Executive Director, Quality Engineering (SDET) (Chicago)

Why This Role Matters :

Youre not just filling a seatyoure shaping the future of how we build, test, and deliver software at scale. This is a mission-critical leadership role designed for someone who thrives on transforming complexity into clarity and driving excellence across every layer of the organization. If youve ever wanted to leave a legacy of world-class engineering practices, this is your stage.

What Youll Own :

Youll be the architect and evangelist of our enterprise-wide Quality Engineering strategy a blueprint that sets the gold standard for governance, compliance, and modern testing practices across all teams. Your influence will ripple through every pillar of the organization, ensuring that quality isnt just a checkbox, but a culture.

• Define the QE Playbook : Establish governance frameworks, enforce standards, and set policies that become the backbone of our engineering excellence.
• Drive Modernization : Champion automation, DevOps, and shift-left testing to slash cycle times and elevate quality. Think big : reducing environment readiness from 4 weeks to 1 week .
• Lead with Metrics : Build a data-driven quality ecosystem100% coverage, zero leakage into production, and velocity gains that redefine doing more with less.
• Governance & Influence : Run steering committees, executive reviews, and cross-functional forums that align product, development, and testing under one cohesive vision.
• Innovation in Practice : Design and implement automation frameworks, test data management strategies, and environment provisioning that scale with speed and precision.
• Risk & Compliance : Align QE practices with regulatory and security mandates without slowing down innovation.

Your Leadership Impact :

Youll lead 45 direct reports , each managing specialized teams (510 people) in :

This is a high-visibility role youll be the voice of quality in executive rooms and the hands-on leader who ensures delivery teams have the tools, environments, and data they need to succeed.

What Were Looking For :

Technical Toolkit :

Jira, Jenkins, automation frameworks, test management tools, defect tracking systems, and cloud foundational services (AWS VPCs, EC2, Security Groups).

Education :

BS in Computer Science, Information Systems, or equivalent technical discipline.

Why Youll Love It Here :

This isnt just about testingits about building a culture of quality that accelerates innovation . Youll have the autonomy to make bold decisions, the authority to influence enterprise strategy, and the resources to turn vision into reality. If youre passionate about transforming QE into a competitive advantage, we want you on our team.