QA Practice Lead

NTT DATA, Europe & LATAM, Branch in USA, Inc.; Washington; Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 146,000; Full time

Job summary

NTT DATA is seeking a QA Practice Lead in Washington, DC to drive the operationalization of a transversal QA practice across multiple strategic IT initiatives. You will strengthen QA governance, standardize quality processes, and coordinate specialist leads to deliver release-readiness recommendations across the portfolio.

The role requires senior leadership experience in QA governance, test strategy, API testing, data quality, and security testing, with the ability to produce auditable QA

Qualifications

• Senior-level experience establishing or operating QA Practices, QA Centers of Excellence, or transversal testing-governance capabilities.
• USA-specific regulatory experience and governance knowledge preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead the review, adjustment, and operationalization of the existing QA Framework and Operational Manual.
• Define and operate the transversal QA Practice operating model.
• Establish and facilitate QA governance routines, quality reviews, Quality Gates, and escalation mechanisms.
• Coordinate four Specialist Leads and their transversal work across IT Roadmap initiatives.
• Define and continuously improve QA standards, templates, metrics, dashboards, and evidence requirements.
• Maintain a portfolio-level QA Roadmap aligned with the broader IT Roadmap.
• Monitor quality risks, defect trends, testing progress, dependencies, and release readiness.
• Coordinate with project teams, Enterprise Architecture, Cybersecurity, Data, Operations, SaaS vendors, and system integrators.
• Lead executive reporting and prepare documented readiness recommendations.
• Drive knowledge transfer and support the long-term institutionalization of the QA Practice.

Skills

QA governance

QA COE

transversal testing

SaaS experience

regulated finance

test strategy

defect management

Quality Gates

release readiness

API testing

data quality

security testing

IAM

test automation

coordination

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Engineering or related

QA certifications preferred

Tools

QA tools

API testing tools

CI/CD

Enterprise reporting dashboards

Job description

QA Practice Lead

Location

Washington, DC

• Hybrid: 3 days per week on site at the client location

Contract Length

1 year, with potential extension

Salary Range

$120,000 - $146,000 per year. Final compensation will be determined based on relevant experience and overall fit for the position.

NTT DATA is seeking a driven QA Practice Lead to lead the operationalization and institutionalization of a transversal Quality Assurance Practice supporting multiple strategic technology initiatives for IDB Invest. This senior leadership role will focus on strengthening QA governance, standardizing quality processes, coordinating specialist leads, improving visibility into quality risks, and providing documented release-readiness recommendations across the IT portfolio.

Responsibilities

• Lead the review, adjustment, and operationalization of the existing QA Framework and Operational Manual.
• Define and operate the transversal QA Practice operating model.
• Establish and facilitate QA governance routines, quality reviews, Quality Gates, and escalation mechanisms.
• Coordinate four Specialist Leads and their transversal work across IT Roadmap initiatives.
• Define and continuously improve QA standards, templates, metrics, dashboards, and evidence requirements.
• Maintain a portfolio-level QA Roadmap aligned with the broader IT Roadmap.
• Monitor quality risks, defect trends, testing progress, dependencies, and release or go-live readiness.
• Coordinate with project teams, Enterprise Architecture, Cybersecurity, Data, Operations, SaaS vendors, and system integrators.
• Lead executive reporting and prepare documented readiness recommendations.
• Drive knowledge transfer and support the long-term institutionalization of the QA Practice.

Required Experience

• Senior-level experience establishing or operating QA Practices, QA Centers of Excellence, or transversal testing-governance capabilities.
• Experience supporting SaaS implementations.
• Experience working within regulated financial institutions or comparable controlled environments.
• Strong knowledge of QA governance, test strategy, test planning, defect management, Quality Gates, and release readiness.
• Practical knowledge of integration and API testing.
• Knowledge of data-migration validation, data quality, and reconciliation.
• Knowledge of security, compliance, risk, IAM, and control testing.
• Knowledge of test automation and regression automation.
• Ability to coordinate effectively across business, IT, vendors, system integrators, and control functions.
• Ability to produce practical, reusable, and auditable QA deliverables.
• Professional working proficiency in English.
• Availability to work in alignment with U.S. Eastern Time.
• Availability to work onsite at least three days per week.

Nice-to-Have

• Spanish and/or Portuguese language skills.
• Experience working in an international financial-services environment.
• Experience creating or improving enterprise-level QA metrics, dashboards, and reporting standards.
• Experience coordinating specialists across API and integration testing, data validation, security and risk, and automation.
• Relevant certifications in Quality Assurance, software testing, QA governance, Agile, project management, IT service management, security, or risk.

Tools & Technologies

• QA and test management platforms, defect-management tools, and enterprise reporting dashboards.
• API and integration-testing tools, test-automation frameworks, and CI/CD environments.
• Data-quality, reconciliation, security, risk, IAM, and control-testing practices.

Education & Certifications

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.

• Relevant certifications in Quality Assurance, software testing, QA governance, Agile, project management, IT service management, security, or risk are preferred.

About NTT DATA

NTT DATA is a Top 5 global IT services provider with more than 190,000 professionals across 50+ countries. We combine industry expertise with capabilities in consulting, technology, AI, cloud, applications, infrastructure, and connectivity to help organizations innovate, optimize, and transform. Through responsible innovation, we deliver meaningful business outcomes, accelerate client success, and create a positive impact on society.

Equal Opportunity Employer

NTT DATAis committed to hiring and retaining a diverse workforce. We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action-Employer, making decisions without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, or any other protected class.NTT DATA is an Equal Opportunity Employer Male/Female/Disabled/Veteran and a VEVRAA Federal Contractor.