Technical QA Lead

Location : On-site

Role Type : Individual Contributor & People Manager (Split ~70/30)

Role Overview :

We are looking for an experienced Technical QA Lead to drive our quality engineering strategy and lead a team of QA engineers.

You will be responsible for defining test architecture, conducting detailed reviews of test artifacts, and ensuring strict adherence to project timelines.

You will act as the "Quality Gatekeeper," ensuring that every test case is robust and that we maintain a "Zero Bug" mindset for production releases.

Key Responsibilities :

Test Planning & Artifact Review :

- Test Case Reviews : Conduct rigorous peer reviews of test cases and scenarios to ensure 100% functional, business logic, and edge case coverage.

- Test Strategy Creation : Define comprehensive test plans (STLC) for major features, identifying scope, resources, and entry/exit criteria.

- Traceability : Ensure a maintained Requirement Traceability Matrix (RTM) linking test cases back to Jira stories to ensure no requirements are missed.

- Scenario Identification : Collaborate with Product/Dev to identify negative scenarios and edge cases that junior engineers might miss.

Delivery Management & Timeline Ownership :

- Timeline Creation & Adherence : Create detailed testing schedules aligned with the release roadmap and enforce strict adherence to these deadlines.

- Risk Management : Proactively identify risks (e.g., scope creep, environment issues) that could impact delivery dates and flag them to stakeholders early.

Team Leadership & Management :

- Lead & Mentor : Manage a team of 3+ QA engineers; provide technical guidance and support career development.

- Task Management : Allocate daily tasks, monitor progress, and remove blockers to ensure the team remains productive.

- Performance Monitoring : Set clear goals (OKRs) and monitor individual performance; provide critical inputs and feedback to management for appraisals and ratings.

Technical Strategy & Automation :

- Test Architecture : Design and maintain robust test automation frameworks (Selenium, Cypress, Playwright) for Web, API, and Mobile.

- CI/CD Integration : Integrate automated test suites into pipelines (Jenkins, GitHub Actions) for continuous feedback.

- Code Reviews : Review automation PRs to ensure code is maintainable, scalable, and follows design patterns.

Defect Management & Release Quality :

- Defect Triage : Lead bug triage meetings to assess severity and ensure 0 critical/high bugs exist prior to release.

- Release Sign-off : Own the "Go/No-Go" decision; validate that all critical test cases have passed.

- RCA (Root Cause Analysis) : Lead post-mortem analysis for any production defects to prevent recurrence.

Required Skills & Qualifications :

- Experience : 7+ years of total QA experience, with 2+ years in a lead role.

- Artifact Excellence : Proven track record of writing and reviewing high-quality test plans and test cases.

- Technical Skills : Proficiency in Java/Python/JS, SQL for database validation, and API testing.

- Tools : Expertise in Jira (or similar ALM tools) for test management and defect tracking.

- Mindset : "Shift Left" mentality-catching issues during the requirements phase.

- Ownership : Ability to work with minimal supervision and take full accountability for the quality of the product