Head Of Department : Technical Lead

Pps Recruitment; Gauteng; On-site; ZAR 900 000 - 1 200 000; Full time

Job summary

A recruitment agency in South Africa is seeking a strategic and experienced Tech Lead to lead automation across software development and testing. The ideal candidate will have 5-10 years of experience in software development and QA, with at least 2-3 years in a leadership role. This role offers the opportunity to define the automation roadmap, implement robust frameworks, and drive quality through collaboration with cross-functional teams.

Qualifications

• 5–10+ years of software development/QA experience.
• At least 2–3 years in a leadership role.
• Proven track record of implementing automation strategies.

Responsibilities

• Define and own the automation roadmap across development and testing processes.
• Architect, design, and maintain test automation frameworks.
• Partner with teams to embed automation into the SDLC.
• Ensure frameworks follow coding and security standards.

Skills

Software Development

Test Automation

Cloud Technologies

DevSecOps Practices

CI/CD Pipelines

Leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science

Grade 12

Tools

Terraform

Ansible

CloudFormation

ISTQB

AWS DevOps Engineer

Job description

Job Advert Summary

A challenging opportunity exists for a strategic and experienced tech leader who will be responsible for leading the strategy, design, and implementation of automation across software development, testing, and deployment processes.

This role combines hands-on technical expertise with leadership to build robust automation frameworks, optimize CI / CD pipelines, and embed DevSecOps practices.

The Tech Lead partners with developers, QA engineers, DevOps, and business stakeholders to drive efficiency, reliability, and quality through automation. This position reports directly to the Chief Information Officer.

Minimum Requirements

• Education: Grade 12; Bachelor's degree in computer science, Software Engineering, or related field.
• Certifications in test automation, cloud, or DevOps (e.g., ISTQB, AWS DevOps Engineer, Microsoft Certified : DevOps Engineer) are advantageous.
• Experience: 5–10+ years of software development / QA experience, with at least 2–3 years in a leadership role.
• Proven track record of implementing automation strategies at scale.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Automation Strategy & Leadership: Define and own the automation roadmap across development, testing, and release processes. Lead the selection, implementation, and standardization of automation tools and frameworks. Establish best practices for automated testing, deployment, and monitoring. Act as a thought leader, promoting automation adoption across teams.
• Technical Execution: Architect, design, and maintain test automation frameworks (web, mobile, API, performance). Drive the integration of automated testing into CI / CD pipelines. Lead automation for infrastructure provisioning (IaC – Terraform, Ansible, CloudFormation). Implement monitoring, logging, and alerting automation to improve reliability. Support performance, load, and security automation testing initiatives.
• Collaboration & Mentorship: Partner with QA, DevOps, and development teams to embed automation into SDLC. Coach engineers and QA analysts on automation principles, tools, and practices. Collaborate with Product and Business teams to ensure automation aligns with delivery goals.
• Governance & Continuous Improvement: Ensure automation frameworks follow coding and security standards. Continuously evaluate emerging automation tools and recommend adoption. Promote metrics-driven quality engineering (e.g., defect leakage, automation coverage, release reliability).