QA/Test Automation Lead

SUMMARY:
QA/Test Automation Lead

POSITION INFO:
Role Overview Attribute Details Job Title QA\/Test Automation Lead Reports To Chief Information Officer (CIO) Location Johannesburg, South Africa (hybrid) Employment Type Permanent, full-time Core Purpose & Environment The primary purpose of this role is to design, build, and govern the enterprise test automation capability across a heterogeneous technology estate . The role balances hands-on technical execution with high-level strategy to drive measurable improvements in release velocity, defect leakage, and regression coverage . Technology Landscape: Pega 23 for case orchestration Azure (South Africa North) for AI and microservices workloads PHP web applications AS400\/5250 terminal systems supporting core credit and loan processes Entra ID \/ Omada for identity management Key Responsibilities Strategy & Governance: Define the automation strategy across Pega, PHP, AS400\/5250, and microservices . Evaluate tooling (e.g., Katalon, ACCELQ, Playwright), establish quality gates, and manage licensing\/TCO . Delivery & Execution: Lead automation engineers\/analysts to build and maintain functional, regression, API, and end-to-end test suites . Direct legacy AS400 terminal automation and Pega case-type workflows . CI\/CD & Environment Integration: Integrate automated testing into CI\/CD release gates (Azure DevOps\/Jenkins) . Manage test environments and ensure POPIA-compliant test data masking\/anonymisation . Stakeholder & Team Leadership: Mentor staff, manage vendor relationships, and report quality metrics directly to the CIO and steering committees . Critical Requirements & Qualifications Experience: 8+ years in software quality assurance, with 3+ years in a test automation lead or architect capacity . Critical Differentiator: Proven, hands-on experience automating legacy terminal-based systems (AS400\/5250) . Platform Expertise: Experience with enterprise tools such as Katalon, ACCELQ, Tricentis Tosca, or UFT One . Education: Bachelor''s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field (or equivalent experience) . Certifications: ISTQB (Foundation required; Advanced\/Test Automation Engineer preferred) . Vendor certifications in ACCELQ, Tosca, or UFT are advantageous .