QA TEST LEAD

ROLE OVERVIEW

The QA Lead is responsible for defining and driving the quality assurance strategy across delivery initiatives. This role provides a blend of hands-on testing expertise and quality leadership, ensuring that solutions meet defined requirements, quality standards, and stakeholder expectations. The QA Lead works closely with Project Managers, Business Analysts, Solution Architects, developers, and client stakeholders to plan, execute, and oversee testing activities across functional, integration, end-to-end, regression, and release cycles. The role may also support onboarding, coaching, and coordination of additional QA resources.

Quality Strategy & Planning

Develop and maintain the overall QA strategy for a project or program

Create comprehensive test plans, test cases, and acceptance criteria

Establish test governance, entry / exit criteria, quality metrics, and reporting practices

Identify environment, data, tooling, and automation needs early in the lifecycle

Ensure QA processes align with Agile, hybrid, or traditional methodologies

Test Leadership & Execution

Lead and conduct hands-on testing activities

Oversee functional, integration, end-to-end, and regression testing

Identify, log, and manage defects

Support automation using frameworks such as Cypress, Playwright, Selenium

Validate data across systems including SQL-based verification

Team Leadership & Collaboration

Provide direction and coaching to QA team members

Collaborate with PMs on timelines, risks, and dependencies

Work with Client to clarify requirements and acceptance criteria

Partner with developers and architects to ensure solution testability

Facilitate communication around quality risks and readiness

Documentation & Reporting

Maintain auditable QA documentation

Produce regular reports for stakeholders

Ensure QA documentation meets governance or compliance requirements

Quality Risk & Issue Management

Identify risks related to quality, coverage, environments, or timelines

Recommend mitigation strategies and drive resolution

Participate in continuous improvement of QA standard

Required Skills & Qualifications

Experience as a QA Lead or Senior QA Engineer

Strong manual testing with familiarity in automation

Experience across API, UI, integration, and E2E testing

Proficiency with QA tools (Jira, ADO, TestRail, Postman)

Knowledge of automation tools (Cypress, Playwright, selenium)

Strong communication and documentation skills

Ability to operate in Agile or hybrid delivery models

Preferred Qualifications

Experience leading QA in integration-heavy initiatives

Familiarity with CI / CD pipelines

SQL or data validation skills

QA / testing certifications (ISTQB, CSTE)

Experience with multi-vendor or distributed delivery environments

Soft Skills & Attributes

Detail-oriented, structured, and quality-driven

Strong communicator in technical and non-technical domains

Proactive problem solver with strong analytical thinking

Highly organized with effective time and task management

Collaborative and adaptable in dynamic environments