Manager, Application Quality Assurance

Ready for more than just a job? Build a career with purpose.

At Lactalis in the USA, we’re committed to providing meaningful opportunities for our people to learn, grow, and thrive—whether you’re just starting your journey with us or looking to take the next step in your career. From day one, we offer the tools and support to help you succeed.

As the world leader in dairy, Lactalis is a family-owned company with over 85,000 pragmatic and ambitious professionals across the globe. Each day, we’re proud to produce award-winning dairy products that bring people together.

In the US, we proudly offer an unrivaled house of beloved brands, including Galbani® Italian cheeses and ricotta, Président® specialty cheeses and butters, Kraft® natural and grated cheeses, Breakstone’s® cottage cheese, Cracker Barrel®, Black Diamond® cheddar, and Parmalat® milk. Our yogurt portfolio includes siggi’s®, Stonyfield Organic®, Brown Cow™, Oui®, Yoplait®, Go-Gurt®, :ratio®, Green Mountain Creamery®, and Mountain High®, along with a growing family of ethnic favorites like Karoun®, Gopi®, and Arz®.

At Lactalis, we live by our core values—Ambition, Engagement, and Simplicity. We foster a workplace where innovation thrives, diverse perspectives are celebrated, and everyone’s unique background and ideas are valued.

Even if you don’t meet every qualification, we encourage you to apply. We want to hear about your PASSION, your STORY, and how your EXPERTISE can help us shape the future of dairy. 

From your PASSION to ours

Lactalis Heritage Dairy, part of the Lactalis family of companies, is currently hiring a Manager, Application Quality Assurance based in Chicago, IL. 

Be a Technology Leader at Lactalis! In this position you will play a key role in providing overall technology leadership for the enterprise applications used by the Lactalis US Businesses. You will need to have both strategic and tactical capabilities, excellence in business processes, and a deep understanding of SAP solutions as well as ERP implementation and support methodologies.

The Manager, Application Quality Assurance is responsible for guiding the SAP functional teams through the successful testing and solution validation activities. Through partnership with the relevant business teams and local and global technical teams, the Application Quality Assurance role will provide structure and guidance for system quality though build and run initiatives.

From your EXPERTISE to ours

 Key responsibilities for this position include:

• Build and manage test processes and structure in a primarily SAP S/4 environment, with several add-on applications and integrated solutions.
•  Support the execution of an Enterprise Application Strategy within the defined responsibilities that is aligned with business objectives
•  Define and adhere to the detailed definition of global project governance and methodology for implementation and support functions for the Application Support team projects
•  Demonstrate ability to thrive in an environment that is growing in complexity, and creativity in design by thinking outside the box
•  Ability to effectively communicate Quality Assurance principles and methodology to enable business and project teams to support the requirements.
•  Ability to assist in constructing test scenarios and test scripts, and manage the execution
•  Provide test readiness and execution reporting, to communicate status and enable corrective action to be taken, where needed
•  Ability to deliver across different testing phases, e.g., Integration Testing, UAT, Regression Testing
•  Drive the implementation of standard UAT tools and processes supporting business testing while ensuring consistency and improved quality, strong preference with Open Text ALM
•  Create metrics on defect trends discovered in various testing phases
•  Track, maintain and communicate test status
•  Provide explanations and information to Stakeholders on complex issues, with the ability to translate technical terms to a business audience
•  Maintain related documentation standards to ensure sufficient detail and clarity, collaborating with business partners to ensure that these are captured correctly with clear and complete understanding of process and technology implications, including test processes, test scenarios
•  Excellent communication and experience in working with business teams to confirm test parameters and scope
•  Travel may be required for on-site support at Lactalis facilities

From your STORY to ours

Qualified applicants will contribute the following:

• Bachelor's Degree in Information Systems, Business or other related academic discipline
•  7+ years' experience in a large-scale, enterprise environment
•  5+ years' experience in SAP project environment, SAP S/4 is preferred
•  3+ years' experience leading testing efforts for SAP projects, with additional applications
•  Experience as a direct manager of people
•  Experience in the Food Industry and/or Consumer Products preferred
• Strong background in ERP implementation methodology concepts and principles including application of these to manage project quality assurance
•  Experience and knowledge of end-to-end IT software development lifecycle from idea conception through planning, requirements, design, development, testing, deployment, support and transition into operations teams
•  Strong analytical, time-management and facilitation skills
•  Independent, self-motivated, self-managing, proactive and responsive with a bias for action and results
•  High level of personal integrity consistent with the client’s core values
•  Proficiency in support ticket and project management applications
•  Proficiency in Microsoft Office products (Word, PowerPoint, Excel)

At Lactalis, we offer a comprehensive Total Rewards Program with a variety of affordable benefits and coverage options. We support insurance costs significantly, contribute generously to retirement plans, and offer Paid Time Off from day one. We are committed to your professional growth, providing training and development opportunities, including Education Reimbursement. Join us and grow your career.

Lactalis is an equal employment opportunity employer. We will not discriminate against applicants with regard to any legally-recognized basis including, but not limited to: veteran status, race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, sexual orientation, and physical or mental disabilities. Further, any division of the Company that is an Affirmative Action Employer will comply with all related legal obligations.