QA Manager

Alkira Australia; San Jose (CA); Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Alkira is seeking a QA Manager to lead the in-house automation framework and scale testing across AWS, Azure, and GCP. You will own QA strategy, drive test coverage, and partner with Engineering and Product to ensure reliable releases.

This hands-on leadership role requires Python automation, Terraform, and CI experience, plus mentoring a distributed team and participating in on-call rotations for release validation.

Qualifications

• Strong Python programming for test automation and framework development.
• Hands-on experience with Terraform and CI systems (Jenkins or equivalent).
• Knowledge of public cloud networking constructs (VPC/VNet, routing, peering) in AWS, Azure, or GCP.
• Networking fundamentals: BGP, IPsec/VPN, routing, firewall/NAT behavior.
• Systematic debugging and triage skills: isolating product bugs from test/infrastructure issues, and writing crisp bug reports.
• Experience designing test plans for complex distributed systems, including negative and scale testing.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop the QA & Automation team, providing technical direction, mentorship, prioritization, and career development.
• Own the overall QA strategy for Alkira's networking platform, including functional, integration, regression, negative, performance, and scale testing.
• Design and automate test coverage for new features and releases across all supported clouds.
• Maintain and extend our automated test framework and its CI infrastructure; keep regression suites healthy and fast.
• Build and run scaling/performance test campaigns that validate platform limits ahead of customer growth.
• Develop Terraform-based deployment automation used for large customer onboardings.
• Gate releases: triage regression failures, drive bugs to resolution with development teams, and sign off on release quality.
• Coordinate execution with distributed team members, and participate in an on-call rotation supporting release validation and test-infrastructure availability.

Skills

Python programming

CI systems

Cloud networking

Networking fundamentals

Test plan design

Debugging & triage

Tools

Terraform

Jenkins

Job description

About the Team

The QA & Automation team is the quality gate for every product release. It owns our in-house automated test framework — a Python, Terraform, and Jenkins-based system that runs large-scale regression suites continuously across all major public clouds (AWS, Azure, GCP, OCI). Beyond release validation, the team builds scaling and performance tests that prove the platform keeps up with customer and traffic growth, and develops Terraform-driven deployment automation that makes large customer onboardings fast and repeatable. The team works across multiple geographies, so you'll collaborate with engineers in different time zones.

The Role

As QA Manager, you will lead the team responsible for this critical quality infrastructure. You will set the QA strategy, drive automation and test coverage, establish quality standards, and partner closely with Engineering and Product to ensure releases meet a high bar for reliability.

This is a hands-on technical leadership role. You should be comfortable diving into Python automation, CI pipelines, cloud environments, networking issues, and test failures while also mentoring engineers and managing priorities across a distributed team.

What you'll do

• Lead and develop the QA & Automation team, providing technical direction, mentorship, prioritization, and career development.
• Own the overall QA strategy for Alkira's networking platform, including functional, integration, regression, negative, performance, and scale testing.

• Design and automate test coverage for new features and releases across all supported clouds.
• Maintain and extend our automated test framework and its CI infrastructure; keep regression suites healthy and fast.
• Build and run scaling/performance test campaigns that validate platform limits ahead of customer growth.
• Develop Terraform-based deployment automation used for large customer onboardings.
• Gate releases: triage regression failures, drive bugs to resolution with development teams, and sign off on release quality.
• Coordinate execution with distributed team members, and participate in an on-call rotation supporting release validation and test-infrastructure availability.

What we’re looking for

• Strong Python programming for test automation and framework development — this is an automation-first team, not manual QA.
• Hands-on experience with Terraform and CI systems (Jenkins or equivalent).
• Working knowledge of public cloud networking constructs (VPC/VNet, routing, peering) in at least one of AWS, Azure, or GCP.
• Networking fundamentals: BGP, IPsec/VPN, routing, firewall/NAT behavior — enough to design meaningful network test
• scenarios and debug failures.
• Systematic debugging and triage skills: isolating product bugs from test/infrastructure issues, and writing crisp, actionable bug reports.
• Experience designing test plans for complex distributed systems, including negative and scale testing.

Nice to have

• Performance/scale testing experience (traffic generation, load tooling).
• Experience testing networking or security products.
• Exposure to building or operating test labs or ephemeral cloud test environments.

On-call

This role includes a mandatory on-call rotation covering release-validation windows and the availability of the test and automation infrastructure the release pipeline depends on.

Location and Sponsorship

We’re looking for a candidate who is currently based in the San Francisco Bay Area and already authorized to work in the U.S. Unfortunately, we’re not able to offer visa sponsorship for this role at this time, as well as relocation bonus. This position is a hybrid role and requires onsite collaboration with the team at San Jose, CA office.

ABOUT ALKIRA

Alkira, a Lumen company, is building the future of enterprise networking: one programmable platform to connect, secure, and operate every cloud, site, partner, data center, and AI workload.

Founded by Amir and Atif Khan, the creators of Viptela and pioneers of the SD-WAN market, Alkira was built to radically simplify how enterprises deploy and manage network infrastructure. Today, as part of Lumen, we are bringing that cloud-native operating model to a global network foundation trusted by the world’s largest enterprises.

Our platform helps customers move faster without managing hardware, stitching together providers, or operating fragmented cloud networks. Teams can build and scale connectivity on demand, apply consistent security and segmentation, and gain visibility across distributed environments from one place.

At Alkira, you’ll help shape the next chapter of networking: cloud‑like consumption, private‑network performance, and total control across the enterprise. We move fast, solve hard problems, and build technology that changes how global businesses connect.

Join us and help build the future of networking.

COMPENSATION

The salary range for this position is $150,000 - $200,000 USD plus benefits. Your actual base salary and level will be determined on a case by case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: job-related knowledge, skills, experience, education and location.

Life at Alkira, a Lumen Connect Solution

Life at Alkira is human and connected, even in a fast moving, AI‑focused organization. We set clear expectations and trust people to meet them. With real support and shared accountability, teams collaborate better, move faster, and deliver meaningful outcomes.

Our Lumen 8 behaviors guide how we interact, make decisions, and work together, shaping a culture built to perform and win. To learn more about Life at Alkira, a Lumen Connect Solution and how we live into the Lumen 8, please visit: https://jobs.lumen.com/global/en/life-at-lumen

Background Screening

If you are selected for a position, there will be a background screen, which may include checks for criminal records and/or motor vehicle reports and/or drug screening, depending on the position requirements. For more information on these checks, please refer to the Post Offer section of ourFAQ page. Job-related concerns identified during the background screening may disqualify you from the new position or your current role. Background results will be evaluated on a case‑by‑case basis.

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Equal Employment Opportunities

We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all persons regardless of race, color, ancestry, citizenship, national origin, religion, veteran status, disability, genetic characteristic or information, age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, family status, pregnancy, or other legally protected status (collectively, "protected statuses"). We do not tolerate unlawful discrimination in any employment decisions, including recruiting, hiring, compensation, promotion, benefits, discipline, termination, job assignments or training.

Privacy Notice

Alkira, a Lumen Connect Solution is committed to protecting the privacy and security of personal information collected during the recruitment and hiring process. Our ApplicantPrivacy Notice explains how we collect, use, disclose, and protect applicant information, as well as how individuals may request access to or deletion of their personal data.

To review Alkira's Global Employment Applicant and Talent CommunityPrivacy Notice, please visit: https://jobs.lumen.com/global/en/privacy-notice

Disclaimer

The job responsibilities described above indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification. It is not intended to include a comprehensive inventory of all duties and responsibilities for this job. Job duties and responsibilities are subject to change based on evolving business needs and conditions.

In any materials you submit, you may redact or remove age-identifying information such as age, date of birth, or dates of school attendance or graduation. You will not be penalized for redacting or removing this information.

Please be advised that Alkira, a Lumen Connect Solution does not require any form of payment from job applicants during the recruitment process. All legitimate job openings will be posted on our official website or communicated through official company email addresses. If you encounter any job offers that request payment in exchange for employment at Alkira, a Lumen Connect Solution, they are not for employment with us but may relate to another company with a similar name.