Senior Manager, QA

About the role

Ethos Life is seeking a Test Engineering Leader to guide quality strategy as the company transitions from a high-growth startup to a mature technology organization. You will manage the balance between rapid experimentation and system reliability by scaling testing capabilities and fostering a culture of quality ownership across development teams. In this role, you will act as the central quality advocate responsible for aligning testing initiatives with business objectives and engineering best practices. You will translate ambiguous requirements into structured testing approaches that de-risk releases while enabling velocity. The position requires influencing without authority and building trust with cross-functional partners who rely on your expertise. You will be expected to challenge the status quo and introduce modern testing practices that keep the organization adaptable. Success in this role will be measured by the stability of releases, the confidence of the engineering team, and the scalability of the testing function.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Design and implement test engineering strategies that adapt to evolving system architectures, ensuring testing practices remain relevant as systems scale.
• Build and maintain automated testing frameworks capable of supporting continuous release cycles while balancing speed and reliability.
• Integrate quality assurance into the development lifecycle by partnering with product, engineering, and platform teams to embed testing early.
• Promote shift-left testing practices to enable developers to take ownership of code quality and reduce reliance on separate QA gates.
• Manage the mix of manual, exploratory, and automated testing to ensure comprehensive coverage across user journeys and technical layers.
• Develop infrastructure and tooling to improve test stability within complex distributed systems, reducing flakiness and maintenance overhead.
• Track quality metrics including release confidence, defect rates, and test stability to drive data-informed decisions on product changes.
• Recruit, mentor, and lead a high-performing team of test engineers, providing clear direction, feedback, and growth opportunities.
• Create self-service testing tools to ensure the QA team acts as a force multiplier for developers, accelerating their ability to deliver safely.
• Collaborate with architecture and platform teams to influence design decisions that improve testability and observability.
• Establish testing standards and best practices that are consistently applied across multiple engineering teams and products.
• Identify and mitigate risks related to releases by analyzing test results, monitoring production behavior, and communicating findings clearly.
• Continuously evaluate new testing tools, frameworks, and methodologies to modernize the testing landscape and maintain a competitive edge.
• Act as a mentor and thought leader within the engineering organization, fostering a culture where quality is everyone's responsibility.

Requirements

• 10+ years of professional experience in test engineering, with a track record of delivering quality in complex software environments.
• 3+ years of experience in a leadership or management capacity, demonstrating the ability to lead people, processes, and priorities.
• Background working in fast-paced, product-led environments where ambiguity is common and adaptability is essential.
• Experience with test automation, CI/CD pipelines, and testing distributed systems across multiple services and data domains.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional partners including SRE, product, and development teams to solve quality challenges.
• Strong understanding of software development practices, testing methodologies, and quality metrics used to measure engineering success.
• Willingness to engage in hands-on testing work, including writing tests, debugging failures, and validating releases when necessary.
• Commitment to ethical engineering practices, including transparency in reporting and integrity in handling sensitive information.

Nice to have

• Familiarity with testing strategies for a tech stack including TypeScript, Golang, React, and AWS Kubernetes (K8s), enabling more effective collaboration with engineering teams using these technologies.

Skills & tools

• Test automation
• CI/CD
• Distributed systems testing
• TypeScript
• Golang
• React
• AWS Kubernetes (K8s)

Practical notes

• Ethos encourages applications from candidates who do not meet every listed requirement, and the company values diverse perspectives and non-traditional career paths.
• The company is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate based on protected status, ensuring a fair and inclusive workplace for all employees.
• Be cautious of recruitment scams; official communication will only originate from @ethos.com or @getethos.com email addresses, and candidates are advised to verify the source of any message.
• The company will never request payment or sensitive banking information during the hiring process, and any such request should be treated as fraudulent.
• This position is based in Bangalore, India, with a hybrid work model that allows flexibility while maintaining opportunities for in-person collaboration.
• Candidates should be prepared to discuss their experience in test leadership, automation strategy, and quality culture building during the interview process.
• The selection timeline may vary, and candidates are encouraged to apply early if they are actively seeking new opportunities.
• Successful candidates will undergo standard background checks as part of the hiring process, in compliance with company policies and local regulations.
• This role involves significant responsibility for shaping the quality direction of the organization, and candidates should be prepared to demonstrate strategic thinking alongside execution capability.