Lead QA Automation Engineer (Individual Contributor)

Lead QA Automation Engineer (Hybrid)

Job Brief:

We're seeking a highly skilled and results-driven Lead QA Automation Engineer who is passionate about automation to join our dynamic team. This is a hybrid role, offering the flexibility of both in-office collaboration and remote work. In this key position, you'll use your extensive expertise in UI, web services, and database automation testing to ensure the exceptional quality and reliability of our software products. You'll play a crucial role in designing and implementing robust testing strategies, committing 60-70% of your time to hands-on automation and 30% to strategic manual testing. Your proficiency with test management tools such as Jira and Xray will be essential for driving our continuous improvement initiatives and maintaining high-quality standards throughout the development lifecycle.

Responsibilities:

Strategic & Technical Leadership:

• Lead the design, development, and maintenance of scalable and sustainable automation test frameworks and scripts for UI, web services, and database layers.

• Champion the integration of automation tests into our Continuous Integration (CI) pipeline, ensuring early detection of defects and promoting a "shift-left" quality approach.

• Collaborate closely with product, development, and business teams to define clear, testable acceptance criteria from the initial stages of development.

• Proactively identify and assess potential risks within the release cycle, advocating for early resolution and mitigation strategies.

• Actively participate in all Scrum ceremonies (e.g., sprint planning, stand-ups, reviews, retrospectives), contributing to process improvements and fostering a culture of quality.

• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to junior QA Engineers, fostering their growth and expertise in automation best practices.

• Effectively challenge and collaborate with development and product teams to uphold and enhance QA processes, designs, and quality standards.

• Coordinate and collaborate with offshore QA and development teams to achieve sprint and project goals.

Execution & Reporting:

• Design, write, execute, and meticulously maintain comprehensive test plans, scenarios, and scripts within Xray.

• Develop and maintain insightful Jira dashboards to track key Quality Performance Indicators (KPIs), providing stakeholders with transparency and actionable insights.

• Execute a balanced approach to testing, leveraging 60-70% automation and strategically performing 30% manual testing for exploratory and complex scenarios.

Qualifications:

Technical Expertise (Non-Negotiable):

• 3+ years of hands-on experience with test automation tools such as Selenium or Playwright, coupled with TestNG or JUnit, and Cucumber.

• Proficiency in Java programming language, with the ability to write efficient, maintainable, and scalable test automation code.

• In-depth understanding of the Document Object Model (DOM) and its manipulation for effective UI automation.

• Strong knowledge of APIs, including extensive experience with RESTful and SOAP services, and practical experience in testing these services using tools like Postman and/or SoapUI.

• Proficiency in SQL and a solid understanding of database management systems (DBMS) for effective database testing.

• Clear understanding of different types of testing (e.g., Smoke, Integration, Regression) and the ability to effectively group and prioritize tests into respective suites.

• Strong knowledge of Jenkins, including understanding deployment job functions and integrating automation test jobs into CI pipelines.

• Basic Unix skills for server access and log navigation.

Experience & Attributes:

• Proven work experience as a Senior QA Engineer, demonstrating the ability to lead testing activities, coordinate effectively with other testers, and coach/guide fellow QA professionals.

• Proficiency in Jira or similar test management tools (e.g., Xray, Zephyr) for comprehensive test management and reporting.

• Demonstrated ability to quickly gain deep system knowledge across UI, database, and web service layers to define a comprehensive testing scope.

• A strong commitment to detailed and reusable documentation of processes, system knowledge, and test artifacts.

Desirable Assets:

• Experience with JMeter for performance test scripting.