QA & Release Automation Lead

Experience
RESPONSIBILITIES

• Requires 15-18 years of experience, advanced knowledge in quality engineering, automation technology, DevOps, and testing tools.
• Responsible for the quality engineering strategy for the Lines of Business (LoBs) and designing the future roadmap of the portfolio.
• Possess deep technical knowledge to provide quality engineering solutions to a complex portfolio of business applications.
• Test and automate industry-leading technology solutions.
• Identify, lead, and influence continuous improvement opportunities to reduce technology debt and maintain or improve efficiencies in the automated test suites/test cases repository.
• Take the lead in the conceptualization and creation of reusable components, frameworks, processes, and best practices that can be leveraged by others.
• Ensure proof of concepts (POCs) from myself/my teams are showcased to senior technical leaders.
• Advocate for DevOps and Agile concepts and continuously strive to implement these methodologies within the portfolio.
• Have thorough end-to-end business understanding along with client and stakeholder management skills.

Roles and Responsibilities

• Drive clarity when business problems and technical strategy are not well defined. Deliver end-to-end quality engineering solutions with complete independence.
• Understand the quality engineering transformation strategy for large-scale portfolios and work on delivering technical solutions aligned with the portfolio.
• Own and drive quality engineering pilots for the transformation strategy and lead organizational-level initiatives.
• Implement and maintain robust test automation frameworks (UI, API, performance, etc.).
• Ensure high test coverage and reliability across CI/CD pipelines.
• Set and monitor key quality metrics (e.g., defect leakage, test coverage, release health).
• Collaborate with Product, Engineering, DevOps, and Support to ensure end-to-end quality.
• Own release readiness, risk assessment, and go/no-go quality gates.
• Drive root cause analysis and continuous improvement practices.
• Oversee performance, scalability, and reliability testing for mission-critical systems.
• Ensure alignment with compliance, security, and regulatory standards where applicable.
• Evaluate and onboard modern quality engineering tools, infrastructure, and practices.
• Promote a quality-first culture through education, visibility, and metrics.
• Identify opportunities across Adani airport lines of business with a sense of responsibility.
• Partner with business, senior leaders, technical leads, SMS, and POs in designing the future landscape of the portfolio.
• Serve as the designated solution consultant for quality engineering techno-functional solutions for the portfolio.
• Possess business knowledge in multiple domains and stay updated on the latest business opportunities and initiatives by competitors, fostering a culture of innovative thinking to make ADL's services, products, and initiatives more competitive.
• Provide thought leadership and contribute to the success of engineering events planned within the organization, including publishing white papers or blogs on the latest industry technology trends.
• Play a role in keeping the team motivated and engaged and identify new opportunities that improve retention.

Qualifications
Bachelor's or master's degree in computer science, Information Technology, or any engineering with relevant experience

Certification
ISTQB Foundation and Advanced Level Test Manager certification.

Certified Agile Test Leader or CSM, Scaled Agile certification.

Core Java or Database certification.

Azure DevOps certification for CI/CD is beneficial.

Behavioral Skills
Change management and adaptability

Problem-solving and analytical mindset

Outcome orientation and go getter approach

Stakeholder management and partnering skills

Team building and mentorship capabilities

Technical Skills
Expertise in automation frameworks: Selenium, Playwright, Cypress, Appium, BDD Cucumber etc.

Tools: Postman, REST Assured, Karate, SoapUI and familiarity with microservices architecture.

Knowledge of CI/CD workflows, triggers, and artifact validation and exposure to containerized test environments (Docker, Kubernetes).

Ability to design and analyze load, stress, and soak tests and familiarity with performance tuning and bottleneck diagnosis. Tools: JMeter and LoadRunner etc.

Test management tools: TestRail, Zephyr, Xray and bug tracking: Jira, Azure Boards.

Integration of tests with tools such as Grafana, Prometheus, ELK, or Datadog.

Experience with Charles or similar tool to track mobile app request responses.

Proficiency with Git, branching strategies, and code reviews.

Familiarity with Agile tools (Jira, Confluence) and collaboration workflows.

Familiarity with basic security testing (OWASP, SAST/DAST tools) and understanding of compliance needs (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA, PCI-DSS).

Working experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP).

Conclusion
The QA Practice Lead in the airport domain ensures the quality, reliability, and compliance of complex safety-critical systems. They drive automation, performance, and risk-based quality practices to support seamless airport operations and enhance passenger experience, promoting digital transformation and operational excellence.