Zendesk

IT Principal Enterprise Delivery Lead

Zendesk$161K — $241K *
Information Technology
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 10+ years in Software Quality Engineering, with 5+ years in senior leadership roles
  • Proven success in managing QA processes for large-scale transformation programs
  • Ability to influence business and product stakeholders effectively
  • Deep knowledge of test execution governance
  • Hands-on experience in QA Automation
  • Expertise in defect lifecycle management and conducting Root Cause Analysis
  • Strong reporting skills with tools like Jira and Xray

Responsibilities

  • Drive QA execution in major release cycles to ensure quality governance
  • Monitor release readiness and proactively identify risks
  • Lead E2E strategy for smooth transformation program go-lives
  • Operationalize CoE's testing practices across integrated ecosystems
  • Conduct walkthroughs to prevent requirement leakage
  • Ensure defects are tracked with verified Root Cause Analysis
  • Maintain real-time reporting on test and defect status

Benefits

  • Comprehensive benefits package including health, dental, and vision insurance
  • Opportunities for professional development and growth
  • Flexible work arrangements including remote options
  • Participation in company-sponsored wellness programs
  • Access to various employee resource groups and initiatives
Full Job Description
Job Description

The IT Principal Enterprise Delivery Lead is responsible for the large-scale orchestration of testing across complex integrations and major transformation programs, such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). A critical responsibility of this role will be to serve as the primary Quality Assurance (QA) delivery lead for enterprise-wide initiatives, this role acts as a strategic partner to Business and Product leads to ensure critical, high-investment projects do not fail. By operationalizing the frameworks built by the QA CoE, this role drives the execution of QA governance, quality gates, and defect management discipline across the enterprise to ensure predictable, high-quality delivery outcomes.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Release Cycle Quality Governance
  • Drive operational QA execution within each release cycle for major programs.
  • Monitor the transformation's release readiness across multiple squads, proactively raising enterprise-level risks to avoid late-stage defects in critical integrations.
  • Ensure Quality Gates, Entry Criteria, and Exit Criteria are met as a mandatory part of the Definition of Done.
  • Support compliance with QA standards across the squad or delivery team.

2. Requirement Review & QA Transformation Leadership
  • Lead the cross-functional End-to-End (E2E) strategy for complex transformation programs, ensuring zero business disruptions during major go-lives.
  • Operationalize the CoE's automated "rules of the road" across complex integrated ecosystems to modernize legacy testing practices.
  • Participate in and drive Requirement Review Sessions at the start of each release or feature.
  • Conduct structured walkthroughs of test scenarios with IT Business Systems Analysts ("BSAs") and Business teams before testing begins to prevent requirement leakage.

3. Defect Management and Auditability
  • Ensure every defect includes a verified Root Cause Analysis (RCA).
  • Maintain strict bi-directional traceability between test cases and defects to provide a complete audit trail.
  • Actively participate in bug triage calls and ensure defects are reviewed, prioritized, and tracked to closure.

4. Reporting and Data Hygiene
  • Maintain high data hygiene across QA reporting tools and trackers.
  • Ensure test execution status, defect status, and release metrics are updated in real time to support decision-making

5. QA Ceremony Ownership
  • Take full ownership of QA ceremonies and drive active participation from senior stakeholders to ensure quality goals align with business priorities.
  • Operationalize standardized QA ceremonies across the delivery lifecycle (daily connections, status reviews, bug triage)

6. Stakeholder Management
  • Act as the primary QA liaison to streamline the delivery of objective, data-driven test results to Business and Product leads, providing the visibility needed for core team release decisions.
  • Coordinate directly with Business Systems Analysts (BSAs), Product Owners, and Engineers to orchestrate structured test scenario walkthroughs, directly mitigating requirement leakage before testing execution begins.

REQUIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE
  • Minimum of 10 years of experience in Software Quality Engineering, including at least 5 years in a senior leadership or Program QA Delivery role.
  • Proven track record of driving the operational implementation of QA processes across large-scale, complex release cycles and transformation programs.
  • Expert-level ability to manage and influence business and product stakeholders.
  • A deep understanding of test execution governance.
  • Strong hands-on experience in QA Automation.
  • Expert-level experience in defect lifecycle management, including the ability to conduct verified Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and leakage analysis.
  • Expert-level experience of bi-directional traceability and strong reporting discipline across QA tools like Jira and Xray
  • Proven ability to lead purposeful, outcome-driven QA ceremonies, bug triage calls, and structured walkthroughs with cross-functional teams.

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE
  • Experience managing end-to-end testing for complex, integrated ecosystems involving multiple vendor platforms and diverse technical stacks is an advantage.
  • The ideal candidate can align QA scope with business priorities during requirement review sessions to proactively prevent requirement leakage.
  • Experience with AI-enabled test architecture, predictive analytics, or self-healing automation frameworks.
  • A demonstrated ability to influence cross-functional teams and drive compliance with enterprise standards without impeding delivery velocity.

#LI-WO1

The US annualized base salary range for this position is $161,000.00-$241,000.00. This position may also be eligible for bonus, benefits, or related incentives. While this range reflects the minimum and maximum value for new hire salaries for the position across all US locations, the offer for the successful candidate for this position will be based on job related capabilities, applicable experience, and other factors such as work location. Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only (or OTE for commissions based roles), and do not include bonus, benefits, or related incentives.

About Zendesk

Zendesk is a customer service software company headquartered in San Francisco, California, USA. It is listed on the New York Stock Exchange with the symbol ZEN and is a constituent of the Russell 2000 Index. The company provides a cloud-based customer support platform which allows quicker and easier interaction between businesses and customers. Zendesk has over 4,000 employees and serves 150,000 customers in 160 countries. The company was founded in 2007 by Mikkel Svane, Morten Primdahl, and Alexander Aghassipour.
Learn more about Zendesk
Size
2,570 employees
Market Cap
$10.3 billion
Industry
Net Income
-$218.1 million
Founded
2007
5 Year Trend
+33.7%
Revenue
$1 billion
NASDAQ

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