Lead Software Development Engineer - Test

Practo - Lead SDET - Mobile & Web Automation

About the Role :

We are looking for a Lead SDET - Mobile & Web Automation to lead the quality engineering strategy across Practo's mobile and web platforms. You will manage and mentor a team of SDETs while driving scalable automation, CI/CD quality gates, release readiness, and engineering excellence.

The role combines technical leadership, hands-on automation, test strategy, and AI-driven quality engineering. You will work closely with Engineering, Product, and Release teams to build reliable, scalable, and high-quality healthcare products.

Key Responsibilities :

Team Leadership & Mentorship :

- Lead, mentor, and grow a team of SDETs across Android, iOS, and Web platforms.

- Set priorities, review deliverables, and establish strong automation engineering practices.

- Coach team members on automation, testing methodologies, debugging, and technical problem-solving.

- Foster a culture of ownership, collaboration, quality, and continuous improvement.

Test Strategy & Quality Engineering :

- Own the overall test strategy for mobile and web UI, covering functional, regression, compatibility, and release sign-off testing.

- Define comprehensive test plans aligned with product requirements and release objectives.

- Drive improvements in test coverage, execution efficiency, stability, and overall product quality.

- Partner with Engineering and Product teams to identify quality risks early in the development lifecycle.

Automation Frameworks :

- Architect, build, and maintain scalable automation frameworks for Android and iOS using Appium.

- Contribute to and enhance web UI automation using tools such as Playwright.

- Establish reusable automation components, utilities, and best practices across platforms.

- Continuously improve automation reliability, maintainability, and execution speed.

CI/CD & Release Quality :

- Design and maintain CI/CD pipelines that execute automated test suites across builds and releases.

- Implement clear test reporting, fast feedback mechanisms, and reliable quality gates.

- Integrate automation into the software delivery lifecycle to enable continuous quality validation.

- Partner with Release and DevOps teams to improve deployment confidence and release readiness.

Quality Metrics & Continuous Improvement :

- Drive measurable improvements in test coverage, automation stability, execution speed, and defect prevention.

- Identify and reduce flaky tests and manual regression effort release over release.

- Track and report quality metrics including coverage, defect leakage, pass rates, automation health, and release health.

- Use quality data and trends to identify areas for improvement and communicate risks to stakeholders.

AI & LLM Quality Engineering :

- Define and implement testing approaches for AI/LLM-powered features.

- Evaluate AI-powered functionality for response quality, accuracy, safety, consistency, and reliability.

- Develop suitable evaluation strategies and test scenarios for AI-driven product experiences.

- Build and leverage AI agents and AI-assisted tools to accelerate test design, test generation, test execution, and failure analysis.

Cross-Functional Collaboration :

- Partner closely with Engineering, Product, and Release teams to ensure end-to-end product quality.

- Participate in release readiness discussions, defect triage, and production quality reviews.

- Collaborate with developers and product stakeholders to identify root causes and drive timely resolution of quality issues.

- Advocate for quality engineering practices throughout the software development lifecycle.

Technical Skills & Requirements :

- Strong experience in Software Development Engineering in Test (SDET) or Quality Engineering.

- Hands-on experience building and maintaining mobile automation frameworks using Appium.

- Strong experience with Android and iOS application testing.

- Experience with web UI automation, preferably using Playwright or similar frameworks.

- Strong understanding of functional, regression, compatibility, integration, and end-to-end testing.

- Experience designing and maintaining CI/CD pipelines for automated testing.

- Strong programming and scripting skills in languages such as Java, JavaScript, TypeScript, or Python.

- Experience with test reporting, automation metrics, and quality dashboards.

- Strong understanding of software testing methodologies, automation architecture, and defect lifecycle.

- Experience working with AI/LLM-based applications and AI-assisted testing tools is highly desirable.

Leadership & Collaboration Skills :

- Proven ability to lead and mentor SDET/QA engineers.

- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.

- Excellent communication and stakeholder management abilities.

- Ability to balance hands-on technical execution with team leadership.

- Strong ownership mindset with a focus on delivering measurable quality improvements.

- Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, cross-functional engineering environment.

What We're Looking For :

We're looking for a hands-on quality engineering leader who can combine strong automation expertise with team leadership and modern AI-driven testing practices. You should be passionate about building scalable automation systems, improving engineering quality, and enabling teams to ship reliable products with confidence.

Skills

Appium, Automation Testing, Mobile App Testing, Playwright Testing, Application Testing, GUI Testing, API Testing, SDET, Functional Testing, Regression Testing, Integration Testing