Quality Engineering Lead

About Auror

At Auror, we’re empowering the retail industry to tackle theft and Organised Retail Crime, a $150 Billion problem globally. It’s high volume crime that’s increasingly organised in nature and is putting people, retailers, and communities at risk every day.

Founded in New Zealand 11 years ago, we’re working with some of the best and largest retailers in the world across the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK.

Auror is connecting people and intelligence to reduce crime. We’re using technology for good.

In partnership with our leading retail partners, we need people with the passion, determination, and innovation required to overcome one of the world's largest problems. If you’re looking to make a difference with and for the people dedicated to stopping crime, for good, then we want you on our team.

The Quality Engineering Team at Auror

Our Quality Engineering team’s mission is to foster a habit of understanding the value and the risk of changes in the product. We ensure that everyone is aware of what the Quality of a product is and equips our teams to deliver software at scale with quality and velocity.

The Role

As the Quality Engineering Lead, you are responsible for the delivery outcome and growth of the Quality Engineering team. You will lead a team of Quality Engineers who are each embedded in a cross-functional group or streams. You are responsible for:

• People development - building personal growth plans, leading performance reviews & compensation conversations
• Enabling team for success - cultivating a healthy team environment, empowering and unblocking the team to deliver successful business outcomes.
• Strategy - understanding and overseeing each stream’s quality maturity. Hold teams accountable for defining the strategy and executing them as well as collaborating with Engineering Directors on Auror’s overall quality direction and strategy, QE team hiring, placement & career progression framework.

Practically, this will involve:

• Lead a team of Quality Engineers, providing the day-to-day support and creating a culture of individual and team ownership to help drive the quality at Auror.
• Create a culture where the team designs and builds the team experience, and has the ability to reshape the processes that affect their day-to-day work in alignment with company priorities.
• Track test gaps, quality, and productivity across all streams. Work with other Quality Engineers to improve gaps from this data.
• Work with team members to have an ongoing understanding of their respective stream’s approach to quality, help them define its direction and take measurable action in empowering the team to be responsible for quality.
• Help define the Quality Engineering team's roadmap. Author project plans to deliver against that roadmap.
• Draft your team's quarterly goals and manage your team's priorities that lead to alignment and success of the team.
• Advocate improvements into overall best practices, design, testability and quality and productivity across the Engineering department
• Lead and own hiring decisions for Quality Engineers as we grow the team
• Collaboratively build and execute on the recruitment plan and placement of Quality Engineers.
• Help your direct reports grow their skills and experience to optimise their work experience.
• Create a sense of psychological safety on your team.
• Give clear, timely, and actionable feedback.

Some challenges we see in the next 6 - 12 months:

• Creating the QE team structure to scale alongside the rest of the Product & Engineering team
• Cultivate our Quality Engineering practice maturity across Product & Engineering team

This role reports to Francis Ho, Director of Engineering

I’ve spent my entire career in various product-based software companies. For me there is something magical about using technology to transform an industry, boost efficiency, and make a real impact on how people work. At the core of this transformation are smart, capable individuals who create products that people love. My job is to clear the path for them, creating a space where they can focus, take pride in their work, have fun, and grow as individuals.

Having spent most of my career in QA/QE, I’ve developed a unique perspective to see things from many facet. I love finding new ways to enhance processes and approaches. Especially in Quality Practice, where there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. It’s all about experimenting and keeping the vision in sight.

I’m an open book. My facial expressions often give away my feelings, and I tend to share information openly to help others succeed. I dislike vague or indirect communication and expect the same from others. There are better ways to use our limited energy during the day. If we can’t have open, honest conversations, we need to work on our trust. I believe in providing clarity, trusting my team, and supporting them to achieve their goals.

Outside of work, I love spending time with my young boy exploring the outdoors of Auckland. You will find me sipping my bubble tea and drinking all the trouble away. If you want to find out more before applying, you can book a 15-30 minute ask-me-anything session with me.

About you

• You have a passion and the know-how for coaching and rallying a team to collectively own and improve quality through facilitation, education, experimentation and visualisation.
• You have some experience managing a team of reports in Quality Engineering.
• You have significant experience in the Quality Engineering field as a Quality Engineering Manager, SDET, Software Engineer in Test, or similar role.
• You are able to constantly revise the role of Quality Engineers within our Product Engineering teams.
• You have experience working with test automation tools, and in teams leveraging Continuous Integration & Continuous Delivery systems, ideally in a fast paced SaaS environment.
• You have a passion for shipping high-quality software. You are able to finely balance the tradeoff between speed, quality and cost.
• You are committed to providing an incredible experience for our customers and strive to deliver impact through the work that we do.
• You are coachable, demonstrating learning agility and committed to ongoing personal development.
• You prioritise building a healthy team culture, where people of different identities, cultures and backgrounds feel included and are able to work together to deliver meaningful outcomes.
• You are able to create a strategy with the bigger picture in mind, adapting to changes and creating clarity for those around you.
• You have a strong collaborative team spirit with thoughtful communication skills.
• You are aligned with our guiding principles, you're able to work in accordance with those principles, and our approach to Leadership at Auror.

We are looking for people who demonstrate a strong alignment to our Guiding Principles (you can find these on our Careers page).

With diversity and inclusion at the forefront of Auror’s guiding principles, we promote a culture that celebrates diversity and inclusiveness at Auror, regardless of, but not limited to, race, gender, sexual orientation, family status, religion, ethnicity, national origin, physical disability, veteran status, or age.

• Competitive salary Range: Depending on level of experience of $130,000-$160,000 PL3
• Employee share scheme: You’ll own part of a company making a real difference!
• Flexibility: We are hard-working and outcome focused, but recognise there is more to life than work. We promote a healthy work/life blend.
• Shorter work weeks (at full pay): Everyone gets Friday afternoons off, so you can start your weekend early, and do more of whatever it is that makes you happy.
• Focus on mental and physical health: We understand how vital our health is and have policies to support your wellness, including: Wellness Days,  and up to three expert sessions paid for every year.
• Nib Health Care Plan: From 1 April ‘24, Auror covers 100% of the cost of your individual health insurance plan.
• Family-friendly: We offer comprehensive parental leave and benefits for primary and non-primary caregivers, including a baby bonus and meals delivered to your door.
• Personal growth: We support our team to participate in courses, conferences, or events that will help them develop their skills.
• Team love: We have regular team lunches and social events where most (if not all) activities are during work hours.

Next steps:

If you’re excited about our mission and you have the experience and a passion for this role, please hit “Apply”.

If you’re not sure that you tick all the boxes but feel you’re close to what we’re looking for, please apply anyway! We’re proud that Auror is a place where everyone can learn and grow so we’d love to hear from you.

You'll be asked to submit a cover letter as part of your application. While this is optional we do encourage it, as we find cover letters can tell a story that resumes alone often cannot. Our hiring team love to understand what attracted you to this role and why you are excited about the opportunity to join Auror.

Once you apply, you’ll hear from us to acknowledge your application. If you have questions about any of the above, or if you have any accessibility requirements, we’ll be able to help you from there.