QA Lead

Duties and responsibilities

• Lead, mentor, and manage a team of QA engineers, providing technical guidance and career development

• Develop comprehensive QA strategies aligned with product roadmaps and business objectives

• Establish and maintain quality standards, metrics, and best practices across all projects

• Oversee the creation and execution of test plans, test cases, and test scripts

• Manage test environments, resources, and testing infrastructure

• Build and implement scalable test automation frameworks from the ground up

• Conduct regular team meetings, code reviews, and performance evaluations

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams including development, product management, and stakeholders to ensure quality throughout the development lifecycle

• Identify opportunities for process improvement and implement changes to enhance efficiency

• Manage QA resource allocation across multiple projects and sprint cycles

• Create and present QA status reports to executive leadership

• Participate in release planning and go/no-go decisions

• Stay current with industry trends and evaluate new testing tools and methodologies

Job Skills and Traits

Leadership & Management

• Experience in team building, coaching, and performance management

• Proficiency in resource allocation and workload balancing

• Ability to establish and track QA metrics and KPIs

• Experience creating and managing QA budgets and resources

• Strong conflict resolution and team motivation skills

Manual Testing

• Expert-level proficiency in testing methodologies and strategies

• Experience establishing manual testing standards and processes

• Ability to design comprehensive test plans for complex applications

• Strong background in risk-based testing approaches

Test Automation

• Proven experience architecting automation frameworks from the ground up

• Strong coding skills in at least one programming language used for test automation (e.g., Python, Java, JavaScript)

• Experience implementing and scaling automation across multiple projects

• Knowledge of best practices for maintainable and efficient test automation code

Tools & Technologies

• Advanced knowledge of test management systems and bug tracking tools

• Experience selecting and implementing appropriate testing tools for teams

• Proficiency with CI/CD pipeline integration for automated testing

• Expertise in version control systems and branching strategies for test code

Process & Methodology

• Experience implementing QA processes that scale with growing teams

• Knowledge of quality metrics definition and tracking

• Understanding of testing within different SDLC models

• Experience with test strategy development and documentation

Additional Technical Skills

• Strong understanding of database concepts and complex SQL queries

• Experience with performance, security, and accessibility testing oversight

• Knowledge of API testing methodologies and service-oriented architectures

• Familiarity with cloud testing environments and containerization

Nice-to-Have Skills

• ISTQB Advanced Level Test Manager certification or equivalent

• Experience with testing in e-commerce domain

• Background in DevOps practices and testing in DevOps environments

• Experience managing distributed/remote QA teams

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in software quality assurance with at least 3 years in a leadership role

• Proven experience building and managing QA teams of 3+ engineers

• Strong background in manual testing methodologies and practices

• Demonstrated success in designing and implementing test automation frameworks from scratch

• Experience with resource planning, budgeting, and strategic roadmap development for QA initiatives

• Strong understanding of Agile development methodologies and testing within Agile frameworks

• Experience managing testing across multiple projects simultaneously

• Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to communicate effectively with technical and non-technical stakeholders

• Strong problem-solving capabilities and decision-making skills

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field (or equivalent experience)