Director, Quality Engineering

Vivint Smart Home, an NRG company • Lehi, UT

9d • Onsite

About The Position

Welcome to the intersection of energy and home services. At NRG, we’re driven by our passion to create a smarter, cleaner and more connected future. Vivint Smart Home, an NRG owned company, is a leading smart home company in the United States, dedicated to redefining the home experience with intelligent products and services. We find purpose in proactively protecting and keeping our customers connected to home, no matter where they are. Join the Smart Home team to create smarter, safer and more sustainable homes. Role Summary In the Age of AI, quality isn’t a phase or a team at the end—it’s a capability built in by design. We’re seeking a Director of Quality Engineering (QE) to lead our transformation from traditional manual QA to a developer‑centric, AI‑augmented, risk‑based QE model across multiple product verticals (mobile apps, device/firmware, and platform/services). This leader partners closely with Engineering, Product, Release, and our Vertical Quality Leads (VQLs) to prevent defects early, accelerate flow, and raise the bar on reliability, accessibility, and customer trust. You will redefine culture, talent, tooling, and metrics—owning the strategy, operating model, and outcomes that make “quality everyone’s job,” with QE as the architects of prevention and stewards of risk.

Requirements

• 12+ years in Software Quality/Engineering with 5+ years leading multi‑team or multi‑product quality organizations, ideally in consumer, IoT, or device‑cloud ecosystems.
• Demonstrated success transforming QA → QE: culture change, org design, upskilling, platform/tooling modernization, and KPI re‑architecture.
• Expertise in risk‑based test strategy, exploratory testing, AI‑assisted test development, and integrating quality signals across CI/CD. Owns release criteria/QRDs and go/no‑go rigor with VQLs/Functional Managers/Automation Leads/Release Management.
• Familiarity with modern test frameworks and languages (e.g., Playwright/Cypress, WebDriver/Appium; TypeScript/JavaScript, Python, or Java).
• Strong command of ALM/test management (Jira, Xray/TestRail/Zephyr) and evidence/traceability practices; vendor management with measurable outcomes.
• Proven ability to instrument and interpret telemetry (logs, traces, metrics), and to partner with SRE/Platform for observability.
• Bachelor’s degree in an Engineering discipline (e.g., Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical/Computer Engineering, or related field). Advanced degree a plus.

Nice To Haves

• ISTQB Advanced Level (Test Manager, Test Analyst, or Technical Test Analyst) and/or Certified Software Quality Analyst (CSQA).
• Agile certifications (CSM, PSM) and/or scaled frameworks (SAFe).
• Lean Six Sigma (Green/Black Belt) with demonstrated use in reducing waste and cycle time.
• Accessibility expertise with working knowledge of WCAG 2.2 AA and Section 508, including tooling (e.g., axe, Lighthouse, NVDA/JAWS, VoiceOver).
• Familiarity with AI/ML in testing (e.g., self‑healing locators, test generation, change impact analysis) and responsible AI guardrails for PR checks.
• Experience in regulated or security‑sensitive domains; knowledge of secure SDLC, privacy, and compliance best practices.

Responsibilities

• Cultural reset: Gatekeepers → Architects Re‑author the mission of quality from find bugs to prevent defects and accelerate delivery; codify behaviors, responsibilities, and rituals that embed quality at design time. Leverage VQLs (Principal Quality Leads) to represent vertical quality in executive forums and drive collective accountability across disciplines including in Product, Engineering, etc.
• Establish a Team One operating model: co‑locate QEs within product squads; ensure participation in discovery, architecture reviews, threat modeling, and risk sizing—not just release checkpoints.
• Talent strategy: Upskill for AI ‑augmented QE Build a competency framework and learning paths for three personas: Builders (QE Leads with strong coding), Domain Strategists (deep product knowledge + exploratory excellence), and Legacy Testers (with targeted transition plans). Deploy AI‑augmented workflows (prompting patterns for test generation, test‑data synthesis, and log/trace analysis) so engineers focus on logic and risk. Strong technical background to partner with Engineering and the Automation Director (e.g., understanding when and why frameworks like Playwright/Cypress/Appium are used), without needing to design or write automation. Able to guide quality strategy, risk-based coverage, and AI‑augmented QE practices across verticals.
• Shift ‑left (for real) & SDLC integration Pre‑commit quality: Require test hooks/observability points at design time; QEs help define seams for automation and telemetry before a line of code is written. AI policy in PRs: Configure AI‑assisted static checks and PR gates for reliability/maintainability rules; QEs own guardrail policies and exemptions. Definition of Done 2.0: A story is done only when automated checks (unit/component/E2E where appropriate), AI‑generated edge‑case coverage, and accessibility baselines are in place and green. QE/VQLs co‑own release criteria and QRDs.
• Platform & tooling: Self ‑healing, evidence ‑driven Stand up an AI‑native test platform (visual AI/self‑healing selectors, change‑impact analysis, and intelligent retries) to reduce maintenance toil and flakiness. Synthetic data at scale: Provide compliant, scenario‑rich datasets instantly to eliminate environment/data bottlenecks. Standardize ALM/test management (Jira + Xray/TestRail/Zephyr), dashboards, and evidence discipline (traceability, result artifacts) across verticals and vendor teams.
• Observability & Release governance Instrument quality telemetry (test effectiveness, Defect Removal Efficiency/escapes, defect rate, cycle time, change failure rate) and run release readiness reviews with VQLs, Functional Managers, and Release Managers. Drive corrective and preventive actions when quality telemetry trends against set standards; ensure audit‑ready traceability and evidence.
• VQL partnership & Vertical leadership Co‑author Vertical Quality Plans with VQLs: risk models, KPIs, and release criteria per domain; act as an escalation point for cross‑vertical quality risks. Represent vertical quality in executive forums, enabling transparent trade‑offs and clear go/no‑go calls with defensible evidence.
• Vendor effectiveness & operating cadence Define playbooks, SLAs, and calibration for partner teams; ensure consistent standards, tooling hygiene, and audit readiness. Run a Lean “waste audit” cadence to quantify maintenance toil (flaky tests, environment issues, data waits) and redirect capacity via AI/platform improvements.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Number of Employees: 1-10 employees