QA Test Lead (Software Quality Assurance)

We are seeking an experienced QA Test Lead to drive quality assurance and test automation initiatives for a large-scale Trade, Supply Chain, and Microfinance platform. This is a leadership role for a quality engineering professional who is passionate about building robust testing strategies, implementing automation frameworks, and ensuring the delivery of secure, scalable, and production-ready applications.

You will work closely with Product Owners, Business Analysts, Developers, Architects, Vendors, and Business Stakeholders to champion quality throughout the software development lifecycle.

Key Responsibilities

• Own and continuously improve the overall testing strategy and quality engineering framework.
• Define testing approaches, environments, entry and exit criteria, automation strategies, and release readiness standards.
• Lead quality planning, defect triage sessions, release readiness reviews, and risk assessments.
• Provide clear go/no-go recommendations based on quality metrics and testing outcomes.
• Drive root cause analysis and preventive quality improvement initiatives.

• Review business requirements, functional specifications, solution designs, and technical documentation to develop effective testing strategies.
• Prepare and maintain:
• Master Test Plans
• Test Scenarios
• Test Cases
• Test Scripts
• Test Data
• Traceability Matrices
• Test Reports
• Lead functional, integration, system, regression, and performance testing activities.
• Support User Acceptance Testing (UAT) and production readiness assessments.

• Design, implement, and maintain automated testing frameworks for UI and API testing.
• Develop automated test suites using modern automation tools and frameworks.
• Integrate automated testing into CI/CD pipelines and release processes.
• Implement quality gates, automated smoke tests, health checks, and deployment validation processes.
• Continuously improve automation reliability, maintainability, and execution efficiency.

• Establish and monitor key quality indicators including:
• Test Coverage
• Defect Density
• Defect Leakage
• Automation Success Rates
• Release Readiness Metrics
• Create dashboards and quality reports for stakeholders.
• Communicate testing progress, risks, issues, and recommendations to both technical and business audiences.

• Collaborate with cross-functional Agile teams throughout the SDLC.
• Lead defect management discussions and facilitate quality-focused decision-making.
• Mentor and provide guidance to QA engineers and testing resources.
• Support knowledge transfer, documentation, and transition activities.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related discipline.
• Minimum of 10 years of experience in Software Quality Assurance and Testing.
• Proven experience as a QA Test Lead within Agile software development environments.
• Strong background in testing enterprise-scale applications.
• Experience in financial services, banking, trade finance, supply chain, or related regulated industries.
• Demonstrated ability to lead quality initiatives across large cross-functional teams.

• Strong expertise in:
• Test Strategy Development
• Test Planning and Execution
• Defect Management
• Test Automation
• Quality Engineering
• Hands-on experience with:
• Azure DevOps Test Plans and Pipelines
• Selenium
• Cucumber
• Postman / SOAP UI
• Datadog Synthetic Testing
• JMeter or equivalent performance testing tools
• Experience integrating automated testing into CI/CD pipelines.
• Experience automating data validation, reconciliation, and comparison processes.
• Knowledge of API, integration, front-end, and back-end testing.
• Experience testing applications built using technologies such as:
• React
• Angular
• Java
• Node.js
• Python
• Strong SQL and database testing capabilities.

• Automation Testing Certification.
• Experience with data migration testing.
• Experience supporting audit and compliance activities.
• Familiarity with data privacy, security, and regulatory requirements.

• Strong leadership and stakeholder management skills.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving capabilities.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to influence delivery decisions through data-driven quality insights.
• Self-motivated, highly organized, and able to thrive in fast-paced environments.