Team Leader - Engineering Quality and Security

Wellmark, Inc.; Des Moines (IA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Wellmark, Inc. seeks a Team Leader for Engineering Quality and Security based in Des Moines, Iowa. In this leadership role, you will guide engineers in enhancing Quality Engineering and Application Security practices while managing the development and implementation of testing strategies and secure engineering standards across the enterprise.

The ideal candidate has extensive experience in software engineering and DevSecOps, including strong communication and leadership skills. You'll focus on aligning engineering practices with business objectives and fostering a culture of innovation.

Qualifications

• Over 7 years of experience in software engineering, quality engineering, or DevSecOps.
• Proven ownership of test strategy across multiple teams/products.
• Hands-on experience implementing automated testing frameworks and CI/CD pipelines.

Responsibilities

• Manage engineers responsible for maturing Wellmark’s Quality Engineering and Application Security.
• Establish enterprise-wide quality practices and drive adoption.
• Create and lead programs for coaching and mentoring engineering teams.

Skills

Software engineering

Quality engineering

DevSecOps

Automation frameworks

GitHub Advanced Security

DevOps principles

Collaboration

Strong communication skills

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

GitHub

AWS

Microsoft Cloud

NodeJS

Python

Job description

Team Leader - Engineering Quality and Security

• Full-time
• Department: Technology
• Pay Grade: 26

Responsibilities

In this formal leadership role, you will manage engineers responsible for maturing Wellmark’s Quality Engineering and Application Security practices across the entire enterprise engineering function. Own the process and SDLC around test plan and strategy from high‑level EPIC concept to Release. Leads the strategy, standards, and enablement model for modern testing and secure engineering, ensuring teams have clear patterns, tooling, and guidance to build high‑quality, secure software consistently. Establishes enterprise‑wide quality practices (test strategy, automation frameworks, test data approaches, coverage expectations, and release quality criteria) and drives adoption through coaching, reusable templates, and community learning.

In partnership with security and engineering leadership, embeds secure development practices into day‑to‑day workflows and CI/CD, leveraging GitHub Advanced Security to operationalize code scanning, secret scanning, and dependency insights. Applies strategic thinking grounded in DevOps and continuous improvement, consulting with senior leaders to align quality and security standards with Wellmark’s strategy and measurable outcomes.

This is an engineering leadership role that enforces quality and security through systems, not checkpoints.

Preferred Qualifications

• Over 7 years of experience in software engineering, quality engineering, or DevSecOps
• Proven ownership of test strategy across multiple teams/products and SDLC process improvements
• Hands‑on experience implementing automated testing frameworks, CI/CD pipelines
• Direct experience with GitHub Advanced Security, CodeQL, Dependency and secret scanning tools
• Strong understanding of secure coding practices and vulnerability management
• Experience embedding security into developer workflows (PR checks, branch protections, and automated policy enforcement)
• Experience setting SLAs for security and quality
• Proven experience leading and influencing without authority, challenging engineering teams when needed, and balancing speed vs. risk

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or direct and applicable work experience
• Minimum of 7 years of experience that includes any of the following: AWS Cloud infrastructure management or development; Microsoft Cloud infrastructure management or development; NodeJS, .NET, Python, PowerShell
• Leadership typically gained through a combination of project and informal leadership that demonstrates competencies
• Strong understanding of DevOps principles, CI/CD pipelines, and infrastructure as code
• Demonstrated ability to be adaptable and adjust effectively to work within new processes, work requirements, etc.
• Proven experience in implementing change management initiatives
• Strong ability to support innovation and creativity by encouraging team(s) to accept and resolve challenges
• Strong communication skills—written and verbal—with the ability to adapt the message to various audiences
• Demonstrates a methodical and logical approach to addressing customer needs while utilizing innovative solutions/designs as appropriate
• Self‑starter and proactive in approach
• Strong collaboration skills with ability to build relationships across Technology division
• Strong decision‑making skills with the ability to influence and drive change
• Ability to think strategically to communicate and accomplish long‑range goals
• In‑depth knowledge of observability tools and practices, such as monitoring, logging, and distributed tracing
• Demonstrated experience in defining and implementing coding standards, design patterns, and development processes
• Experience generating analytical data for reporting
• Proven ability to adapt when experiencing major changes in work tasks or work environment
• Knowledge of Agile process and tools
• Proficiency in HR or highly preferred

Additional Responsibilities & Expectations

a. Provide leadership and day‑to‑day management of financial and human resources, primarily focusing on employee coaching, development, performance improvement, coordination, and budgeting for staff and department‑specific functions/services. Support business objectives and produce results that are effective, accurate, and timely and on target to meet HR team and stakeholder needs.

b. Define and drive the vision for advanced engineering practices across the organization.

c. Align practices with business goals, regulatory requirements, and delivery outcomes (e.g., DORA metrics, DevEx initiatives).

d. Develop, document, and evangelize advanced engineering such as coding standards and code reviews; test automation (unit, integration, E2E); continuous integration/delivery (CI/CD) best practices; secure coding and DevSecOps integration; observability best practices; and AI‑assisted engineering guidelines.

e. Own the strategy, roadmap, and governance of GitHub Enterprise and the internal developer portal, ensuring they are optimized for usability, scalability, and team autonomy.

f. Evaluate and implement modern frameworks and technologies that support advanced engineering.

g. Own the selection, integration, and adoption of engineering intelligence tools to support data‑driven decision making and continuous improvement.

h. Champion developer experience through tooling, process simplification, and platform improvements.

i. Own coaching programs to mentor engineering teams in advanced engineering, mindset shifts, and effective use of internal platforms.

j. Lead programs to upskill engineers and engineering leaders on emerging practices and tools.

k. Run internal workshops to foster shared learning.

l. Define and track metrics to measure adoption, quality, and impact of engineering practices (e.g., deployment frequency, change failure rate).

m. Benchmark internal capabilities against industry standards to guide maturity improvements.

n. Own team(s) responsible for modernization of systems including coding, environments and production support utilizing advanced engineering and AI enhancements and the onboarding and education of how to utilize newly architected systems.

o. Other duties as assigned.

An Equal Opportunity Employer

The policy of Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield is to recruit, hire, train, and promote individuals in all job classifications without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or any other characteristic protected by law.

Applicants requiring a reasonable accommodation due to a disability at any stage of the employment application process should contact us at [e-mail]