Document · Job Description

A test manager JD that names the real job.
Technical leadership, quality assessment, staffing — in that order.

A concise Software Test Manager job description that names the four things the role is actually responsible for: hands-on leadership, credible quality assessment, cross-functional coordination, and staffing.

Sections
3
Level
Manager
Length
Single-page

Key Takeaways

Four things to remember.

01

Lead the team; do not just track it

Hands-on technical leadership is the first responsibility. A test manager who cannot read a test system cannot lead one.

02

Credible, accurate, timely — in that order

Quality assessments that are late are usually still useful. Assessments that are inaccurate never are.

03

Technical AND non-technical peers

The role lives at the seam between engineering and the business. Pretending it is purely one or the other always ends badly.

04

Staffing is part of the job

Interviewing, evaluating, growing the team — these are named duties, not bonus work.

Overview

A good test manager JD fits on a page. It says what the team does, what the manager does with that team, and what the team will need in the candidate.

This one is written for an Internet-appliance context; adapt the product domain language to yours without losing the structural shape.

01

Software Test Manager

As manager of a test group charged with assessing system quality for major and minor software and hardware development and maintenance projects for an Internet appliance, you will:

02

Responsibilities

  • Provide hands-on technical leadership, guidance, and career growth opportunities to a team of about ten test engineers and technicians.
  • Work with your team to develop credible, accurate, and timely assessments of quality, along with detailed information about system strengths and weaknesses.
  • Work closely with technical and non-technical peers and senior management to promote successful delivery of products and services.
  • Handling staffing and personnel management duties, including interviewing and writing performance evaluations, as needed.

03

Requirements and qualifications

  • Degree in computer science, computer engineering, or electrical engineering, or four additional years experience as an active participant in a software development environment.
  • Two or more years demonstrated experience of hardware or software test engineering, developing and executing test cases, test tools, and test suites.
  • Two or more years demonstrated high-tech management experience, including leading and growing a team, preferably as a test or quality assurance project lead or manager.
  • Unix test engineering or test management experience required, including test engineering or test management experience developing automated test systems using scripting languages.
  • Internet test experience highly desirable, including test engineering or test management experience developing automated test systems.
  • Experience in telephony, especially VoIP and ISP operations, is a plus.
  • Experience with broadband Internet connectivity and/or e-commerce is a plus.

04

Preferred

A demonstrated career commitment to test and quality assurance is preferred. Candidates should understand the concept of a structured, integrated, maintainable test system architecture, and have worked with and maintained such a test system. Candidates should be familiar with industry-best-practices test design and management ideas.

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