Department:
R&DLocation:
Mumbai(Andheri) or Pune(Baner)Should be comfortable coming to the office on a daily basis.
Preference for immediate joiners or candidates with shorter notice periods.
Position: Head of Quality
Overall Purpose: The Head of Quality is responsible for establishing and leading the quality assurance strategy and execution across the SaaS product lifecycle. This role ensures the delivery of a high-quality, reliable, and scalable product that meets customer expectations and business objectives. They champion a culture of quality throughout the organization.
Key Responsibilities:
Strategy and Vision:
- Develop and implement a comprehensive quality strategy aligned with the company's overall goals and product roadmap.
- Define and track key quality metrics and KPIs (e.g., defect density, test coverage, customer satisfaction related to quality).
- Stay abreast of industry best practices, emerging technologies, and trends in quality assurance for SaaS products.
- Advocate for quality principles and practices across engineering, product, and other relevant teams.
Team Leadership and Development:
- Build, mentor, and lead a high-performing quality assurance team, including QA engineers, test automation specialists, and potentially performance and security testers.
- Foster a collaborative and growth-oriented environment within the QA team.
- Define roles and responsibilities, conduct performance reviews, and identify training and development needs.
- Effectively allocate resources to meet product demands and quality goals.
QA Process and Standards:
- Establish and maintain clear and efficient QA processes, methodologies (e.g., Agile, Scrum, Waterfall), and standards.
- Develop and implement test plans, test cases, and test scripts for various testing types (functional, integration, regression, performance, security, usability).
- Ensure consistent application of QA processes across different product areas and teams.
- Implement and manage defect tracking and reporting systems.
Test Automation:
- Drive the development and implementation of robust test automation frameworks to improve efficiency and test coverage.
- Evaluate and select appropriate automation tools and technologies.
- Ensure the maintainability and scalability of automation scripts.
Collaboration and Communication:
- Work closely with product managers, engineers, designers, and other stakeholders throughout the development lifecycle to ensure quality is built-in from the beginning.
- Communicate effectively on quality-related matters, including test results, defect status, and risk assessments.
- Participate in sprint planning, reviews, and retrospectives to provide quality insights.
- Act as a point of contact for quality-related inquiries and escalations.
Risk Management and Mitigation:
- Identify and assess potential quality risks early in the development process.
- Develop and implement mitigation strategies to minimize the impact of identified risks.
- Analyze defect trends and identify root causes to prevent future issues.
- Continuous Improvement:
- Continuously evaluate and improve QA processes and methodologies based on feedback, data analysis, and industry best practices.
- Promote a culture of continuous learning and improvement within the QA team and the broader organization.
- Implement tools and techniques to enhance test efficiency and effectiveness.
Ideal Candidate Profile:
Experience:
- 15+ years of progressive experience in quality assurance, with at least 5-7 years in a leadership role within a SaaS environment.
- Proven track record of building and leading high-performing QA teams.
- Deep understanding of the SaaS development lifecycle and deployment models.
- Significant experience in developing and implementing test automation frameworks.
- Experience with various testing methodologies and tools.
Technical Skills:
- Strong understanding of software testing principles, methodologies, and best practices.
- Proficiency in test automation tools and frameworks (e.g., Selenium, Cypress, Playwright).
- Familiarity with performance testing tools (e.g., JMeter, LoadRunner) and security testing concepts.
- Experience with CI/CD pipelines and integrating automated tests.
- Understanding of cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP) and their impact on quality assurance.
- Familiarity with database technologies and query languages.
Soft Skills:
- Excellent leadership, communication (written and verbal), and interpersonal skills.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.
- Strategic thinking and the ability to translate business needs into quality strategies.
- Ability to influence and collaborate effectively across different teams.
- Results-oriented with a strong focus on delivering high-quality products.
- Adaptability and the ability to thrive in a fast-paced, evolving environment.
Education:
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field (Master's degree preferred).
- Relevant certifications (e.g., ISTQB, CSTE) are a plus.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for this Role:
- Reduction in medium, critical and high-severity production defects.
- Improvement in test coverage (unit, integration, end-to-end).
- Increase in automation test execution efficiency.
- Improvement in customer satisfaction scores related to product quality and reliability.
- Reduction in the time to release new features due to efficient testing processes.
- Team satisfaction and retention rates within the QA organization.
Reports To: CEO/COO
