Head of Quality Assurance

Optim-G Sourcing; Pretoria; On-site; ZAR 800 000 - 1 200 000; Full time

Job summary

A leading FinTech firm in Pretoria is looking for an experienced Head of Quality Assurance to transition their processes to proactive quality engineering. The ideal candidate will have over 10 years of experience, particularly in the financial services domain, and a proven track record in leading teams. Key responsibilities include overseeing the quality assurance strategy, ensuring compliance with financial regulations, and driving innovation within the team. Competitive package and growth opportunities available.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 10 years of experience in Quality Assurance or Quality Engineering.
• At least 5 years in a senior leadership or Head of QA role.
• Deep experience within the FinTech, Banking, Payment Processing, or Card Services sector is essential.
• Expert knowledge of QA principles, methodologies, and automation tools.
• Proven familiarity with financial service regulations like PCI DSS.

Responsibilities

• Drive strategy, leadership, and establish a Center of Excellence.
• Oversee Automation Architecture and CI/CD pipeline integration.
• Ensure teams maintain strong technical proficiency.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Analytical Thinking

Problem Solving

Education

Tertiary education in Computer Science or Software Engineering

ISTQB Advanced level certification

SAFE certification

ITIL certification

Tools

Selenium

Cypress

Playwright

Postman / RestAssured

SQL

C# OOP

Job description

This role requires a seasoned leader who will transition the organization from reactive testing to proactive quality engineering and assurance. You will embed a culture of quality

ownership across the entire Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC), ensuring our high volume, mission-critical financial systems maintain flawless reliability and strict adherence

to global payment standards (Visa / Mastercard) and financial regulatory compliance.

Qualifications and Requirements

• Minimum of 10 years of experience in Quality Assurance or Quality Engineering , with at least 5 years in a senior leadership or Head of QA role , managing small to medium-sized teams (10+).
• Domain Expertise (Non-Negotiable) : Deep, demonstrable experience within the FinTech, Banking, Payment Processing, or Card Services sector is essential.

Education

• Tertiary education in relevant field, Computer Science, Software Engineering.
• Industry recognized certifications e.g ISTQB Advanced level, SAFE, ITIL

Technical Acumen

• Expert knowledge of QA principles, methodologies, and modern automation tools (e.g., S elenium, Cypress, Playwright, Postman / RestAssured ). Strong grasp of complex, distributed, and cloud-based system architectures.

Regulatory Knowledge

• Proven familiarity with relevant financial service regulations, including local South African requirements and global payment scheme mandates (e.g., PCI DSS).

Soft Skills

• Exceptional leadership , communication, analytical, and critical thinking skills, with a proven ability to manage stakeholders and drive innovation and cultural change.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategy, Leadership, and Center of Excellence
• Technical & Operational Excellence - Automation Architecture, CI / CD pipeline Integration, Technical oversight - ensure teams maintain strong technical proficiency in tools, languages, (e.g SQL, C# OOP) and methodologies required to test complex, distributed service -orientated (microservices) and Cloud-based architectures.
• Financial Domain, Risk, and Compliance