QA Automation Lead

Role Summary

Lead the Quality Assurance and Testing function for large-scale Government and PSU digital transformation programs. Responsible for defining testing strategy, managing functional and non-functional testing, ensuring product quality, managing test teams, and supporting successful production deployments.

Primary Objective

Ensure delivery of defect-free, secure, scalable, and business-compliant applications by implementing robust testing processes, governance controls, and quality assurance frameworks across the software development lifecycle.

Testing Leadership Responsibilities

Define enterprise testing strategy, test governance framework, quality standards, testing methodologies, test metrics, release readiness criteria, and quality assurance processes.

Test Planning & Management

Prepare Master Test Plans, Test Strategies, Test Schedules, Resource Plans, Estimation Models, Defect Management Plans, and Release Readiness Reports.

Quality Assurance Governance

Define quality gates across requirement, design, development, testing, deployment, and production support phases.

Testing Lifecycle Management

Lead complete testing lifecycle including Test Planning, Test Design, Test Execution, Defect Management, Re-testing, Regression Testing, UAT Support, Production Validation, and Hypercare Support.

Functional Testing

Validate business processes, workflows, integrations, reporting, user journeys, and application functionality against approved requirements.

Automation Testing

Define and implement automation testing frameworks and maximize automation coverage across web applications, APIs, and enterprise platforms.

API Testing

Manage testing of REST APIs, SOAP Services, middleware interfaces, integration services, and third-party integrations.

Performance Testing

Lead performance, load, scalability, endurance, stress, volume, and benchmark testing for large-scale applications.

Security Testing Coordination

Coordinate Vulnerability Assessment, Penetration Testing (VAPT), Secure Configuration Reviews, and OWASP compliance validation.

Integration Testing

Manage SIT across multiple applications, middleware platforms, databases, APIs, and external government systems.

User Acceptance Testing (UAT)

Facilitate UAT planning, execution support, defect management, stakeholder coordination, and sign-off processes.

Production Readiness Assessment

Conduct release readiness reviews, deployment quality validation, defect closure verification, smoke testing, and go-live certification.

Defect Management

Define defect lifecycle, severity classification, root cause analysis, defect leakage monitoring, and quality improvement initiatives.

Non-Functional Testing

Manage performance testing, security testing, usability testing, compatibility testing, failover testing, resiliency testing, and DR testing.

Government Application Testing Experience

Experience testing Citizen Service Portals, Workflow Systems, Grievance Platforms, Regulatory Systems, Utility Platforms, Education Systems, Healthcare Systems, Land Record Systems, Public Finance Systems, and e-Governance applications.

Government Ecosystem Validation

Experience validating integrations with Aadhaar, DigiLocker, eKYC, Payment Gateways, GIS Systems, SMS Gateways, Email Services, SSO Solutions, ERP, HRMS, and DMS platforms.

Mandatory Government / PSU Experience

Minimum 8+ years of experience testing Government, PSU, Public Sector, Smart Governance, Digital India, or e-Governance applications.

Mandatory Transformation Program Experience

Must have successfully served as Test Lead, QA Lead, Test Manager, or Quality Assurance Manager in at least 3–4 large-scale Government or PSU Digital Transformation Programs.

Mandatory End-to-End Delivery Experience

Must have managed testing activities across requirements validation, test planning, SIT, UAT, performance testing, deployment validation, production rollout, and hypercare phases.

Mandatory Go-Live Experience

Must have provided release readiness certification, production deployment support, go-live validation, smoke testing, stabilization support, and production sign-off for enterprise-scale Government applications.

Project Scale Requirements

Experience testing large-scale applications involving multi-department workflows, state-wide or national deployments, citizen-facing systems serving 1 Million+ users, or programs exceeding ₹50 Crore TCV.

Test Management Tools

JIRA, Azure DevOps, HP ALM/Quality Center, TestRail, Zephyr, qTest, Xray, Confluence.

Automation Tools

Selenium, Cypress, Playwright, Appium, ReadyAPI, Rest Assured, Robot Framework.

API Testing Tools

Postman, SOAP UI, ReadyAPI, Swagger, REST Assured.

Performance Testing Tools

JMeter, LoadRunner, NeoLoad, BlazeMeter, Gatling.

Database Testing Skills

Oracle, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, MySQL, MongoDB; ability to validate database transactions, stored procedures, and data reconciliation.

Security Testing Knowledge

OWASP Top 10, Vulnerability Assessment, Penetration Testing coordination, Application Security Validation, API Security Testing.

Cloud & Modern Application Testing

Experience testing cloud-native applications, microservices, container-based applications, Kubernetes deployments, and API-led architectures.

Development Methodologies

Agile, Scrum, DevSecOps, Waterfall, Hybrid Delivery Models.

Fixed Price Project Experience

Proven experience managing testing activities in Fixed Price Project (FPP) environments, ensuring quality deliverables within committed timelines and contractual milestones.

Team Management Experience

Experience leading Test Managers, Test Engineers, Automation Engineers, Performance Testers, UAT Coordinators, and Vendor Testing Teams.

Reporting & Governance

Expertise in Quality Dashboards, Defect Analytics, Test Coverage Reporting, Release Reports, KPI Monitoring, and Executive Status Reporting.

Leadership Skills

Quality Leadership, Stakeholder Management, Analytical Thinking, Risk Management, Team Development, Communication, Escalation Management, Decision Making.

Educational Qualifications

B.E./B.Tech/MCA/M.Tech or equivalent qualification from a recognized institution.

Preferred Certifications

ISTQB Advanced Test Manager, ISTQB Test Manager, Certified Scrum Master (CSM), SAFe Agilist, PMP, Agile Testing Certification.

Desired Competencies

Attention to Detail, Quality Mindset, Process Orientation, Problem Solving, Customer Focus, Collaboration, Planning & Execution, Governance Excellence.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Defect Leakage Rate, Test Coverage %, Automation Coverage %, UAT Acceptance Rate, Production Defect Density, Release Success Rate, Test Execution Adherence, Customer Satisfaction, Quality Compliance Score.

Pay: ₹1,000,000.00 - ₹3,000,000.00 per year

Work Location: In person