Director of Middle Back office Quality Assurance

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation•Charlotte, NC

21d•Hybrid

About The Position

We are seeking a highly experienced Director of Quality Engineering to lead our Fixed Income Middle/Back Office testing function. This role is responsible for defining, implementing, and governing a robust testing strategy that ensures the reliability, scalability, and compliance of post-trade processing systems across settlements, confirmations, collateral management, regulatory reporting, and risk. The ideal candidate combines deep Fixed Income product knowledge, back office workflows, and hands-on Quality Engineering leadership to drive automation, governance, and continuous improvement.

Requirements

12+ years in Quality Assurance/Engineering, with at least 5+ in a Director/Head of QE role in Capital Markets.
Strong background in Fixed Income products (Swaps, Govies, Corporates, Repos, Derivatives, OTC products) and Back Office workflows (settlements, clearing, custody, payments).
Demonstrated success in building QE functions in complex, regulated environments.
Proven track record of implementing large-scale automation and QA governance frameworks.
Deep knowledge of post-trade systems and integrations (e.g., Calypso, Murex, Broadridge, Impact, GLOSS, DTCC, SWIFT).
Strong expertise in test automation frameworks (Java/Python + Selenium, Cypress, REST/SOAP service testing, performance tools like JMeter/LoadRunner).
Familiarity with DevOps and CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, GitLab, Azure DevOps).
Data validation skills (SQL, Excel, reconciliation tools).
Exceptional leadership, mentoring, and communication skills.
Ability to engage with Front Office, Back/Middle Office, Risk, Operations, and Regulators at senior levels.
Strategic mindset with hands-on problem-solving capabilities.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree (MBA, MS in Computer Science/Engineering, or Financial Engineering).
Prior experience in a sell-side investment bank or hedge fund back/middle office environment.
Knowledge of regulatory frameworks (Dodd-Frank, MiFID II, CFTC, EMIR).
Experience with AI/ML in test automation and predictive analytics for QA.

Responsibilities

Define and execute the Quality Engineering strategy for Back Office applications supporting Fixed Income trading.
Partner with Technology, Operations, Risk, and Compliance to align QA with business priorities and regulatory requirements.
Build and manage a high-performing QE team across manual, automation, and performance testing disciplines.
Establish QA governance frameworks with clear accountability, traceability, and reporting across all back office test cycles.
Drive adoption of test management tools (e.g., Jira + Xray) to ensure complete coverage and defect traceability.
Define and enforce QE best practices, including test automation frameworks, regression coverage, and shift-left practices.
Oversee end-to-end testing for settlements, reconciliations, clearing, payments, regulatory reporting (MiFID, TRACE, CFTC), and other post-trade processes.
Ensure test coverage includes STP (straight-through-processing), fail/exception handling, SWIFT messaging, and integration with custodians/clearing houses.
Expand performance, resilience, and failover testing for high-volume transaction flows.
Drive automation strategy to increase regression efficiency, scalability, and accuracy across back office platforms (e.g., Calypso, Murex BO, or proprietary systems).
Leverage modern test harnesses, CI/CD pipelines, and AI-driven test frameworks for smarter, faster, and more reliable validation.
Define and maintain key quality metrics (defect leakage, automation coverage, cycle time, escape rate).
Deliver executive-level reporting via dashboards (Power BI, Tableau, or equivalent).
Implement continuous improvement loops to reduce production escapes and improve testing efficiency.