What's the role?

We are seeking a passionate Atlassian Tools Specialist who can contribute to the Enterprise Quality activities within Northwestern Mutual's Test Engineering group. The Atlassian Tools Specialist role reports to the Manager of Enterprise Quality (EQ).

The Atlassian Tools Specialist will assist in the setting up of JIRA and XRay processes and standards, educating and mentoring teams on JIRA and XRay, including providing technical & process guidance. They will work with multiple scrum teams as the JIRA and XRay SME (Subject Matter Expert). They will develop and strengthen enterprise wide usage of JIRA and XRay and will establish cross-team partnerships to help drive quality initiatives within delivery/scrum teams.

Bring Your Best! What this role needs:

• Deep knowledge and understanding of Agile concepts and testing/QA within an agile delivery model
• Extensive JIRA knowledge and experience both as an end user and as a JIRA Admin.
• Ability to review current JIRA and XRay processes, standards and training materials to identify gaps from the perspective of a mature JIRA and XRay engagement.
• Ability to coach, influence and build relationships with scrum teams to promote full adoption and usage of JIRA/Xray to enhance testing process and best practices. Assist in scrum teams' efforts to adhere to the guidelines and best practices of Enterprise Quality strategy and standards.
• Strong communication and influencing skills with all the key stakeholders to ensure the enterprise vision is understood and implemented correctly.
• Should be hands-on technically. Provide technical direction and support to multiple teams, increasing their productivity and effectiveness by sharing deep knowledge and expertise in testing processes as it relates to tracking of user stories, test cases, traceability and reporting.
• Awareness of Industry trends and solutions around Test Engineering and Agile delivery methodology. Focus on continuous improvements including usage of appropriate tools, techniques etc.

Desired Skills:

• Minimum of 8 years of experience in software development with focus areas on Testing/Quality Assurance and Project Management/Scrum Master.
• At least 2 years of JIRA Admin experience
• Minimum 4 years of hands on experience with Atlassian tool suite including JIRA, Confluence, XRay and JIRA Align
• ACP certifications preferred but not required
• Extensive experience in using JIRA gadgets, dashboards, filters etc to show complex yet meaningful metrics around user stories, defects, defect management, test case traceability, test executions status, remaining work and external dependencies/blockers.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

This job is not covered by the existing Collective Bargaining Agreement.

We are an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age or status as a protected veteran, or any other characteristic protected by law.