Lead QA Analyst
IT, Quality Assurance
Remote
VARSITY SPIRIT, A VARSITY BRANDS COMPANY - THE DRIVING FORCE IN SPIRIT ACROSS CHEER, DANCE, BAND AND YEARBOOK
For over 50 years, Varsity Spirit has been the leading global source for all things spirit, including cheerleading, dance team, performing arts and yearbook. Focused on safety, entertainment and traditional school leadership, Varsity Spirit’s 5,000+ employees are dedicated to celebrating school spirit. A leader in apparel innovation, educational camps, clinics, competitions, and yearbook, Varsity Spirit impacts more than a million athletes each year.
OUR COMMITMENT TO SAFETY
At Varsity Spirit, the safety and wellbeing of the young people we serve is of the utmost importance. Since our inception 50 years ago, we have been – and remain – steadfastly committed to doing our part to create a safe and positive environment for our participants’ physical, emotional, and social development, and promoting an environment free from abuse and misconduct. Varsity has a zero tolerance for abuse in its programs, events, and associated business activities. Varsity is committed to reporting all suspicions, allegations, and incidents of abuse in full accordance with local laws and reporting requirements. Learn more at Our Commitment to Safety - Varsity.com.
LOCATION: Remote
HOW YOU WILL MAKE AN IMPACT
Varsity Brands is building a modern, unified digital platform that powers the full experience of sport and spirit, enabling seamless workflows across product configuration, ordering, fulfillment, and customer engagement. Delivering high-quality software is foundational to this platform, requiring disciplined quality engineering practices that ensure reliability, usability, and performance across every release.
Within Varsity Spirit, the Lead QA Analyst supports the Yearbook Technology team, which operates within a highly creative, "infinite-solutions" environment that supports the end-to-end Yearbook manufacturing lifecycle—from digital creation and customization through production readiness.
The Lead QA Analyst helps ensure technology solutions meet quality standards while supporting flexible workflows that accommodate unique school-driven designs, seasonal production timelines, and manufacturing requirements. This role directly impacts the accuracy, reliability, and production readiness of content as it moves from digital platforms into physical production.
WHAT YOU WILL DO
Leads quality engineering practices across complex initiatives
Improves software quality through enterprise QA standards
Drives release readiness and quality strategy
Influences Product and Engineering decisions through quality expertise
Builds scalable testing approaches that improve engineering effectiveness
Mentors and develops QA talent
- Leads testing strategy across multiple products and initiatives
Defines enterprise QA standards and best practices
Designs comprehensive testing approaches for complex systems
Oversees regression, integration, API, and automation testing efforts
Partners with Product and Engineering leadership on release quality
Champions automation and continuous testing practices
Identifies systemic quality risks and recommends mitigation strategies
Leads root cause analysis for significant production defects
Coaches and mentors QA team members
Drives continuous improvement across QA processes, tools, and methodologies
Key Performance Indicators
Success in this role will be measured through:
Overall software quality
Escaped defect reduction
Automation adoption
Release readiness
Team productivity improvements
QA process maturity
Mentoring effectiveness
QUALIFICATIONS
Knowledge, Skills, Abilities
Technical Knowledge
Enterprise software architecture
Software release management
Quality engineering strategy
Test automation frameworks
API testing
Risk-based testing
CI/CD quality practices
Technical Skills
Design enterprise testing strategies
Lead automation initiatives
Drive continuous improvement of QA processes, tools, and methodologies
Analyze complex system interactions
Evaluate release risk
Drive root cause analysis
Cognitive & Problem-Solving Abilities
Strong analytical thinking
Root cause identification
Risk assessment
Attention to detail
Ability to quickly adapt to changing priorities, technologies, and solution approaches
Exercises sound judgment when evaluating enterprise quality risks, testing strategies, and release readiness
Collaboration & Influence
Influences Product, Engineering, and Design decisions
Builds strong cross-functional partnerships
Mentors QA professionals
Communicates quality strategy to technical and business stakeholders
Drives alignment on quality standards across engineering teams
Execution & Ownership
Leads quality assurance efforts across multiple concurrent initiatives
Drives accountability for testing strategy, release quality, and delivery outcomes
Balances competing enterprise priorities while ensuring software quality
Champions continuous improvement across QA practices and engineering quality
Influences quality outcomes through technical leadership and collaboration
Education, Certification and Experience
Required:
Bachelor’s degree in computer science, information systems, engineering, or related technical discipline; or equivalent combination of education and experience
5 – 8+ years of professional software quality assurance, testing, or related technology experience
Experience with Agile methodologies, including Scrum
Experience with industry-standard testing and defect tracking tools, including Jira
Experience leading testing for complex enterprise applications
Experience mentoring QA professionals
Experience with Agile delivery and automated testing practices
Preferred:
Experience working within cross-functional Agile product delivery teams
Physical Demands and/or Work Environment
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities required of the employee for this job.
JOIN THE BEST TEAM IN SPORT & SPIRIT
At Varsity Brands, we believe every student deserves the opportunity to succeed and every educator wants to make a difference. It takes a team to make a real impact, and through our two divisions – BSN SPORTS and Varsity Spirit – and our network of 6,000+ employees and independent representatives, we are proud to partner with a wide range of educational institutions and club and professional sports to transform the student journey in SPORT and SPIRIT.
OUR VALUES
Service - We lead with heart. We champion community.
Passion - We love what we do. It fuels our purpose.
Integrity - We do what we promise. We own our actions and decisions.
Respect - We earn it by giving it. Because everyone deserves it.
Innovation - We never stop striving to be better. For ourselves and our community.
Transparency - We are committed to openness and honesty in everything we do.
OUR BENEFITS
We are committed to putting you and your families first. For benefits eligible roles, we offer a variety of choices and costs as well as program enhancements that align with our responsibility to elevate the employee experience. Some of our offerings include:
- Comprehensive Health Care Benefits
- HSA Employer Contribution/ FSA Opportunities
- Wellbeing Program
- 401(k) plan with company matching
- Company paid Life, AD&D, and Short-Term Disability
- Generous My Time Off & Paid Holidays
- Varsity Brands Ownership Program
- Employee Resource Groups
- Access to Financial Coaching and member-owned Credit Union
- St. Jude Partnership & Volunteer Opportunities
- Employee Perks including discounts on personal apparel and equipment!
Varsity Brands companies are equal opportunity employers. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran’s status, age or disability.