Location
London

Hours
Full Time

Salary
Negotiable

About the Role
Mace combines construction expertise with consultancy to unlock potential in every person or project and redefine the boundaries of ambition. Our values shape the way we consult and define the people we want to join us on our journey. The QA and Compliance Manager is responsible for defining, embedding, and assuring quality and compliance standards across the end-to-end product lifecycle. This role ensures that all digital products and productised services are consistent, scalable, compliant, and fit for purpose, enabling repeatable delivery and protecting the organisation’s reputation, commercial performance, and regulatory obligations. As part of a newly established Product function, the role will play a critical part in shaping governance frameworks, setting quality benchmarks, and standardising delivery practices.

You’ll be responsible for:
Quality assurance framework
Define and implement a product-level QA strategy aligned to the Product Office operating model. Establish quality gates, acceptance criteria, and release standards across the product lifecycle. Drive consistency across product design artefacts (PR/FAQ, service definitions, etc.) and delivery outputs (models, platforms, data products, service wrap). Introduce scalable QA processes to support repeatable, productised offerings.

Compliance and governance
Define and enforce compliance frameworks across regulatory requirements (as applicable to sector/geographies), internal governance standards, and data, security, and risk policies. Ensure alignment with recognised frameworks (e.g. ISO standards, AWS Well-Architected, data governance principles). Maintain audit readiness and ensure traceability across product decisions and outputs.

Product lifecycle assurance
Embed QA and compliance into each stage of the product lifecycle including ideation and product backlog, at each product delivery stage, and during maturity, decline, and retirement. Define and monitor entry/exit criteria between lifecycle stages. Ensure all products meet defined non-functional requirements (NFRs) such as security, scalability, resilience, and performance.

Standards, tooling and automation
Define and standardise QA processes and templates, compliance checklists, and control frameworks. Implement tooling to support automated testing and validation (where applicable), governance workflow management, and audit and reporting tracking. Drive adoption of “quality by design” and “compliance by default” principles.

Risk and issue management
Identify, assess, and manage quality and compliance risks across product portfolios. Establish escalation frameworks and remediation processes. Provide clear visibility to leadership on risk exposure and mitigation status.

Continuous improvement
Define and track quality KPIs and metrics (e.g. defect rates, rework, audit findings, delivery consistency). Manage post-implementation reviews and incorporate learnings into standards. Drive a culture of continuous improvement and operational excellence.

Stakeholder collaboration
Partner with Product Managers/Product Owners, Engineering and Delivery teams, Data, Security, and Risk functions, and external partners and vendors. Act as the central point of authority for QA and compliance within the Product Office.

Success in this role will include:
QA and Compliance Framework aligned to the product lifecycle, standardised templates, checklists, and governance artefacts, defined NFR framework aligned to industry best practice, quality metrics dashboard and reporting pack, audit readiness and compliance assurance processes, risk registers and mitigation tracking.

Experience
Proven experience in QA, compliance, or governance roles within digital, product, or technology environments. Experience operating within structured product or delivery lifecycles. Strong understanding of quality assurance methodologies, risk and compliance frameworks, and non-functional requirements (performance, security, scalability).

About you
Ability to operate in newly forming or ambiguous environments, building frameworks from scratch. Strong stakeholder collaboration skills and a proactive approach to driving quality and compliance standards. Commitment to continuous improvement and operational excellence.

Qualifications
No specific qualifications are mandated; however, experience and knowledge in QA, compliance, governance, and relevant industry standards are essential.