Quality Assurance Architect

We are seeking an experienced QA Architect with a proven track record of excellence in quality assurance leadership and strategic testing initiatives. The ideal candidate will have a minimum of 12 years of hands-on experience in software testing with strong expertise in test automation, architecture design, and team management. This role primarily focuses on strategic QA architecture with team leadership responsibilities. You will play a critical role in defining and implementing quality strategies, driving automation initiatives, and leading cross-functional teams to deliver high-quality software products to our customers.

Responsibilities:

QA Strategy & Architecture:

• Strategic Planning: Develop and implement comprehensive QA strategies, test methodologies, and quality standards aligned with business objectives and product roadmaps.
• Enterprise Test Architecture: Design and architect scalable, maintainable test automation frameworks and testing infrastructure across multiple product lines, platforms, and distributed systems.
• Technology Leadership & Innovation: Evaluate, select, and implement advanced QA tools, technologies, and methodologies including AI/ML testing and emerging technology validation frameworks.
• Quality Governance & Compliance: Establish quality governance frameworks, compliance standards (SOC2, ISO 27001, GDPR), and regulatory testing requirements across the organization.
• Automation Strategy: Lead the design and implementation of enterprise-level automated test solutions, including UI, API, performance, security, and end-to-end testing frameworks with CI/CD integration.
• Process Optimization: Establish and continuously improve QA processes, standards, and best practices across the organization, ensuring alignment with agile methodologies and DevOps practices.
• Regression Test Suite Strategy: Design and implement comprehensive regression testing strategies, including test suite optimization, test selection algorithms, and automated regression frameworks to ensure product stability across releases.
• Quality Analytics & Intelligence: Implement data-driven quality metrics, testing analytics, and quality intelligence dashboards to provide actionable insights for continuous improvement.
• Risk Management & Assessment: Conduct comprehensive quality risk analysis, develop mitigation strategies for complex software products, and establish quality gates for release management.
• Tool Ecosystem Management: Strategic evaluation, selection, and management of testing tools, third-party services, and costs.
• Cross-functional Collaboration: Work closely with engineering, product, DevOps, and customer success teams to integrate quality practices throughout the product development lifecycle.

Team Leadership & Management:

• Team Leadership: Lead, mentor, and develop QA engineers, test automation engineers, and SDET professionals, fostering a culture of quality excellence.
• Resource Planning: Manage QA team capacity, skill development initiatives, hiring strategies, and career progression plans.
• Performance Management: Conduct performance reviews, set strategic goals, and provide technical and career guidance to team members.
• Stakeholder Communication: Present QA metrics, testing progress, quality insights, and strategic recommendations to senior leadership and executive teams.
• Budget Management: Oversee QA tools licensing, infrastructure costs and training budgets.

Qualification:

Experience Requirements:

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field.
• Minimum of 12 years of progressive experience in software testing with strong focus on product companies.
• Minimum of 8+ years in senior QA roles with architecture and strategic planning responsibilities.
• Minimum of 4+ years of people management experience leading QA teams.
• Proven track record of scaling QA processes and teams in fast-growing software product organizations.

Technical Expertise:

• Strong hands-on experience with test automation frameworks and tools such as Selenium, Cypress, Playwright, Appium, TestNG, Pytest, etc.
• Advanced proficiency in scripting and programming languages (Java, Python, JavaScript) for automation and framework development.
• Extensive experience with API testing tools and frameworks (Postman, REST Assured, SoapUI, etc.).
• Hands-on experience with performance testing tools (e.g. JMeter) and performance engineering practices.
• Strong experience with CI/CD integration and DevOps practices using tools like Jenkins, GitLab CI, Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions.
• Experience with cloud platforms (Azure) and containerization technologies (Docker, Kubernetes) for testing environments.
• Knowledge of database testing, SQL proficiency, and data validation techniques.
• Experience with AI Model testing, including model validation, data quality testing, bias detection, and performance evaluation of machine learning models.
• Knowledge of AI pipeline testing, MLOps practices, and testing frameworks for AI/ML workflows and model deployment pipelines.
• Experience with RPA (Robotic Process Automation) testing and automation tools would be an advantage.
• Product testing experience across various domains (AI / ML, Desktop, Web Applications, enterprise software) would be an advantage.

Process & Methodology:

• Deep understanding of product development life cycle (PDLC) and agile methodologies (Scrum, Kanban, SAFe).
• Experience with test-driven development (TDD), behavior-driven development (BDD), and shift-left testing practices.
• Strong knowledge of quality metrics, test planning, risk-based testing, and quality assurance best practices.
• Experience with compliance and regulatory testing requirements is a plus.

Leadership & Soft Skills:

• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills with attention to detail and strategic thinking capabilities.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills with ability to work collaboratively across cross-functional teams.
• Proven ability to influence and drive change in complex organizational environments.
• Experience in mentoring, coaching, and developing technical talent.
• Certifications in quality architecture and leadership such as ISTQB Test Manager, Certified Manager of Software Quality (CMSQ), or equivalent architecture/leadership certifications are highly preferred.