Quality Assurance Automation Lead

As a QA Automation Lead at our company, you will play a crucial role in architecting, leading, and scaling a high-performance QA team that incorporates automation frameworks, AI-assisted testing, and modern DevOps practices. Your responsibilities will include designing test strategies, mentoring automation engineers, integrating testing into CI/CD pipelines, and collaborating with various stakeholders to ensure quality at speed. Key Responsibilities: - Automation Architecture & Execution: - Design and implement robust automation frameworks for web, mobile, and API layers using tools such as Selenium, Playwright, Cypress, Appium, Postman, and RestAssured. - Integrate test automation within CI/CD pipelines (Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, Jenkins) to facilitate zero-defect releases. - Champion shift-left testing to enable early defect detection and faster feedback loops. - AI-Driven Quality & Predictive Insights: - Utilize AI tools like Testim.io, Mabl, Applitools, Functionize, or ChatGPT-based assistants for intelligent test case generation, self-healing scripts, and anomaly detection. - Apply ML-driven analytics to predict high-risk areas, optimize regression suites, and reduce repetitive test maintenance. - Collaborate with AI engineering teams to embed LLM-based validation into QA pipelines. - Leadership & Process Excellence: - Lead and mentor a cross-functional QA team comprising manual and automation engineers. - Establish QA SOPs, KPIs (defect leakage %, coverage %, automation ROI), and performance dashboards. - Drive TDD/BDD adoption using tools like Cucumber, PyTest, JUnit. - Enforce documentation discipline through tools like Swagger, Doxygen, Confluence, or ADO Wiki. - Ensure QA alignment with sprint deliverables and release cadence by partnering with Product & DevOps teams. - Continuous Improvement: - Evaluate and onboard modern QA technologies aligned with our company's digital transformation roadmap. - Define training roadmaps to upskill the QA team on new frameworks, AI QA assistants, and cloud-testing platforms. - Establish an internal QA Center of Excellence (CoE) focused on innovation and automation maturity. Qualifications Required: As a QA Automation Lead, you should possess the following skills and experience: - Core Experience: 6-10 years in Quality Engineering with a minimum of 3 years in Automation Leadership. - Automation Frameworks: Proficiency in Selenium WebDriver, Playwright, Cypress, Appium, TestNG, PyTest, and Cucumber. - API & Performance Testing: Experience with tools like Postman, RestAssured, JMeter, k6, or Locust. - Programming: Proficient in Python, JavaScript, and Java. - DevOps Integration: Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines on Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, or Jenkins. - AI & Modern QA Tools: Knowledge of Testim.io, Functionize, Mabl, Applitools, or ChatGPT-based test generation. - Version Control & Documentation: Experience with GitHub, GitLab, Jira, Azure DevOps, Confluence, and SharePoint. - Soft Skills: Excellent communication, client interaction, mentoring, and ownership mindset. Preferred Qualifications: - Certification: ISTQB Advanced / Certified Test Automation Engineer. - Experience testing SaaS, ERP, or AI-based platforms. - Exposure to data validation, BI dashboards, and analytics QA. - Knowledge of containerized and microservices environments (Docker + Kubernetes). - Experience in performance benchmarking and load-testing large-scale apps.,