Head of Quality Assurance (Financial Sector)

Head of Quality Assurance (Financial Software)

(Permanent : Menlyn Maine, Pretoria)

Reporting To : Chief Operations Officer BaaS (Banking as a Service)

About Our Client

We're on a mission to improve the global financial ecosystem by enabling banks and corporates to offer innovative financial solutions that benefit society. Integrity, tenacity, learning, enabling and agility are our core values, and we've served our customers and partners for more than 23 years.

About the Role

The Head of Quality Assurance (QA) is a pivotal senior leadership position responsible for defining and executing a holistic quality strategy that assures the integrity, performance, and security of all Direct Transact products and services.

This role requires a seasoned leader who will transition the organization from reactive testing to proactive quality engineering and assurance. You will embed a culture of quality ownership across the entire Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC), ensuring our high-volume, mission-critical financial systems maintain flawless reliability and strict adherence to global payment standards (Visa / Mastercard) and financial regulatory compliance.

Key Responsibilities

I. Strategy, Leadership, and Center of Excellence

• Quality Vision & Strategy : Define, communicate, and implement a long-term QA strategy and roadmap that aligns with Direct Transacts business objectives, driving a transition to continuous, automated quality engineering.
• Team Leadership & Development : Lead, mentor, and scale the QA / Quality Engineering team, fostering a culture of innovation, continuous learning, and technical excellence.
• Centre of Excellence (CoE) : Establish and maintain a QA Centre of Excellence, defining and promoting best practices, modern methodologies ( Shift-Left, BDD, TDD ), and centralized knowledge sharing across all development streams.
• Process Improvement : Continuously evaluate, standardize, and optimize QA processes and methodologies to maximize efficiency and reduce time-to-market without compromising quality.

II. Technical & Operational Excellence

III. Financial Domain, Risk, and Compliance

Accountability and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

The Head of QA is directly accountable for the overall quality and reliability of Direct Transacts software solutions. Performance will be measured by the following critical KPIs :

Key Performance Indicator (KPI)

Measurement Focus

Defect Leakage Rate (Production)

Percentage of defects found in production (vs. QA), specifically tracking high-impact financial transaction issues.

Regulatory Compliance Score

Measures adherence to financial regulations and scheme specifications (Visa / Mastercard) during QA processes and external audits.

Test Coverage for Core Financial Modules

Ensures critical areas like payments, reconciliation, reporting, and lending logic are thoroughly tested and automated.

Automation Coverage and ROI

Percentage of test cases automated, and the return on investment from automation initiatives (Test Efficiency).

Time to Resolution (TTR) for Critical Defects

Measures how quickly high-impact, customer-impacting bugs are resolved and deployed.

System Uptime Post-Release

Monitors production stability and availability after major deployments.

AI-Driven Defect Prediction Accuracy

Tracks the precision of innovative AI tools in identifying potential defects before traditional testing begins.

Qualifications & Requirements

What We Offer and What Were Looking For

What We Offer :

What Were Looking For :