QA Automation Architect

Job Description

Job Title

Principal QA Automation Architect

Experience Required

8–10 years

Job Summary

The Principal QA Automation Architect is responsible for defining, implementing, and evangelizing best-in-class quality engineering and automation strategies across the organization. This role owns QA architectural artifacts, testing frameworks, CI / CD quality controls, and non-functional testing strategies to ensure scalable, secure, and high-quality solutions across diverse platforms including Web, Mobile, Data Engineering, AI, and Enterprise systems.

Working closely with engineering, architecture, product, and operations teams, this role drives automation maturity, shift-left practices, and continuous quality improvement to deliver exceptional customer outcomes.

Key Responsibilities

QA Architecture & Strategy

Define, implement, and maintain QA architectural artifacts , including testing systems, feedback loops, logging, reporting, and interconnectivity across the SDLC.

Create and maintain implementation-level QA architectures that support scalable, maintainable, and reusable testing strategies.

Contribute to and maintain Architecture Decision Records (ADRs) at an organizational level.

Define and drive best-in-class QA strategies across functional and non-functional testing domains.

Automation & Tooling

Design and govern automation frameworks for Web, API, Mobile, Data, and Enterprise systems.

Lead organization-wide quality automation initiatives , including Integration, Acceptance, Performance, and Security testing platforms.

Provide consultancy and guidance on technology stack and tool selection , ensuring alignment with scalability, performance, security, and compliance requirements.

Establish quality gates, metrics, and reporting mechanisms to measure and improve quality outcomes.

CI / CD & SDLC Integration

Embed quality controls into CI / CD pipelines and all phases of the SDLC.

Champion shift-left testing practices to reduce feedback loops and improve delivery speed.

Support environment configuration, pipeline feedback mechanisms, and automated reporting.

Drive ITSM (ITIL v4) aligned practices across change, incident, problem, and operational processes.

Governance, Evangelism & Enablement

Enable teams to adopt and adhere to QA Engineering Policies, Procedures, and Standards .

Govern, train, and evangelize good testing practices versus anti-patterns across all testing levels.

Lead knowledge transfer, mentoring, and training of QA and engineering teams.

Collaborate with other Principal Engineers and cross-disciplinary teams to advocate for quality automation needs.

Customer & Quality Focus

Develop testing strategies aligned to customer needs, risks, and business outcomes .

Expand testing beyond functional validation into performance, security, reliability, and scalability .

Ensure testing approaches validate solution appropriateness across critical dimensions of quality.

Required Skills & Qualifications

Technical Skills

Extensive hands-on experience with automated testing tools and frameworks , including but not limited to :

Selenium, WebDriverIO, Appium, TestComplete

JMeter, Chrome Lighthouse, Karate Labs

BrowserStack or similar cloud testing platforms

Strong programming knowledge in Java, JavaScript, TypeScript, HTML, CSS .

Expert-level knowledge of testing strategy, test planning, test case design, execution, and reporting .

Proven experience integrating quality controls into CI / CD pipelines .

Strong experience in API and Web automation .

Knowledge of containerization technologies (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes) is a strong plus.

Familiarity with SAP platforms (S / 4HANA, Commerce Cloud / Hybris) is a plus.

Experience with test management tools such as Zephyr.

Process & Architecture Skills

Deep understanding of SDLC, QA governance, and automation architecture .

Experience authoring and maintaining process and architecture documentation .

Knowledge of diagramming tools and methodologies (Miro, Diagrams.net, FigJam, Mermaid.js).

Strong understanding of ITSM / ITIL v4 processes.

Soft Skills

Strong communication, presentation, and stakeholder-influencing skills.

Ability to mentor, coach, and lead without direct authority.

Customer-centric mindset with the ability to empathize with user needs and risks.

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or equivalent practical experience.

Requirements

Experience (Years) : 4-6 Essential Skills :

• Work with project teams throughout the organization to design, implement, and manage CDN infrastructure using Akamai, to ensure high availability, performance, and scalability for customer facing applications and business processes.
• Handle multiple priorities and assignments with excellence and precision.
• Be a part of a 24 / 7 / 365 organization (some after hours support is expected as part of normal on-call rotation).
• Directly support line of business development teams, provide guidance to them on implementation and changes for customer facing applications
• Develop and maintain security protocols and measures to protect CDN infrastructure from cyber threats.
• Monitor and analyze network performance, identifying and resolving issues to optimize content delivery of critical applications.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to integrate Akamai CDN solutions with existing systems and applications.
• Collaborate with information security teams to implement DDoS protection strategies and other security measures in the CDN.
• Provide technical support and guidance to clients and internal teams regarding CDN and security best practices.
• Work closely with vendor and professional service teams on delivery related activities and strategy. Qualifications :
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field. OR similar work experience.
• Strong understanding of network protocols (HTTP / HTTPS, DNS, TCP / IP).
• Proven experience as a CDN Engineer or similar role, with a strong focus on cybersecurity.
• In-depth knowledge of Content Delivery Network technologies, including caching, load balancing, and content optimization.
• Excellent problem-solving skills and attention to detail.
• Strong communication and teamwork abilities.
• Experience supporting 24 / 7 / 365 customer facing applications at enterprise scale.
• Awareness and experience with cybersecurity tools and practices, such as firewalls, intrusion detection / prevention systems, and encryption.
• Proficiency in scripting and automation (e.g., Python, Bash) a plus.
• Relevant certifications (e.g., CISSP, CEH) are a plus but not required.