QA Automation Lead (Remote, Full-Time) [AS226]

About Smart Working

At Smart Working, we believe your job should not only look right on paper but also feel right every day. This isn’t just another remote opportunity - it’s about finding where you truly belong, no matter where you are. From day one, you’re welcomed into a genuine community that values your growth and well-being.

Our mission is simple: to break down geographic barriers and connect skilled professionals with outstanding global teams and products for full-time, long-term roles. We help you discover meaningful work with teams that invest in your success, where you’re empowered to grow personally and professionally.Join one of the highest-rated workplaces on Glassdoor and experience what it means to thrive in a truly remote-first world.

About the Role

We are looking for a QA Automation Lead to drive the evolution of our QA function from a predominantly manual testing model toward a scalable, automation-led, risk-based approach, while maintaining appropriate oversight of existing manual QA processes.

This is a hands-on leadership role (approximately 60% hands-on), combining automation strategy, technical execution, and team leadership. You will lead and support a team of 4 QA engineers, improve automation maturity, and establish a more effective and balanced testing strategy across the stack.Our current environment includes some existing UI automation, but it is not yet mature or relied upon as the primary mechanism for ensuring release confidence. Testing today still leans significantly on manual effort, and this role will be key in shifting toward a more sustainable and scalable automation strategy.

The role is heavily focused on mobile application quality and end-to-end user journeys, while also requiring strong judgment on when to prioritise UI, API/service-level, or manual testing to build an effective and efficient testing pyramid.This role is best suited to someone who can combine strong QA leadership with hands-on automation expertise—someone who can both define direction and actively contribute to execution, rather than a purely managerial or purely IC profile.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive the QA automation strategy, improving framework quality, test coverage, and overall automation maturity
• Lead, mentor, and support a team of QA engineers, providing both technical guidance and hands-on contribution
• Design, build, and maintain scalable UI and end-to-end automation frameworks
• Improve and optimise automated test execution within CI/CD pipelines to ensure fast, reliable feedback
• Drive a risk-based testing approach, making informed decisions on test prioritisation, coverage, and trade-offs
• Shape a balanced testing strategy across UI, mobile, API/service-level, and manual testing layers
• Lead end-to-end testing efforts across mobile applications (iOS/Android) and backend services
• Evaluate where UI automation is valuable vs where API or service-level testing provides better efficiency and stability
• Manage bug tracking, triage, and failure analysis, providing clear reporting on quality metrics and risks
• Collaborate closely with engineering, product, and platform teams to improve testability and quality standards
• Contribute to continuous improvement of QA processes, tooling, and ways of working
• Support expansion into non-functional testing areas such as performance, load, and (longer term) security

Requirements

• 6+ years of experience in QA / Test Automation, delivering automation in production environments
• Experience in a QA leadership or mentoring role, with responsibility for guiding engineers and shaping QA direction
• Proven ability to define and evolve automation strategy, not just implement individual automated tests
• Strong foundation in manual QA, including exploratory and regression testing, with sound judgment on what should and should not be automated
• Experience designing, building, or improving UI and end-to-end automation frameworks
• Experience working with modern UI automation tools (e.g. Playwright, Cypress, Selenium, WebdriverIO or similar)
• Experience with mobile testing and/or automation (iOS/Android), ideally in business-critical environments
• Strong understanding of risk-based testing and how to optimise coverage, speed, and confidence
• Ability to lead a team (approx. 4 engineers) while remaining hands-on and technically credible
• Experience with API / service-level testing and a solid understanding of test pyramid principles
• Experience integrating automated testing into CI/CD pipelines
• Experience with defect management, bug triage, and QA reporting
• Strong collaboration skills with engineering, product, and platform teams
• Familiarity with automation languages such as TypeScript, JavaScript, Python, Java, or Kotlin (TypeScript preferred)
• Experience working in modern product engineering environments with evolving systems and priorities
• Strong problem-solving skills and ability to operate in complex environments

Nice to Have

• Experience with mobile automation tools such as Appium, BrowserStack, XCUITest, Espresso
• Experience with WebdriverIO or similar frameworks in TypeScript-based environments
• Exposure to performance, load, or other non-functional testing practices
• Familiarity with security-focused testing practices (not a core requirement initially)
• Experience in regulated or high-reliability environments (e.g. fintech, banking)
• Broader experience across backend or service-level testing strategy beyond UI automation

Benefits

• Fixed Shifts: 12:00 PM - 9:30 PM IST (Summer) | 1:00 PM - 10:30 PM IST (Winter)
• No Weekend Work: Real work-life balance, not just words
• Day 1 Benefits: Laptop and full medical insurance provided
• Support That Matters:Mentorship, community, and forums where ideas are shared
• True Belonging: A long-term career where your contributions are valued

At Smart Working, you’ll never be just another remote hire.

Be a Smart Worker - valued, empowered, and part of a culture that celebrates integrity, excellence, and ambition.

If that sounds like your kind of place, we’d love to hear your story.