restrictions apply such as VISAs)
- Enhanced holiday allowance, maternity and paternity breaks, flexibility with our core hours, and no-notice holidays
- Performance-based discretionary bonus scheme
- Bespoke relocation package for you and your dependents
- Private medical and dental insurance, life insurance, and free health care screening
- Additional benefits ranging from free games and work parties to discounts on technology
- Wellbeing support and virtual confidential counselling
We are an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates regardless of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, religion or belief. Our studio sites have disabled access.
Working the SEGA Way
We believe that making the best games relies on having the best people, so we make sure that we look after ours…
For our gaming buffs, you can get involved in our lunchtime get-gaming sessions in our games lounge and Club SEGA, regular gaming tournaments, and free SEGA games on Steam. If you're more of a foodie, you can take advantage of fresh fruit and cereal every single day. Fitness fanatics will love our discounted gym membership, ride-to-work scheme, workout area, and bootcamps in the business park. You can find your zen with weekly yoga classes as well as in-house massage therapy.
You'll have access to a comprehensive benefits package that includes life assurance, income protection, private healthcare and dental insurance schemes, and an enhanced contributory pension scheme. We offer competitive salaries and a fantastic bonus scheme so that you can stay motivated and focused on making SEGA the best it can be. We hold regular lunch & learn sessions, company updates at incredible venues in Central London, and Christmas parties that you’ll want to brag to your mates about!
We pride ourselves on having flexible working hours to ensure that you have a life outside of the office. We want people of all backgrounds to see themselves represented and included in our work, so we actively seek to diversify our team and bring more voices to the table. All applicants are welcome!