Director, Software Test Engineering & Quality Assurance

Summary

At Apple, the systems and technology that power our internal operations, supply chain, and customer support are just as important as the products we build. The IS&T, Operations, and AppleCare Technologies organizations are essential to how Apple delivers at scale, enabling everything from global logistics and enterprise infrastructure to the world-class support experiences our customers depend on every day.

Spanning three of Apple's most mission-critical domains and a diverse technology landscape that includes cloud, mobile, legacy, and emerging AI/ML systems, this organization is responsible for ensuring that every application, system, and process that powers Apple's internal and customer-facing operations meets the highest standards of quality, reliability, and performance.

As the Director of Software Test Engineering & Quality Assurance, you will lead a unified, global quality organization responsible for defining and executing Apple's enterprise-wide software validation vision, bringing together a world-class team under a single, cohesive testing approach that raises the bar on engineering excellence across IS&T, Operations, and AppleCare Technologies.

About the role

This leader owns the end-to-end testing strategy across IS&T, Operations, and AppleCare Technologies, ensuring that every application, system, and process meets Apple's exceptionally high bar for quality before it reaches the people who depend on it. Leading a global organization, this leader defines and executes a unified, enterprise-wide testing strategy, modernizes QA infrastructure by replacing manual overhead with scalable automation frameworks, and partners closely with engineering, product, and operations leaders to embed quality throughout the software development and systems lifecycle.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a large, globally distributed quality organization, including SDETs, QA managers, and performance specialists, spanning multiple disciplines, geographies, and functions
• Establish and execute a unified testing strategy spanning automation, performance, security, and manual validation, tailored across cloud, mobile, legacy, and AI/ML technology paradigms

Drive the modernization of QA infrastructure, replacing manual testing pipelines with scalable, shift-left automation frameworks such as Selenium, Playwright, and Appium, minimizing regression cycles and establishing metrics-driven quality gates across the entire software development lifecycle

• Define testing standards, tools, processes, and metrics that drive consistency, efficiency, and quality at scale across IS&T, Operations, and AppleCare Technologies
• Oversee testing across a broad portfolio of applications, internal systems, enterprise platforms, and customer-facing support technologies
• Partner with senior engineering, product, and DevOps leaders across IS&T, Operations, and AppleCare to tightly integrate continuous automated testing within CI/CD pipelines and align testing priorities with business objectives and release timelines
• Adapt quality processes across multi-stack environments, balancing high-velocity deployments for web and cloud-native SaaS applications with structured, risk-mitigated cycles for legacy core systems and AI/ML pipelines
• Establish and execute best practices for QA, QE, IT, and UAT test execution, ensuring proper testing at each gate and the appropriate sign-off across all release stages
• Develop and track high-impact quality KPIs, including defect escape rate, test coverage, code churn, and MTTR, to systematically isolate bottlenecks and provide executive stakeholders with transparent quality readouts
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives, that reduce defect rates, accelerate release cycles, and improve system reliability
• Foster an inclusive, collaborative team culture that attracts, develops, and retains top talent globally
• Serve as a thought leader and advocate for quality engineering across Apple's enterprise and operational technology ecosystem

Minimum Qualifications

• 15+ years of experience in software portfolio management, quality engineering, test strategy, and/or related technical disciplines, with 7+ years leading large, globally distributed quality or engineering organizations.
• Proven track record of building, scaling, or transforming BPR, engineering or testing functions across multiple geographies and distinct technology domains
• Expertise in testing methodologies across enterprise applications, cloud-native systems, mobile platforms, legacy architectures, and AI/ML pipelines in large-scale technology environments.
• Strong automation acumen, with a demonstrated ability to replace manual testing pipelines with scalable automation frameworks such as Cypress, Playwright, and Selenium, and robust API testing methodologies including Postman and RestAssured
• Demonstrated ability to lead through organizational transformation, including team integrations, functional consolidations, or the establishment of shared services functions
• Exceptional cross-functional influence, with a proven ability to drive alignment across engineering, product, DevOps, and operations stakeholders and engage confidently at the senior executive level
• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent professional experience

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience leading testing functions across multiple distinct domains simultaneously, such as enterprise IT, supply chain and operations, and customer support technologies
• Experience managing quality across multi-stack environments, including cloud-native SaaS, mobile, legacy core systems, and emerging AI/ML pipelines
• Familiarity with enterprise platforms and systems commonly used in IS&T, operational, or customer support environments
• Demonstrated success consolidating or standing up large-scale quality organizations or shared services functions
• Ability to operate with both strategic vision and operational rigor, equally comfortable setting long-term direction and driving day-to-day execution
• Exceptional communication and storytelling skills, with the ability to translate complex technical quality concepts for non-technical executive audiences
• Proven ability to hire and develop senior technical leaders, including SDETs and performance engineering specialists, across global, multicultural teams