Sr. Manager, IT Quality Engineering & Assurance (QEA)

Information System
Dallas, TX
October 23, 2025

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Sr. Manager, IT Quality Engineering & Assurance (QEA)

Coppell, TX

What does it mean to be a BrinkerHead? It means creating moments that make everyone feel special - whether you're supporting our restaurants, celebrating wins with your team, or sparking ideas that keep Guests coming back. We play like a team, take pride in our culture, and know that life's too short not to work happy.

At Brinker's Restaurant Support Center (RSC), every role fuels the success of our brands - Chili's® Grill & Bar and Maggiano's Little Italy® - and directly impacts Team Members and Guests. From bold ideas to everyday support, we help create a fun atmosphere, great food and drinks, and the kind of hospitality that keeps everyone coming back. Here, you'll discover opportunities for career growth, belonging, wellbeing, and plenty of chances to work hard and have fun.

Brinker International is an equal opportunity employer. We're proud to provide a welcoming, respectful environment where everyone can thrive.

Job Summary

The IT Quality Engineering & Assurance (QEA)  Sr. Manager is a strategic leader guiding the development and implementation of quality and reliability strategies for robust, high-performing, and secure IT QA solutions. By incorporating site reliability engineering principles focused on testing and validation, this role ensures software meets business needs and regulatory requirements before deployment. The manager oversees a team comprised entirely of contractors, fostering both collaboration and agility, and champions ongoing improvement throughout the software development lifecycle.

What You'll Do

  • Drive the strategic roadmap for quality and reliability by embedding automation at the core of all QA processes, recognizing its pivotal role in long-term success and consistent delivery of high-quality software. 
  • Prioritize the expansion and integration of automated testing frameworks, test monitoring, and self-healing capabilities to accelerate defect prevention and resolution. 
  • Ensure that automation is not only a tool but a foundational pillar supporting measurable improvements in software quality, repeatability, and scalability throughout the entire development lifecycle.
  • Shape, refine, and communicate the quality engineering and assurance strategy, aligning it with business objectives and embedding reliability engineering concepts into testing and validation practices.
  • Lead, mentor, and manage a contractor-only team of quality engineers, analysts, testers, and reliability-focused contributors to support the organization's quality vision.
  • Set and uphold high standards for testing and reliability, including maximizing test coverage, early defect detection, and robust reporting using Jira Test Management Suite.
  • Integrate reliability engineering into QA processes, applying resilience testing, fault injection in non-production environments, and automated recovery scenario validation.
  • Coordinate closely with development and DevOps teams to define, track, and report reliability metrics relevant to pre-release quality gates, such as pass rates and defect leakage, leveraging Jira Test Management tools for transparency and accountability.
  • Advocate for enhanced automation, test monitoring, and observability within QA to proactively surface and address product weaknesses before launch.
  • Manage all phases of the software testing lifecycle-from planning to defect management-utilizing Jira Test Management Suite for organizing test cases, executions, and results.
  • Lead root cause analysis for defects discovered in testing, drive corrective actions, and promote reliability-oriented best practices before go-live.
  • Champion continuous improvement through regular reviews, team feedback, and focused training, integrating lessons learned and reliability goals into everyday QA activities.
  • Ensure all quality processes comply with relevant industry standards, regulations, and security requirements.
  • Work closely with the SRE function within the existing IT organization 
  • Create and refine dashboards and reporting to socialize to IT leadership regarding KPI attainment and CSI (continual service improvement)

What You Bring to the Team

  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related discipline; advanced degree preferred.

  • 3+ years of experience in IT Quality Engineering and reliability-oriented QA as it relates to overall IT QEA and software testing services, including at least 2 years in a leadership or management role.

  • Proven expertise with the Jira Test Management Suite (such as Zephyr, Xray, or similar), including test planning, execution, defect tracking, and process optimization.

  • Solid understanding of the software development lifecycle (SDLC), QA methodologies, and the application of reliability engineering to software validation.

  • Hands-on experience with automated testing frameworks (e.g., Selenium, JUnit, TestNG), CI/CD tools, and test monitoring platforms.

  • Familiarity with SRE principles as they relate to QA-resilience testing, reliability metrics for test environments, and pre-release assurance gates.

  • Strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving abilities.

  • Outstanding communication and interpersonal skills for effective collaboration across remote and local teams and within the IT organization holistically.

  • Certifications in quality assurance, software testing, or reliability engineering (e.g., ISTQB, CSTE, or reliability-focused credentials) are desirable.

  • Demonstrable history of driving process improvements, raising reliability standards, and delivering high-quality IT solutions with transparency and rigor.

 

Why Brinker 

At Brinker, we believe life is short, so work happy! That means creating an environment where you can grow your career, feel a sense of belonging and wellbeing, and have fun along the way.

Here's how we make that real for our BrinkerHeads at the RSC:

  • Flexibility that fits your life: Hybrid schedules with weekly flex days to work from home.
  • Benefits that support you: Competitive package with medical, dental, and vision coverage; life insurance; paid vacation and holidays; 401(k) with company match; Employee Assistance Program with counseling, financial, legal, and life resources; and Best You EDU, offering education programs and tuition reimbursement.
  • Enjoy our brands: Generous dining discounts at Chili's® Grill & Bar and Maggiano's Little Italy®.
  • Rewards for your impact: Annual bonus eligibility for every RSC Team Member.
  • Wellbeing at work: On-site gym and fitness classes like yoga and boot camp.
  • A culture worth celebrating: From company-wide events to a casual, collaborative atmosphere, you'll find plenty of ways to connect, work hard, and play hard.

Check our Careers page and LinkedIn for more exciting opportunities! 

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