Senior Test Leader

About this role

About the Role
Vinova is looking for an experienced, technically strong, and hands-on Senior Test Leader to lead and develop our QA function across the company.
This role is responsible for establishing company-wide testing standards, strengthening quality governance across multiple projects, and building scalable automation and AI-assisted testing capabilities. You will work closely with Delivery Managers, Project Managers, technical teams, and clients to ensure consistent quality throughout the software development lifecycle.
The ideal candidate has a strong foundation in software development before transitioning into QA, along with proven experience leading QA teams in an IT outsourcing environment and delivering large-scale global projects.
Key Responsibilities
QA Leadership & Team Building

• Directly lead, coach, and develop the QA/Tester team across all company projects.

• Build a clear career development path for QA/Testers, from Junior to Senior/Automation Engineer.

• Act as the subject matter expert (SME) on testing, providing guidance whenever projects need technical support.

Test Strategy & Process Standardization

• Define a standard Test Strategy for each project type, including bespoke software, web applications, mobile applications, and government-sector projects, integrated into the SDLC across Agile/Scrum, Waterfall, and Hybrid models.

• Establish Quality Gates, including clear entry and exit criteria, for each phase: SIT, UAT, go-live, and post-go-live.

• Define a standard set of quality metrics—including defect density, defect leakage, and test coverage—to be applied consistently across Delivery.

Manual Testing & Automation

• Oversee and ensure the quality of test cases, test plans, and test data across active projects.

• Build and scale a reusable automation testing framework covering UI, API, and regression testing across multiple projects.

• Evaluate and select automation tools suited to each project type, including web, mobile, and API-based solutions.

Applying AI in Testing

• Research and apply AI in testing, including automated test case generation, regression suite optimization, and defect-prone-area prediction.

• Build a workflow that combines AI-assisted testing with existing automation practices to increase delivery speed and reduce testing costs.

Quality & Client Management

• Act as the primary point of contact for quality-related client complaints, working with Delivery Managers and Project Managers to define corrective actions.

• Provide regular portfolio-level quality status reporting to the Chief Delivery Officer, rather than reporting only on individual projects.

• Conduct root-cause analysis for critical defects and propose process improvements to prevent recurrence.

Requirements
Background & Experience

• Minimum 7–8 years in the software industry, including hands-on Software Development experience before moving into QA — able to read code and review test coverage/logic at a deep technical level.

• Experience working at ITO (IT Outsourcing) companies — understands the multi-project, multi-client nature of the outsourcing delivery model.

• Minimum 3 years in a QA team lead/management role.

• Proven experience leading a QA team on large-scale global projects, successfully delivering under global-standard quality expectations.

Testing Expertise

• Manual Testing: strong skills in test case design, test planning, and UAT management.

• Automation Testing: hands-on experience building/operating an automation framework (Selenium, Playwright, Cypress, or equivalent), integrated into CI/CD.

• AI Software Testing: real hands-on experience applying AI to testing (test case generation, test suite optimization, automated defect detection) — not just conceptual knowledge.

• Strong command of software development methodologies: Agile/Scrum, Waterfall, Hybrid — able to tailor the test strategy to each model.

• Hands-on testing experience within ASDLC (AI Software Development Life Cycle) project models — testing embedded across AI-driven development workflows, from AI-assisted coding to AI-integrated QA processes.

Certifications (Preferred)

• ISTQB Foundation/Advanced Level (Test Manager, Test Analyst, or Automation Engineer track).

• Relevant automation testing certification (Selenium, Playwright, etc.) or AI/ML-applied-to-QA certification, if any.

Other Skills

• Leadership skills — coaching and developing a team.

• Strong communication skills, comfortable engaging directly with clients on quality-related matters.

• Continuous-improvement mindset — proactively proposes fixes rather than only reporting defects.

Nice to Have

• Experience testing AI-native applications (LLM-based apps, AI agents, chatbots) — including prompt/response quality evaluation, hallucination detection, and non-deterministic output testing strategies.
Why Join Vinova

• Lead and shape the company-wide QA strategy across a diverse international project portfolio.

• Build and develop a scalable QA organization with clear standards and career pathways.

• Drive the adoption of automation and AI-assisted testing across multiple delivery teams.

• Work closely with senior leadership, Delivery, Engineering, and client stakeholders.

• Gain exposure to complex projects across different industries, technologies, and markets.

• Join a fast-growing international technology company where you can take ownership and make a measurable impact.

• Work in a high-performance and continuous-improvement environment.

• Receive a competitive salary and benefits package.

Originally posted on Himalayas