Principal QA Engineer

This role is for one of the Weekday's clients

Salary range: Rs 500000 - Rs 1800000 (ie INR 5-18 LPA)

Experience: 5+ yrs

Location: Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Delhi

Job Type: full-time

We are looking for an experienced Principal QA Engineer to lead quality engineering initiatives and drive testing excellence across enterprise applications. This role is ideal for a seasoned quality assurance professional with strong leadership capabilities, deep expertise in test automation, and a passion for building scalable quality processes. You will be responsible for defining QA strategies, establishing best practices, and leading high-performing QA teams to ensure the delivery of reliable, high-quality software solutions.

As a Principal QA Engineer, you will work closely with engineering, product, and delivery teams throughout the full SDLC, driving quality from the earliest stages of development through production release. The ideal candidate has extensive experience in automation testing using Playwright or Selenium, test framework development, performance testing, and modern software testing methodologies.

• Define and implement enterprise-wide QA strategies, testing standards, and quality engineering best practices.
• Lead and mentor QA teams, fostering a culture of continuous improvement, collaboration, and technical excellence.
• Develop comprehensive test plans, testing approaches, quality metrics, and release readiness criteria across the full SDLC.
• Design, develop, and maintain scalable automation frameworks using Playwright, Selenium, and modern BDD frameworks.
• Drive automation initiatives using tools such as Cucumber, Serenity BDD, or Codecept.js to improve testing efficiency and coverage.
• Collaborate with developers, product managers, and business stakeholders to ensure quality is embedded throughout the software development lifecycle.
• Implement Shift-Left testing practices and promote Test-Driven Development (TDD), Behavior-Driven Development (BDD), and Test Pyramid principles.
• Plan and execute performance testing using JMeter to validate application scalability, stability, and reliability.
• Monitor quality metrics, analyze test results, identify risks, and recommend continuous process improvements.
• Participate in architecture discussions, code reviews, defect management, and release planning to ensure high-quality software delivery.
• Utilize tools such as Azure DevOps, JIRA, Git, and CI/CD pipelines to streamline testing and delivery processes.
• Communicate project status, quality insights, risks, and recommendations effectively to technical teams and senior stakeholders.

• 10–14 years of experience in software testing and quality assurance with strong expertise across the full SDLC.
• Proven leadership experience managing and mentoring QA teams in enterprise software environments.
• Strong hands-on expertise in Playwright or Selenium for automated testing.
• Experience building and maintaining robust automation frameworks using Cucumber, Serenity BDD, Codecept.js, or similar tools.
• Deep understanding of QA strategy, test planning, quality metrics, and software testing best practices.
• Strong knowledge of Shift-Left testing, TDD, BDD, Test Pyramid, and modern Agile development methodologies.
• Hands-on experience performing performance and load testing using JMeter.
• Familiarity with Azure DevOps, JIRA, Git, CI/CD pipelines, and test management tools.
• Excellent analytical, troubleshooting, stakeholder management, and communication skills.
• Ability to influence engineering teams, drive quality initiatives, and deliver high-quality software in fast-paced, collaborative environments.