About the Role
We are looking for an experienced QA Lead – Automation with 8–10 years of experience who can lead a QA team while remaining highly hands-on technically.
The ideal candidate will have strong expertise in Java, Selenium, automation framework development, API testing and CI/CD, along with proven experience managing and mentoring QA engineers.
This is a hands-on technical leadership role, not a pure people-management position. The candidate should be comfortable designing frameworks, writing automation scripts, reviewing code, debugging failures and supporting the team technically.
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Key Responsibilities
QA Automation & Technical Leadership
- Design, develop and maintain robust Java + Selenium automation frameworks.
- Write and maintain automated test scripts for functional, regression and integration testing.
- Define automation strategy, standards and best practices.
- Review and improve existing automation frameworks and test coverage.
- Perform hands-on coding, debugging and troubleshooting.
- Conduct code reviews and ensure automation quality and maintainability.
- Identify opportunities to improve automation coverage and reduce manual testing effort.
Team Leadership
- Lead, mentor and manage a team of QA engineers and automation testers.
- Allocate tasks, review deliverables and monitor team performance.
- Provide technical guidance and support to QA engineers.
- Establish QA processes, standards and development practices.
- Conduct knowledge-sharing and mentoring sessions.
- Support recruitment and onboarding of QA resources.
Test Strategy & Quality Management
- Define test strategy, test plans and overall QA approach for projects.
- Review requirements and identify testing risks and gaps.
- Plan and execute functional, regression, integration and system testing.
- Manage defect lifecycle and coordinate with development teams for resolution.
- Ensure adequate test coverage and release readiness.
- Track QA metrics including automation coverage, defect leakage and test execution.
API & Database Testing
- Perform API testing using Postman and/or REST Assured.
- Develop automated API test cases.
- Validate integrations and backend processes.
- Perform database validation using SQL.
CI/CD & DevOps
- Integrate automation suites into CI/CD pipelines.
- Work with Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI or Azure DevOps.
- Monitor automated test execution and troubleshoot pipeline failures.
- Support continuous testing practices within the development lifecycle.
Stakeholder & Project Collaboration
- Work closely with Developers, Business Analysts, Product Owners, Project Managers and Architects.
- Participate in Agile ceremonies.
- Provide QA estimates, status reports and release-readiness updates.
- Communicate testing risks, quality issues and recommendations to stakeholders.
- Support multiple projects when required.
Mandatory Technical Skills
- Java – Strong hands-on experience
- Selenium WebDriver – Strong hands-on experience
- TestNG / JUnit
- Maven / Gradle
- Automation framework design and development
- API testing – Postman / REST Assured
- SQL / Database testing
- Git
- Jenkins or equivalent CI/CD tools
- Jira or similar defect management tools
- Agile/Scrum methodology
Good to Have
- Selenium Grid
- BrowserStack / Sauce Labs
- Cucumber / BDD
- Docker
- Appium
- Performance testing
- Microservices and REST API architecture
- Cloud-based testing
- Experience with enterprise applications
Experience Requirements
- 8–10 years of overall QA/testing experience
- Strong hands-on experience in Java + Selenium automation
- Experience designing and maintaining automation frameworks
- 2+ years of QA team leadership / technical leadership experience
- Experience mentoring and managing QA engineers
- Experience working in Agile development environments
- Experience handling enterprise applications and complex integrations
Ideal Candidate
We are looking for someone who can operate at three levels:
- Hands-on Engineer
Can personally write Java/Selenium automation, debug issues and improve frameworks.
- QA Technical Lead
Can define automation architecture, testing strategy, standards and CI/CD integration.
- Team Lead
Can manage, mentor and develop QA engineers while coordinating with development and business teams.
Key Performance Indicators
- Automation coverage and stability
- Reduction in manual regression effort
- Automation execution success rate
- Defect detection and defect leakage
- Release quality and readiness
- QA delivery timelines
- Framework maintainability and scalability
- Team productivity and capability development
- Overall improvement in QA processes
Education
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering or a related discipline preferred.
