Quality Assurance Lead

About the role

The Quality Assurance Lead is responsible for the end‑to‑end test strategy of a data and AI platform serving a government client. Working closely with business analysts, data engineers, AI engineers and UAT teams, the Lead ensures that pipelines, data, reports and AI components meet all functional and non‑functional requirements before production release.

Key responsibilities

• Define and own the master test strategy, test plans, entry/exit criteria and quality gates across all delivery phases.
• Lead data validation testing, including source‑to‑target reconciliation, transformation logic, business rules, SCD behavior and data completeness across Bronze, Silver and Gold layers.
• Design and implement automated data and regression test frameworks using SQL, Python/PySpark and tools such as Great Expectations or pytest, integrated into CI/CD pipelines.
• Verify Power BI reports, KPIs, calculations, filters, row‑level security and performance against agreed business definitions.
• Coordinate evaluation of AI and GenAI components for accuracy, bias, safety and hallucination, working with AI engineers.
• Manage non‑functional testing for performance, security, vulnerability and access‑control in line with DESC ISR requirements.
• Partner with Business Analysts to prepare UAT scenarios, support business testers and manage defect triage through to sign‑off.
• Run defect lifecycle management, severity classification, root‑cause analysis and produce quality reports for program governance.
• Maintain traceability from requirements to test cases, results and defects, and generate audit‑ready test summary reports.
• Lead, mentor and transfer QA knowledge and assets to SUTHERLAND teams for ongoing regression assurance.

Required profile

• 7+ years of software and data quality assurance experience, with at least 3 years leading QA on data platforms, data warehouses or analytics programs.
• Proven ability to lead QA teams, manage defect lifecycles and communicate quality status to senior stakeholders.
• Excellent English communication and reporting skills; Arabic proficiency is a plus.
• ISTQB Advanced or Test Manager certification is advantageous.
• Strong stakeholder‑management and evidence‑based sign‑off capabilities.

Required skills

• Advanced SQL querying.
• Python and PySpark programming.
• Test automation frameworks (Great Expectations, pytest) and CI/CD integration.
• Azure DevOps Test Plans, Jira/Xray or equivalent test‑management tools.
• Power BI report testing.
• Understanding of Lakehouse/Medallion architecture, ETL/ELT, dimensional modelling and data reconciliation.
• Familiarity with Microsoft Fabric, Azure data services and Microsoft Purview.
• Experience testing AI/ML or GenAI components.