Senior/ Principal Test Consultant - Afternoon Shift

10Pearls, a global AI-native digital engineering partner, is seeking a highly skilled Senior QA Automation Engineer / Principal QA Lead to spearhead quality engineering efforts across web, mobile, and API platforms. This role involves creating and implementing automation strategies, leading QA initiatives across multiple projects, and ensuring the delivery of secure, scalable, and high-quality software products. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in automation frameworks, test architecture, API validation, mobile testing, CI/CD integration, and leading distributed QA teams. You will collaborate closely with engineering managers, architects, product owners, and development teams to uphold quality standards throughout the software development lifecycle.

Key Responsibilities
- Lead comprehensive quality assurance activities for web, mobile, and API applications.
- Design, develop, and maintain robust automation frameworks and testing strategies.
- Promote automation adoption and enhance test coverage across various projects.
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure quality integration throughout the SDLC.
- Define and enforce QA best practices, standards, and governance processes.
- Conduct API testing, contract validation, regression, and integration testing.
- Lead mobile application testing on Android and iOS platforms.
- Integrate automated testing into CI/CD pipelines and DevOps workflows.
- Analyze test results, identify quality gaps, and recommend improvements.
- Establish test metrics, quality KPIs, and reporting mechanisms.
- Coordinate performance, security, and other non-functional testing as needed.
- Mentor and provide technical leadership to QA engineers and automation teams.
- Ensure product quality, reliability, scalability, and customer satisfaction.
- Participate in release planning, risk assessments, and production readiness reviews.

Required Qualifications
- Minimum of 8 years in QA with at least 5 years focused on automation testing.
- Strong experience testing web, mobile, and API-based applications.
- Proficiency with automation tools such as Selenium, Playwright, Cypress, Appium, or similar frameworks.
- Programming/scripting skills in Java, JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, or C#.
- Hands-on experience with API testing tools like Postman, Rest Assured, Swagger, or Karate.
- Proven ability to build and maintain scalable automation frameworks from the ground up.
- Solid understanding of Agile/Scrum methodologies and SDLC processes.
- Experience integrating automated tests within CI/CD pipelines using Jenkins, Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, or GitLab CI.
- Familiarity with defect and test management tools such as Jira, Azure DevOps, or TestRail.
- Experience in database testing and writing SQL queries.
- Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills.
- Demonstrated leadership in managing QA teams and driving quality initiatives across multiple projects.

Preferred Qualifications and Additional Skills
- Experience leading enterprise-scale QA transformation initiatives.
- Knowledge of performance testing tools such as JMeter, Gatling, or LoadRunner.
- Understanding of security testing principles and OWASP guidelines.
- Experience working in cloud environments like AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud Platform.
- ISTQB certification or equivalent QA credentials.
- Background in regulated industries such as fintech, healthcare, or e-commerce.
- Familiarity with AI-assisted testing tools and modern quality engineering practices.
- Experience testing microservices architectures and distributed systems.

This role offers the opportunity to work with a purpose-driven company that partners with Global 2000 enterprises, high-growth businesses, and innovative startups across diverse industries including healthcare, fintech, energy, education, real estate, retail, and hi-tech. Headquartered in the Washington DC metro area, 10Pearls operates product engineering and software development centers worldwide, providing a dynamic and collaborative environment for quality engineering professionals.