QA Manager for Automation/Manual activities

We are looking for an enthusiastic QA professional with a strong background in automation testing, particularly using Playwright, who is passionate about team management, mentoring, and guiding engineers. The ideal candidate thrives in helping engineering teams grow, enjoys supporting projects from inception, and is eager to foster best practices in both manual and automated testing, while occasionally contributing directly to practical automation projects to maintain hands-on expertise.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead and mentor a team of QA engineers, providing guidance on automation and manual testing best practices, test strategy, and career development.
• Communicate effectively with clients and stakeholders to gather project requirements and set clear QA expectations.
• Design, develop, and maintain automated test scripts primarily using Playwright. The role includes actively working on practical automation projects alongside mentoring responsibilities.
• Establish and improve test infrastructure and frameworks, including building automation from scratch for new projects.
• Advise on testing strategies, including manual, functional, regression, and API testing, ensuring robust coverage of critical workflows.
• Utilize AI-based tools and techniques to enhance QA efficiency, accuracy, and reporting.
• Conduct load and performance testing using tools like k6 (or JMeter) when applicable.
• Adapt testing strategies to changing project requirements, balancing quality, speed, and scalability.
• Participate in hiring, interviews, and technical evaluations for new QA team members when required.

Key Requirements:

• Minimum of 3 years in QA, with significant experience in automation testing.
• Solid hands-on experience with JavaScript/TypeScript (2+ years); knowledge of Python or other programming languages is a strong plus.
• Strong practical experience with Playwright (2+ years) for web automation.
• Experience with mobile automation using Appium; knowledge of other mobile frameworks is a plus.
• Demonstrated ability to set up testing frameworks, environments, and CI/CD pipelines from scratch.
• Proven mentoring and leadership skills, with experience guiding newcomers or junior QA specialists.
• Ability to stay hands-on with practical automation projects while leading the team.
• Intermediate or higher level of English.
• Excellent communication skills, including direct client interaction and team collaboration.

Nice to Have:

• Practical knowledge of load/performance testing tools (k6, JMeter).
• Experience reviewing code and ensuring best practices across automation teams.
• Understanding of management processes and delivery lifecycle.