Automation Test Lead

Mets Participation; Pune District; Hybrid; INR 2,200,000 - 3,400,000; Full time

Job summary

Mets Participation in Pune, India seeks an experienced Test Automation Lead with 9–14 years of software testing, focused on automation. You will design, develop, and maintain automated tests, mentor the team, and collaborate across product and QA groups to ensure end-to-end quality.

You will drive automation strategy, build scalable frameworks using Robot Framework, Selenium or Cypress, and integrate tests into CI/CD. Strong API testing and programming skills (Java/Python/JS) are required.

Qualifications

• 9–14 years of software testing experience with hands-on test automation.
• Experience as Test Automation Lead / Senior Automation Engineer, guiding a testing team.
• Strong experience with Robot Framework, Selenium, Cypress or equivalent.
• Proficiency in Java, JavaScript or Python for automation.
• Experience with CI/CD integration and Git.
• API testing using Postman and REST APIs.

Responsibilities

• Lead test automation strategy, framework, and implementation.
• Hands-on design, development, and maintenance of automated test scripts and suites.
• Build scalable automation frameworks with Robot Framework, Selenium, or Cypress.
• Improve automation coverage and regression efficiency.
• Mentor automation engineers and coordinate with multiple teams.
• Integrate automated tests into CI/CD pipelines and multiple environments.

Skills

Test automation

Automation frameworks

Robot Framework

Selenium

Cypress

API testing

Postman

Java

Python

Git

CI/CD

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science

Tools

Robot Framework

Selenium

Cypress

Postman

Git

CI/CD pipelines

Job description

Job Summary

We are looking for an experienced Test Automation Lead with 9 - 14 years of software testing experience, with test automation as the primary focus. The candidate must have strong hands-on expertise in designing, developing, maintaining, and executing automated test solutions, along with proven experience in leading automation activities and guiding a testing team. Strong knowledge and understanding of functional/manual testing and API testing is required to ensure effective end-to-end test coverage. The role requires close collaboration with development, product, business, and QA teams and regular coordination with French/Front Office colleagues for requirement clarification, planning, status reporting, risk and blocker communication, and issue resolution.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead automation testing activities and own the overall test automation strategy, approach, framework, and implementation.
• Remain hands‑on in designing, developing, executing, debugging, and maintaining automated test scripts and test suites.
• Design, enhance, and maintain scalable, reusable, and maintainable test automation frameworks using Robot Framework, Selenium, Cypress, or equivalent tools.
• Identify suitable test scenarios for automation and continuously improve automation coverage, execution efficiency, and regression effectiveness.
• Review automation scripts and framework changes and ensure adherence to automation coding standards, design patterns, and best practices.
• Guide and mentor automation engineers/testers, provide technical direction, and support resolution of complex automation issues.
• Monitor automated test execution, analyze failures, identify flaky or unstable tests, and drive corrective actions to improve test‑suite reliability.
• Integrate and maintain automated test suites as part of CI/CD pipelines and enable effective execution across multiple environments.
• Analyze business requirements, functional specifications, technical documents, and user stories and translate them into effective test strategies, scenarios, and automation coverage.
• Maintain strong functional testing knowledge and perform/review functional, regression, integration, system, smoke, sanity, and exploratory testing where required.
• Conduct API testing using Postman, including validation of REST APIs, request/response payloads, HTTP methods, status codes, headers, and error handling.
• Define test strategy, test approach, scope, estimates, timelines, test coverage, and quality objectives.
• Identify, log, analyze, prioritize, track, retest, and close defects using defect/test management tools such as JIRA.
• Coordinate closely with French/Front Office colleagues and other international stakeholders for requirement clarification, test planning, priorities, dependencies, and issue resolution.
• Provide clear and timely communication on automation progress, test status, quality risks, blockers, and dependencies.
• Collaborate with developers, business analysts, product owners, and QA teams to ensure end‑to‑end product quality.
• Participate actively in sprint planning, daily stand‑ups, reviews, retrospectives, and test status reporting.
• Provide test and automation effort estimates and input for sprint commitments.
• Promote automation best practices, quality processes, and continuous improvement across the testing team.

Required Skills & Qualifications

Test Automation & Technical Skills

• 9 - 14 years of overall software testing experience, with strong hands‑on expertise in test automation.
• Proven experience in a Test Automation Lead / Senior Automation Engineer role, leading automation activities and providing technical guidance to a testing team.
• Strong hands‑on experience with test automation frameworks and tools such as Robot Framework, Selenium, Cypress, or equivalent.
• Strong knowledge of automation framework architecture, reusability, maintainability, scalability, programming/scripting, test data management, and CI/CD integration.
• Proficiency in one or more scripting/programming languages such as Java, JavaScript, Python, or similar.
• Ability to develop and execute automated test suites across multiple environments.
• Strong understanding of automation design patterns and best practices, including Page Object Model and Data‑Driven Testing.
• Capability to independently debug and troubleshoot automation framework, script, and execution issues.
• Strong knowledge of version control systems (Git) and CI/CD pipeline integration for test automation.
• Hands‑on experience with API testing using Postman, including validation of REST APIs, JSON responses, and HTTP/HTTPS protocols.
• Ability to identify automation opportunities and drive improvements in automation coverage, execution reliability, and testing efficiency.
• Technical development skills sufficient to work independently with automation frameworks and scripts; a software development background is not required.

Functional Testing & QA Competencies

• Strong knowledge and practical understanding of functional/manual testing, including functional, regression, integration, system, smoke, and sanity testing.
• Strong understanding of STLC, SDLC, Agile/Scrum methodologies, and QA processes.
• Ability to analyze business and technical requirements and translate them into clear, detailed, reusable, and risk‑based test cases and scenarios.
• Ability to define test strategy, test approach, scope, timelines, resource allocation, estimates, and quality objectives.
• Proficiency in defect management and test management tools, including defect analysis, prioritization, tracking, and reporting.
• Strong analytical, problem‑solving, and quality‑focused skills with a continuous‑improvement mindset.

Leadership & Communication

• Demonstrated ability to lead, guide, and mentor automation/test engineers and provide technical direction.
• Ability to coordinate automation and testing activities across multiple teams and stakeholders.
• Strong verbal and written English communication skills, with the ability to work effectively with French/Front Office colleagues and international teams.
• Ability to clearly communicate automation progress, test status, risks, dependencies, and blockers to technical and business stakeholders.
• Ability to work independently, manage multiple priorities, and take ownership of automation deliverables.
• Autonomy, operational leadership, and strong collaboration with the France teams.

AI/ML Interest & Innovation (Nice to Have)

• Interest in exploring AI-powered testing tools and methodologies.
• Willingness to experiment with AI‑driven test generation, intelligent test selection, and predictive testing.
• Ability to evaluate emerging tools and technologies and propose improvements to testing processes.
• Mindset oriented towards continuous learning and innovation in test automation.

Good to Have

• Strong knowledge of SQL for data validation.
• Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines, DevOps practices, and cloud‑based testing platforms/environments.
• Basic understanding of non‑functional testing concepts (performance, security, usability).
• ISTQB certification (Foundation Level or higher).
• Certification in test automation tools (Robot Framework, Selenium, Cypress, or equivalent).
• Knowledge of Telecom domain and telecom solutions.
• Basic understanding of IVR (Interactive Voice Response) systems and call flow mechanisms.
• AI/ML knowledge or exposure will be considered an added advantage.

Education

Bachelors degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent practical experience)