Lead Quality Assurance Engineer

Role Overview This is a greenfield opportunity for the right person: you’ll take complete ownership of the software testing lifecycle (STLC) across our products ensuring quality from requirements through release. Beyond testing features and releases directly, you’ll work closely with Product and Customer Success teams to help shape requirements, clarify acceptance criteria, and ensure smooth, predictable releases to customers. You’ll also mentor graduate and junior testers, introduce modern QA practices, and create a more structured, proactive approach to quality. You’ll be the person the team looks to for support and guidance, helping QA move from “validating after the build” to being a proactive and trusted part of product development. Key Responsibilities ● Take full ownership of QA activities across the entire STLC – from requirement analysis to release readiness. ● Plan, design, and execute effective test strategies across multiple products. ● Mentor and coach testers (both graduate-level and senior) to strengthen skills and confidence. ● Define and implement QA processes, documentation standards, and regression practices. ● Partner with Product and Customer Success to shape requirements, acceptance criteria, and release planning. ● Advocate for a more structured release cycle, driving quality gates before production deployments. ● Introduce and champion modern QA practices (exploratory testing, risk-based regression, shift-left testing). ● Evaluate and recommend QA tools (test management, collaboration, defect tracking). ● Contribute directly as a hands-on tester while guiding and supporting the team.What Success Looks Like in the First 90 Days ● First 30 Days: Gain deep understanding of products, workflows, and current QA practices. Begin building trust with testers, developers, and product teams. Deliver visible impact by bringing order to daily QA tasks. ● By 60 Days: Establish lightweight but effective QA processes (test documentation standards, issue tracking, regression checklists). Mentor juniors and start building consistency across the QA team. ● By 90 Days: Take full ownership of QA cycles requirements to release. QA is seen as a proactive function, with clearer regression coverage, improved communication with Product/Customer Success, and a foundation laid for ongoing process maturity. What You’ll Bring ● Strong background in manual/functional and API testing with proven ability to set up QA processes in startup or fast-paced product environments. ● Solid understanding of QA fundamentals and ability to adapt practices to a high-velocity environment. ● Demonstrated ability to mentor junior testers, offering guidance and support to enhance their skills and performance. A natural coach who leads by example ● Comfortable working closely with developers, product managers, and customer-facing teams. ● Hands-on mindset and able to test features directly while guiding others. ● Lead the preparation and execution of functional test scripts, ensuring thorough coverage and adherence to best practices. ● Familiarity with test management tools (e.g., TestRail, Zephyr) and issue tracking. ● Awareness of automation approaches and where they add value, even if not hands-on. Experience with API testing tools like Postman or similar are a plus. ● Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to influence without authority. Beneficial Skills ● Experience/knowledge working with LLM or SLM-based AI products. ● Exposure to complex systems with multiple 3rd-party integrations. ● Domain knowledge in HR tech, recruitment, or staffing solutions. ● Experience in product companies during scale-up stages, where processes and quality maturity evolve rapidlyThis is the perfect role for someone who is still hands-on but ready to take the next step, bringing leadership, structure, and mentorship to a QA team in a fast-moving product startup.