Design Quality Analyst, World of Warcraft | Irvine, CA or Austin, TX

Activision Blizzard • Austin, TX

1d • $19 - $36 • Hybrid

About The Position

YOUR MISSION AND ABOUT BLIZZARD QUALITY ASSURANCE (QA) At Blizzard Entertainment, we pour our hearts and souls into everything we create. Best known for iconic video game universes, including Warcraft, Overwatch, Diablo, and StarCraft, we’ve been creating genre-defining games for millions of players around the world for more than 30 years. We’re on a quest: bring our dreams to life and craft the most epic entertainment experiences…ever. Hard work, iteration, and polish go into the Blizzard “secret recipe,” but the most important ingredients come from talented people who share our vision. The concept of “Blizzard polish,” that is, the infinite care and loving detail put into every aspect of our games, is something we take seriously and pride ourselves on delivering to our players. It’s a responsibility shared across the company – and its undisputed heart and soul is Blizzard QA. Blizzard QA is a close-knit team; we care about iteration, problem-solving, and succeeding as a group. We genuinely love what we do for a living and expect the same from everyone who joins us! This role is anticipated to be a hybrid work position, with some work on-site and some work-from-home. The potential home studio for this role is Irvine, CA or Austin, TX. JOB SUMMARY A Design Quality Analyst is a software development professional who utilizes the fundamental test process and creative design process to enhance the quality of both the development process and the product. They are responsible for designing test approaches that align with Blizzard's quality standards, identifying and communicating defects, risks, and feedback, and proposing potential solutions. Additionally, they mentor and support other Design Quality Analysts and collaborate with Artists, Designers, and Engineers on the product team. They actively participate in playtests, provide qualitative feedback, assist in tool-assisted test design, execute tests, analyze test results, manage test libraries, and analyze the quality of the development process to suggest improvements. They also contribute to product development meetings and planning activities, collaborate with stakeholders to achieve product quality objectives, and assist in training new staff members.

Requirements

• Minimum 3 years software QA experience.
• Experience working with a global test team structure preferred.
• Practical experience with game engines, bug and task tracking systems, content and asset editors, and shared technologies.
• High School diploma or equivalent required.
• Bachelor’s Degree in a related field preferred.
• Demonstrated a high level of product expertise.
• High-level gaming knowledge and/or skill.
• Proven ability to analyze, interpret, and act on data sets and complex workflows.
• Ability to troubleshoot using root cause analysis and provide creative approaches to detect and report on software defects promptly.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills.
• Thorough understanding of Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), specifically QA processes in agile, spiral and waterfall development environments.

Nice To Haves

• Must have extensive and current WoW Raiding experience/knowledge (preferably Mythic difficulty from latest 3 expansions)
• Mythic+ Dungeon experience/knowledge
• Experience testing massive multiplayer online games (MMO's)
• White box testing experience.
• Experience providing iterative feedback on game features and systems.
• ISTQB® Certified Tester Foundation Level (CTFL), ISTQB® Certified Tester Advanced Level (CTAL) or equivalent.
• Coding Knowledge: Lua, XML / HTML, JavaScript, Python, Java, C / C++ / C#, SQL.
• Passion for Blizzard’s line of products and services

Responsibilities

• Participate in gameplay assessment testing and associated feedback sessions.
• Provide high quality written and verbal feedback to development stakeholders.
• Deliver test design, test execution, test analysis, and test closure results through both manual and automated Gray-box test approaches
• Develop test plans with a strategic selection of test methodologies, including data validation, disruption testing, user acceptance testing, and performance testing.
• Develop creative exploratory testing that disrupts the intended design of our products.
• Partner with Designers in the creation of requirements to prevent quality risks.
• Responsible for adhering to department service level agreements (SLAs) and adhering to established metrics.
• Ensure product deployment stability across test environments.
• Utilize software development tools as needed with the goal of increasing test accuracy and test coverage.
• Use appropriate measures and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to validate and report on software quality.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Benefits

• We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for ‘Every World’ - we’ve got our employees covered!
• Subject to eligibility requirements, the Company offers comprehensive benefits including: Medical, dental, vision, health savings account or health reimbursement account, healthcare spending accounts, dependent care spending accounts, life and AD&D insurance, disability insurance; 401(k) with Company match, tuition reimbursement, charitable donation matching; Paid holidays and vacation, paid sick time, floating holidays, compassion and bereavement leaves, parental leave; Mental health & wellbeing programs, fitness programs, free and discounted games, and a variety of other voluntary benefit programs like supplemental life & disability, legal service, ID protection, rental insurance, and others;
• If the Company requires that you move geographic locations for the job, then you may also be eligible for relocation assistance.
• Eligibility to participate in these benefits may vary for part time and temporary full-time employees and interns with the Company.
• You can learn more by visiting https://www.benefitsforeveryworld.com/ .

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level