IT Quality Senior Manager -Vice President

Location: Pune Maharashtra India

As a SDET QA Manager, you will be a visionary and strategic leader responsible for defining and executing the long-term Quality Assurance strategy across multiple product lines or an entire enterprise division. This role demands a strong techno-functional leader who can drive significant improvements in software quality, accelerate delivery, and foster a culture of engineering excellence through advanced SDET practices, innovative automation solutions, and the strategic adoption of AI tools.

You will lead and scale high-performing QA teams, champion best practices, and influence technology decisions at a senior level. Extensive experience within the Capital Markets domain is a critical requirement for this role.

Responsibilities

Strategic Vision & Leadership

• Define and articulate the overarching QA vision and strategy, aligning it with business objectives and technological advancements.
• Provide thought leadership in quality engineering, promoting a shift-left approach and continuous quality embedded throughout the SDLC.
• Drive the adoption of cutting-edge testing methodologies, tools, and frameworks to enhance product quality and delivery speed.
• Influence and shape product strategy from a quality perspective, ensuring robust, scalable, and secure solutions.
• Leverage deep Capital Markets domain knowledge to inform QA strategy, risk assessment, and compliance adherence.

Advanced Automation & AI Integration

Architect and oversee the implementation of enterprise-level automation frameworks capable of supporting diverse technologies and project types (e.g., microservices, cloud-native, mobile).

Spearhead initiatives to research, evaluate, and onboard advanced AI/ML tools and techniques to optimize testing processes, predict defects, and improve overall QA efficiency and intelligence.

Ensure seamless integration of advanced automation into highly mature CI/CD/CT pipelines, driving continuous deployment with confidence.

Maintain hands-on familiarity with modern automation tools (e.g., Selenium, Playwright) and programming languages (Python, Java, Javascript, Typescript), capable of providing expert guidance and resolving complex technical challenges.

Organizational Impact & Stakeholder Management

• Collaborate extensively with senior leadership across Engineering, Product Management, and Business units to embed quality assurance principles and goals.
• Act as a key liaison for quality-related matters, representing the QA organization in strategic discussions and planning.
• Establish and enforce enterprise-wide quality governance, standards, and metrics, ensuring adherence to regulatory and compliance requirements.
• Communicate complex technical and strategic concepts effectively to both technical and non-technical audiences.

Team & Talent Development

• Build, lead, and mentor a distributed team of highly skilled SDETs, QA Engineers, and QA Leads, fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous learning.
• Develop career paths, succession plans, and professional development programs to attract, retain, and grow top QA talent.
• Drive organizational change and cultivate a mindset of proactive quality assurance across development teams.

Operational Excellence & Risk Management

• Oversee the performance of the QA organization, ensuring efficient resource allocation, budget management, and timely delivery of quality objectives.
• Implement robust risk assessment and mitigation strategies for quality-related issues.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives based on data analysis, feedback loops, and industry benchmarks.

Qualifications

• 15+ years of extensive experience in Software Development Engineering in Test (SDET) and senior QA leadership roles, with a proven track record of managing large-scale QA organizations or functions.
• Demonstrated success in defining and implementing transformative QA strategies, resulting in measurable improvements in product quality, time-to-market, and operational efficiency.
• Significant experience in leading the adoption and integration of AI/ML technologies within QA processes.
• Proven hands-on expertise in developing, maintaining, and scaling complex automation frameworks across diverse technological stacks.
• Mandatory extensive experience within the Capital Markets domain, including a deep understanding of financial products, trading lifecycles, regulatory compliance and market data systems.

Technical Skills

• Expert-level proficiency in designing and implementing automation frameworks using tools like Selenium, Playwright, Cypress, or similar.
• Mastery of programming languages with a strong understanding of object-oriented design principles and software architecture.
• Advanced database skills (SQL, NoSQL), including complex query optimization, data migration, and data integrity testing.
• Deep understanding and practical experience with cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP), microservices architecture, and containerization technologies (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes).
• Strong command of CI/CD/CT tools (e.g., Jenkins, GitLab CI, Azure DevOps) and best practices for integrating automated tests.
• Experience with performance, security, and accessibility testing tools and methodologies.

Functional Skills

Ability to understand complex business requirements and translate them into effective test strategies and cases.

Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.

Leadership & Strategic Skills

• Exceptional leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence and inspire at all organizational levels.
• Proven ability to drive large-scale organizational change and foster innovation in quality engineering.
• Strong business acumen and ability to align technical strategies with organizational goals.
• Excellent problem-solving, critical thinking, and decision-making abilities in complex environments.

Education

Bachelor’s/University degree, Master’s degree preferred

Job Family Group

Technology

------------------------------------------------------

Job Family

Technology Quality

------------------------------------------------------

Time Type

Full time

------------------------------------------------------

Most Relevant Skills

Please see the requirements listed above.

------------------------------------------------------

Other Relevant Skills

For complementary skills, please see above and/or contact the recruiter.

------------------------------------------------------

Citi is an equal opportunity employer, and qualified candidates will receive consideration without regard to their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other characteristic protected by law.

If you are a person with a disability and need a reasonable accommodation to use our search tools and/or apply for a career opportunity review Accessibility at Citi.

View Citi’s EEO Policy Statement and the Know Your Rights poster.