Quality Assurance Lead

Are you a seasoned quality expert who thrives on owning and driving Quality Assurance Operations strategy for mission critical software applications? Kinsale Insurance is looking for a Lead Quality Assurance (QA) Operations Analyst to lead the design and execution of QAOps practices that integrate testing seamlessly into our Agile development and CI/CD pipelines, ensuring high-quality, reliable, and scalable business solutions.

Founded in 2009 and headquartered in Richmond, VA, Kinsale Insurance Company is a leading excess and surplus (E&S) lines carrier. We provide insurance solutions for high-risk and complex property, casualty, and professional accounts that are not served by the standard market.

Key Responsibilities:

QAOps Leadership

• Define, implement, and evolve the QAOps strategy across application development teams
• Drive shift-left testing, CI/CD automation, and continuous quality practices
• Evolve and evangelize best practices for test data management, environment strategy, and persistence validation

Testing Strategy & Execution

• Lead functional, component, integration, and end-to-end testing for custom insurance applications and services
• Oversee database persistence checks for Oracle and PostgreSQL environments
• Ensure business logic and rules are validated appropriately
• Maintain high-quality acceptance criteria traceability through Jira XRAY and markdown documentation

Team Leadership & Collaboration

• Mentor QA engineers and embed quality culture within Agile teams
• Collaborate with Software Developers, Product Owners, and DevOps Engineers to ensure end-to-end coverage of business flows
• Champion risk-based testing approaches to prioritize critical underwriting functions

Automation & Tooling

• Drive adoption of test automation frameworks for functional, API, and regression testing
• Integrate automated tests into CI/CD pipelines to ensure rapid feedback loops
• Maintain dashboards and reporting mechanisms in Jira XRAY for test coverage, pass/fail trends, and defect leakage

Continuous Improvement

• Track metrics to measure and improve quality effectiveness (defect density, test effectiveness, regression stability)
• Foster innovation in QAOps practices, including observability-driven testing and resilience validation
• Conduct retrospectives and introduce continuous improvements to QAOps processes

Required Skills & Experience

• 7+ years in Quality Assurance or Software Engineering, with at least 3 years in a QAOps or QA leadership role
• Strong knowledge of Agile and DevOps practices, with proven experience embedding QA into CI/CD
• Expertise in functional, API, integration, and end-to-end testing
• Hands-on experience with Jira XRAY (or equivalent test management tools)
• Strong knowledge of database persistence validation (Oracle and/or PostgreSQL preferred)
• Experience leading QA teams in underwriting or insurance systems preferred
• Proficiency with automation frameworks (e.g., Selenium, Cypress, Rest Assured, PyTest, Playwright)
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills

Nice-to-Have

• Experience with rating engines, quoting workflows, or policy administration systems
• Knowledge of contract testing (e.g., Pact) and observability-driven testing
• Familiarity with GenAI tools and services
• Familiarity with cloud-based test environments and containerized execution (Docker/Kubernetes)

At Kinsale we offer the following great benefits:

• Competitive salary with performance-based bonus opportunities
• Single and Family Health, Dental and Vision Insurance plans with HSA funds contributed
• Short-Term and Long-Term disability
• Life Insurance
• Matching 401(k) which starts on your first paycheck
• Generous Paid Time Off and Holidays
• Education dollars for training and certifications
• Promotion from within the company with clear goals and developed career paths

Kinsale values strong financial responsibility. A credit check will be conducted as a part of the selection process for roles that require sound judgement, trustworthiness, or access to sensitive information.

Equal Opportunity Employer

This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws. For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor.