Merkle: Lead QA

Job Description

Merkle, a leading data-driven customer experience management company, is looking for a highly skilled and motivated Lead QA Engineer to drive quality excellence across its fullstack applications and digital platforms. The role involves leading end-to-end testing initiatives, ensuring all deliverables meet the company’s high standards of performance, reliability, and security.

As a Lead QA, you will be responsible for defining QA strategies, guiding automation frameworks, managing cross-functional QA teams, and aligning testing processes with agile and DevOps methodologies. You’ll work closely with developers, business analysts, and product owners to validate complex systems across frontend, backend, API, and database layers — ensuring seamless integration and superior user experiences.

This position is ideal for QA professionals with strong leadership skills, deep technical understanding, and a passion for automation, continuous testing, and process optimization.

Roles & Responsibilities

• Lead the overall QA strategy, planning, and execution for fullstack applications.

• Define and implement effective test plans, automation frameworks, and CI/CD-integrated testing pipelines.

• Oversee manual and automated testing efforts across UI, API, database, and integration layers.

• Manage a distributed QA team, including outsourced testing partners across time zones.

• Collaborate with engineering, DevOps, and product teams to ensure test coverage and traceability from requirements to delivery.

• Conduct API testing using Postman, RestAssured, or similar tools.

• Ensure smooth integration of automated test suites within Jenkins, GitLab CI, or similar CI/CD systems.

• Review and approve detailed test plans, test cases, and defect reports.

• Provide mentorship and technical guidance to junior QA members.

• Identify process gaps and drive continuous improvement initiatives in QA tools, automation frameworks, and reporting practices.

• Participate actively in agile ceremonies (daily scrums, sprint planning, retrospectives) and ensure QA readiness in every sprint.

• Track quality metrics (defect leakage, automation coverage, release stability) and communicate outcomes to stakeholders.

Requirements & Eligibility

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related discipline.

Must-Have Skills:

• Strong understanding of QA methodologies for manual and automated testing.

• Proven experience in fullstack testing (frontend, backend, APIs, and databases).

• Proficiency in automation tools such as Selenium, Cypress, or Playwright.

• Hands-on experience with API testing using Postman or RestAssured.

• Familiarity with CI/CD systems like Jenkins or GitLab CI for automated test execution.

• Strong grasp of version control tools (Git) and collaboration workflows.

• Experience working in Agile/Scrum environments.

• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and documentation skills.

• Proven experience managing QA efforts across distributed or outsourced teams.

• Minimum 5+ years in software QA and at least 2 years in a lead QA or senior QA role.

Good-to-Have Skills

• QA certifications such as ISTQB or Certified Agile Tester.

• Experience with performance testing tools (JMeter, Gatling).

• Understanding of security testing and OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities.

• Familiarity with Docker and Kubernetes for environment setup and containerized testing.

• Knowledge of cloud environments (AWS, Azure, GCP) for test environment configuration.

• Experience with BDD frameworks like Cucumber or SpecFlow.

• Hands-on with test management tools (TestRail, Zephyr).

• Exposure to monitoring tools like Grafana or ELK Stack for post-release validation.

• Experience testing microservices-based and distributed architectures.

• Proficiency in cross-browser and cross-platform testing for web and mobile applications.

Expected Salary

For the role of Lead QA at Merkle in Pune, professionals with 5–10 years of experience can expect a competitive salary in the range of ₹14 LPA to ₹24 LPA, depending on expertise in automation, leadership experience, and familiarity with DevOps and CI/CD practices. Merkle offers strong career growth opportunities, global project exposure, and a collaborative work culture focused on innovation and quality.

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