QA Automation Lead (API+UI) - India

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: QA Automation Lead (API+UI)

Company: Juniper Square

Location: India

Job Type: FULL_TIME

Category: Quality Assurance / Software Engineering

Date Posted: 2026-09-01

Experience Level: 10+ Years

Remote Status: Remote OK

🚀 Role Summary

• Drive the end-to-end Quality Assurance (QA) automation strategy for complex distributed systems and microservices.

• Lead the design, development, and maintenance of scalable automation frameworks for both frontend (UI) and backend (API) services.

• Collaborate closely with Product and Engineering teams to integrate continuous testing into the CI/CD pipeline and Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC).

• Champion an automation-first approach, advocating for its adoption to reduce manual testing efforts and improve overall release readiness.

• Utilize AI-augmented development tools to accelerate test authoring, debugging, and documentation workflows, enhancing team efficiency and product quality.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is positioned as a lead, implying significant responsibility for strategic direction, mentorship, and ownership of the QA automation function within a project or team. The emphasis on AI-augmented development and ownership of the full release cycle suggests a modern, forward-thinking QA approach focused on efficiency and proactive quality assurance.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Partner with Product and Engineering leadership to define and execute the automation strategy for new feature releases, ensuring alignment with business objectives and quality standards.

• Design, develop, and maintain comprehensive test suites for both frontend (UI) and backend (RESTful/GraphQL APIs), utilizing advanced automation frameworks and tools.

• Establish and enforce QA best practices, coding standards, and rigorous code review processes for the automation team, fostering a culture of technical excellence.

• Develop and deliver automated test result reports, clearly highlighting potential quality risks and providing actionable insights for remediation.

• Identify, troubleshoot, and track bugs to resolution, leveraging AI tools for efficient root cause analysis and log interpretation to speed up defect resolution.

• Contribute to the continuous improvement of the QA automation framework, exploring and integrating new technologies and methodologies to enhance test coverage and efficiency.

• Own the "Continuous Testing" component of the CI/CD pipeline, ensuring seamless integration of automated tests into the development workflow.

• Review technical design documents and API specifications (Swagger/OpenAPI) to provide early feedback on system testability, edge cases, and potential integration bottlenecks.

• Act as a strong advocate for automation, proactively recommending and implementing strategies to decrease manual testing dependency and increase overall testing velocity.

• Mentor and guide junior QA engineers, fostering their growth in automation skills and best practices.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a blend of strategic leadership, hands-on technical execution, and process ownership. The emphasis on reviewing design documents and API specifications early in the development cycle indicates a shift-left approach to quality assurance. The expectation to own the "Continuous Testing" portion of CI/CD signifies deep integration with DevOps practices.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, or equivalent professional experience in a related technical field.

Experience: 8-12 years in Software Quality Assurance, with a proven track record of leading quality initiatives for complex distributed systems, microservices, and backend APIs.

Required Skills:

• AI-Augmented Development: Proactive and demonstrated experience using AI-powered tools (e.g., Augment, Cursor, Gemini) to accelerate test authoring, assist in debugging automation scripts, and optimize documentation workflows.

• Test Automation Frameworks: Skilled in designing, developing, and maintaining scalable automation frameworks for both frontend and backend services.

• Programming Proficiency: Strong proficiency in at least one programming language, with a preference for Python.

• API Testing Expertise: Hands-on expertise in automated testing of backend RESTful and/or GraphQL APIs using tools like Postman, RestAssured, or Locust.

• UI Testing Expertise: Hands-on expertise in automated testing of frontend applications using tools like Playwright.

• CI/CD & SDLC: Deep understanding and practical experience with Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines and the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC), including code review practices, code coverage analysis, and continuous testing.

• Release Management: Proven experience managing the full release cycle, from scoping test requirements to making final "Go/No-Go" decisions.

• Test Planning & Execution: Experience in creating comprehensive test plans, authoring detailed test cases, executing tests, and adhering to QA best practices.

• Database Knowledge: Working knowledge of relational databases and SQL for data validation and test setup.

• Cloud & Containerization: Strong experience with cloud platforms (AWS) and containerization technologies (Docker, Kubernetes).

• Version Control & Issue Tracking: Familiarity with version control systems (e.g., Git) and issue-tracking platforms (e.g., Jira).

• Analytical & Problem-Solving: Excellent analytical and problem-solving abilities with a keen attention to detail.

• Communication: Strong written and verbal communication skills in English.

Preferred Skills:

• Performance and Load Testing: Experience with performance and load testing tools and methodologies.

• Test Management Tools: Familiarity with test management tools like TestRail.

• API Specification Tools: Experience with API specification formats like Swagger/OpenAPI.

• Agile Methodologies: Extensive experience working within fast-paced Agile development teams with minimal supervision.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on AI-augmented development tools is a critical differentiator for this role. The requirement for 8-12 years of experience with a "proven track record of leading quality initiatives" indicates a senior-level position where strategic thinking and leadership are as important as technical skills. The combination of specific tools like Playwright, RestAssured, and Locust points to a tech stack that candidates should be familiar with.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Test Automation Framework Design: Showcase examples of architecting and implementing robust, scalable, and maintainable test automation frameworks for both UI and API layers, detailing the rationale behind technology choices.

• API Test Suite Development: Present a portfolio of API test cases and scripts demonstrating comprehensive coverage of endpoints, request/response validation, error handling, and integration scenarios.

• UI Test Suite Development: Provide examples of UI test automation scripts that effectively cover critical user flows, element interactions, and cross-browser compatibility.

• CI/CD Integration Examples: Illustrate how automated tests were integrated into CI/CD pipelines, including examples of automated reporting and notification mechanisms.

• Performance/Load Testing Contributions (if applicable): If performance testing experience exists, include case studies demonstrating load testing strategies and results.

Process Documentation:

• Test Plan Documentation: Examples of detailed test plans that outline scope, objectives, resources, schedules, and test strategies for feature releases or system-wide testing initiatives.

• Test Case Design: Showcase well-structured and comprehensive test cases, emphasizing clarity, reusability, and traceability to requirements.

• Bug Reporting & Tracking: Demonstrate proficiency in identifying, documenting, and tracking defects through their lifecycle, including detailed reproduction steps, logs, and impact analysis.

• Automation Best Practices Documentation: Evidence of creating or contributing to documentation on QA best practices, coding standards, and framework guidelines for automation engineers.

📝 Enhancement Note: For a Lead role, a portfolio is crucial for demonstrating not just technical ability but also strategic thinking in QA automation. Candidates should prepare to discuss the architectural decisions behind their frameworks, the impact of their automation efforts on release cycles, and how they've influenced QA best practices within teams.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: Based on industry benchmarks for a QA Automation Lead with 10+ years of experience in India, the estimated annual salary range is ₹20,00,000 to ₹35,00,000. This range accounts for the seniority of the role, the specialized technical skills required (including AI-augmented development), and the cost of living in major Indian tech hubs.

Benefits:

• Comprehensive Health Insurance: Medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and their dependents.

• Retirement Savings Plan: Contributions or matching for provident fund or similar retirement schemes.

• Paid Time Off: Generous annual leave, sick leave, and public holidays.

• Professional Development: Opportunities for training, certifications, conference attendance, and access to learning platforms.

• Remote Work Stipend: Support for home office setup and ongoing remote work expenses.

• Performance Bonuses: Potential for discretionary bonuses based on individual and company performance.

• Stock Options/Equity: Potential for participation in employee stock purchase plans or equity grants.

Working Hours: Standard full-time working hours are approximately 40 hours per week. While the role is remote, core working hours will likely align with Indian business hours (Asia/Kolkata timezone) to facilitate collaboration with local teams and potentially global stakeholders. Flexibility may be offered based on team needs and project demands.

📝 Enhancement Note: Salary estimates for senior tech roles in India can vary significantly by city and company. This estimate is based on broad market data for lead-level QA automation engineers with specialized skills. Companies often provide a more detailed benefits package for senior hires, including professional development and potential equity.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: FinTech / Private Markets Technology. Juniper Square operates in the financial technology sector, specifically focusing on providing operational infrastructure and services for private markets, such as private equity and real estate. This industry demands high levels of accuracy, security, and reliability.

Company Size: 1,000+ employees. This indicates a well-established, rapidly growing company with structured departments and processes, but still maintains a dynamic, potentially agile environment where individual contributions can have a significant impact.

Founded: 2014. Juniper Square has a decade of experience, suggesting a mature product and market presence, with established best practices but also a continuous drive for innovation and growth.

Team Structure:

• Cross-functional Teams: The QA Automation Lead will likely be embedded within agile development teams, working closely with Software Engineers, Product Managers, and Designers.

• Reporting Structure: The lead may report to a QA Manager, Director of Engineering, or Head of Product, depending on the specific team and organizational design.

• Collaboration Patterns: Emphasis on "digital-first" operations and collaboration across geographically dispersed teams (US, Canada, India, etc.) means strong communication and asynchronous work practices are essential.

Methodology:

• Agile Development: The company operates in fast-paced Agile development environments, requiring adaptability and iterative development processes.

• Data-Driven Decision Making: The company emphasizes leveraging data to make informed decisions, which extends to QA metrics and performance analysis.

• Automation-First Mindset: A core principle is to automate wherever possible, reducing manual effort and increasing efficiency and reliability.

Company Website: https://junipersquare.com

📝 Enhancement Note: Juniper Square's focus on private markets signifies a need for rigor, precision, and trust in their technology. The "digital-first" and dispersed team model highlights the importance of strong communication and remote collaboration skills. The emphasis on AI integration suggests a company that is investing in cutting-edge technology to enhance its offerings.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This is a Lead position, signifying a senior individual contributor role with potential for team leadership and strategic influence. It's a step beyond senior engineer, requiring ownership of processes, mentorship, and driving quality initiatives.

Reporting Structure: The QA Automation Lead will likely report to a Manager or Director within the Engineering or Product organization. They will work closely with Product Managers and Engineering Leads on project teams.

Operations Impact: This role directly impacts the reliability, scalability, and user experience of Juniper Square's platform, which is critical for its "Operations Partner" positioning in the private markets. High-quality software ensures customer trust and retention, directly contributing to revenue and growth.

Growth Opportunities:

• Technical Specialization: Opportunity to deepen expertise in advanced QA automation techniques, AI-assisted testing, and specific technologies within the FinTech domain.

• Leadership Development: Potential to grow into a QA Manager or Head of QA role, leading larger teams and defining broader QA strategies for the company.

• Cross-Functional Mobility: Exposure to product management, engineering leadership, and other operational aspects of the business can open doors to varied career paths.

• Impactful Projects: Working on core platform features and AI initiatives provides opportunities to contribute to high-visibility, mission-critical projects.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Lead" title implies not just execution but also strategic direction and mentorship. Growth opportunities in a rapidly expanding FinTech company like Juniper Square are typically robust, offering paths to management, deeper technical expertise, or even broader product/operations roles.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Juniper Square promotes a "digital-first" and hybrid work model. While they have physical offices in San Francisco, New York City, Mumbai, and Bangalore, the role is advertised as remote-friendly within India, suggesting a strong emphasis on remote collaboration tools and practices.

Office Location(s): Primarily remote within India, with physical office options in Mumbai and Bangalore for those who prefer an in-office or hybrid setup. The company also operates across 27 US states, 2 Canadian Provinces, Luxembourg, and England.

Workspace Context:

• Remote Collaboration: Expect a heavily digital workspace with reliance on tools like Slack, Zoom, Jira, and Confluence for communication and project management.

• Technology Stack: Access to modern development and testing tools, including cloud infrastructure (AWS), containerization (Docker, Kubernetes), and AI-assisted coding/testing tools.

• Team Interaction: While remote, expect regular virtual team meetings, code reviews, and collaborative problem-solving sessions to maintain team cohesion and knowledge sharing.

Work Schedule: The role is full-time, with approximately 40 hours per week. While remote work offers flexibility, core hours will likely align with Asia/Kolkata timezone to ensure effective collaboration with teams in India and potentially other global regions. This schedule supports continuous testing throughout the development lifecycle.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "digital-first" approach means candidates must be comfortable and proficient in remote work, self-motivated, and excellent communicators. The presence of physical offices in India might offer optional co-working or team meet-up opportunities for those based nearby.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: A recruiter or hiring manager will likely conduct an initial call to assess basic qualifications, experience, and cultural fit.

• Technical Interview(s): Expect one or more technical interviews focusing on QA automation principles, programming skills (Python), API and UI testing strategies, framework design, and problem-solving. This may include live coding exercises or system design discussions.

• Portfolio Review: A dedicated session where you present your QA automation portfolio. Be prepared to walk through specific case studies, explain your design choices, detail the impact of your work, and discuss challenges faced and overcome.

• Team/Hiring Manager Interview: A discussion with the hiring manager and potential team members to delve deeper into leadership capabilities, collaboration style, and alignment with the team's culture and objectives.

• Final Round: This may involve a discussion with senior leadership to assess strategic thinking and overall fit.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Curate Select Examples: Focus on 2-3 of your most impactful projects that best showcase your skills in API and UI automation, framework design, and AI tool utilization.

• Quantify Impact: For each project, clearly articulate the business value and impact. Use metrics like reduction in regression testing time, increase in test coverage, decrease in production defects, or improvement in release velocity.

• Explain Design Decisions: Be ready to justify your technical choices for frameworks, tools, and methodologies. Discuss trade-offs considered and why your approach was optimal.

• Highlight AI Integration: Specifically demonstrate how you've leveraged AI tools (e.g., Augment, Cursor) to enhance efficiency, speed up debugging, or improve test authoring.

• Prepare for Technical Deep Dives: Be ready to answer questions about your code, debugging strategies, and how you approach complex testing scenarios.

Challenge Preparation:

• Coding Challenges: Practice Python coding problems, focusing on data structures, algorithms, and object-oriented programming. Be prepared for problems related to API interactions or data manipulation.

• Test Design Scenarios: Prepare to design test cases for specific features or scenarios, focusing on edge cases, negative testing, and performance considerations.

• Automation Framework Design: Be ready to discuss how you would design an automation framework for a given application or system, considering scalability, maintainability, and integration.

• Troubleshooting Exercises: Practice debugging common automation script failures and identifying root causes.

📝 Enhancement Note: The portfolio review is a critical component for this Lead role. Candidates should prepare a concise, impactful presentation that highlights their strategic contributions and quantifiable achievements, especially those related to AI integration and process improvement.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Programming Language: Python (primary)

• API Automation: RestAssured, Locust, Postman

• UI Automation: Playwright

• AI-Augmented Development: Augment, Cursor, Gemini (or similar LLM-based tools)

• Version Control: Git

• Issue Tracking: Jira

• Test Management: TestRail (preferred)

Analytics & Reporting:

• CI/CD Integration: Jenkins, GitLab CI, GitHub Actions (or similar) for automated test execution and reporting.

• Reporting Tools: Custom dashboards or reporting mechanisms within CI/CD pipelines to visualize test results and quality metrics.

• Data Analysis: Python libraries (e.g., Pandas, NumPy) for analyzing test results and identifying trends.

CRM & Automation:

• Cloud Platform: AWS

• Containerization: Docker, Kubernetes

• API Specifications: Swagger/OpenAPI

📝 Enhancement Note: Proficiency in Python is essential, alongside hands-on experience with the specified API and UI automation tools. The explicit mention of AI-augmented development tools is a key requirement that candidates should highlight if they have experience. Familiarity with AWS, Docker, and Kubernetes is also critical for understanding the deployment environment.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Quality Obsession: A deep-seated commitment to delivering high-quality, reliable software that meets user needs and business objectives. This translates to rigorous testing and a proactive approach to defect prevention.

• Data-Driven Approach: Decisions are informed by data. This means defining key QA metrics, tracking them diligently, and using insights to drive improvements in processes and product quality.

• Efficiency & Automation: A strong belief in leveraging automation to streamline processes, reduce manual toil, and increase the speed and reliability of development and release cycles.

• Collaboration & Transparency: Open communication, constructive feedback, and collaborative problem-solving are encouraged across teams. Transparency in processes and results builds trust and fosters continuous improvement.

• Ownership & Accountability: Taking initiative, owning responsibilities from end-to-end, and being accountable for the quality outcomes of your projects and the team.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-functional Integration: Seamless collaboration with engineering, product, and design teams to ensure quality is embedded throughout the development lifecycle. This includes active participation in planning, design reviews, and sprint ceremonies.

• Feedback Culture: A willingness to give and receive constructive feedback on code, processes, and strategies to drive collective improvement.

• Knowledge Sharing: Actively sharing expertise, best practices, and learnings with team members, both within QA and across engineering, to elevate the overall technical capability of the organization.

📝 Enhancement Note: The company culture emphasizes proactive problem-solving, data-informed decisions, and a strong collaborative spirit, particularly in a remote-first environment. A QA Lead is expected to embody these values and foster them within their team and cross-functionally.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Balancing Automation and Manual Testing: Identifying the optimal balance between automated and manual testing to ensure comprehensive coverage without excessive maintenance overhead.

• Keeping Pace with Rapid Development: Ensuring the automation suite remains robust and effective in a fast-paced Agile environment with frequent feature releases and code changes.

• Integrating AI Effectively: Successfully adopting and integrating AI-augmented tools into existing workflows to maximize their benefits without introducing new complexities or dependencies.

• Cross-Team Alignment: Ensuring consistent QA practices and automation standards across different development teams and projects within the organization.

• Scaling Automation Frameworks: Designing and evolving automation frameworks to handle increasing complexity, new technologies, and growing test volumes as the platform scales.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Advanced Automation Techniques: Opportunities to explore and implement cutting-edge automation strategies, including AI-driven testing, visual regression testing, and performance testing.

• FinTech Industry Expertise: Gaining deep knowledge of the private markets and FinTech landscape, understanding the unique quality and regulatory requirements of financial services software.

• Leadership and Mentorship: Developing leadership skills through guiding a team, mentoring junior engineers, and contributing to strategic QA planning.

• Cloud and DevOps Skills: Enhancing expertise in cloud infrastructure (AWS), containerization (Docker, Kubernetes), and CI/CD pipeline management.

• AI Tool Mastery: Becoming a subject matter expert in leveraging AI for software development and testing, a highly sought-after skill.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role offers significant challenges that are typical of fast-growing tech companies, particularly in FinTech. The opportunities for growth are substantial, especially for individuals interested in specializing in AI-driven QA and expanding their leadership capabilities.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe your approach to developing an end-to-end QA automation strategy for a complex microservices-based application. How would you prioritize test cases and automation efforts?" (Focus on risk-based testing, criticality of features, and ROI of automation.)

• "How would you integrate AI-augmented tools into an existing CI/CD pipeline to improve test authoring speed and debugging efficiency? What potential challenges do you foresee?" (Discuss specific tools, integration points, and mitigation strategies for AI-related risks.)

• "Imagine a critical bug is found in production just before a major release. How would you lead the investigation, coordinate efforts, and make a 'Go/No-Go' recommendation?" (Emphasize communication, systematic troubleshooting, impact assessment, and decision-making under pressure.) Company & Culture Questions:

• "What do you know about Juniper Square and the private markets industry? How does this influence your approach to QA?" (Show research into the company and industry; highlight the need for precision, reliability, and security in FinTech.)

• "Describe your experience working in a remote-first, digital-first environment. What strategies do you employ to ensure effective collaboration and maintain team cohesion?" (Focus on communication tools, asynchronous work practices, and proactive engagement.)

• "How do you foster a culture of quality and continuous improvement within a QA team and across engineering teams?" (Discuss mentorship, best practices, code reviews, and cross-functional collaboration.) Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure your presentation: Start with an overview of the project, your role, and the key challenges. Then, dive into specific examples of your automation work (API, UI, AI integration). Conclude with the impact and lessons learned.

• Showcase AI integration: Dedicate specific slides or segments to demonstrate how you've used AI tools. Show before-and-after scenarios if possible, or explain how AI accelerated a specific task.

• Quantify results: Use clear metrics to demonstrate the value of your work (e.g., "Reduced regression test execution time by 60%," "Increased API test coverage from 40% to 85%").

• Be ready for deep dives: Prepare to discuss the technical details of your code, framework design, and troubleshooting approaches.

• Tailor to Juniper Square: If possible, relate your examples to FinTech or complex distributed systems to show relevance.

📝 Enhancement Note: Interview preparation should heavily emphasize the unique aspects of this role: leading QA automation, integrating AI tools, and working in a remote-first, FinTech environment. Candidates should be ready to demonstrate strategic thinking, technical depth, and strong leadership potential.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this operations position:

• Submit your application through the provided link on Ashby.

• Customize Your Resume: Tailor your resume to highlight your 8-12 years of experience in QA automation, specifically mentioning your proficiency in Python, API (RestAssured, Locust) and UI (Playwright) testing, CI/CD integration, AWS, Docker, Kubernetes, and crucially, any experience with AI-augmented development tools (Augment, Cursor, Gemini). Use keywords from the job description.

• Prepare Your Portfolio: Curate 2-3 of your most impactful QA automation projects. Focus on projects demonstrating leadership, framework design, API and UI automation, and especially the integration of AI tools. Quantify the impact of your work with relevant metrics. Be ready to present this portfolio clearly and concisely.

• Practice Technical Interview Questions: Review common QA automation interview topics, including Python coding, API/UI test design, framework architecture, and CI/CD concepts. Practice explaining your thought process for problem-solving and troubleshooting.

• Research Juniper Square: Understand their mission, product, and company culture. Prepare to discuss why you are interested in FinTech and how your skills align with their "digital-first" and "automation-first" approach.

⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and operations industry-standard assumptions. All details should be verified directly with the hiring organization before making application decisions.

---