5 Senior QA Roles to Target After Your First Testing Job

You’ve landed your first QA job, perhaps as an entry-level QA Tester. But as you explore the field, you encounter other roles like Test Analysts, QA Leads, and Test Architects, and you might wonder about what they do and if you would prefer to take on those roles.

Today, we’ll discuss five key roles in quality assurance: QA Manager, QA Team Lead, QA Engineer, Test Analyst, and Test Architect. We’ll discuss their responsibilities and use a hypothetical e-commerce project to give you a clear picture of their responsibilities in the real world.

Let’s start with the QA Manager.

QA Manager

A QA manager is responsible for the flow of quality through every aspect of a software development life cycle.

If an E-commerce project had a QA manager, they would establish testing frameworks, set quality benchmarks, and coordinate with development teams to minimize the number of bugs that slip into production. QA managers tend to focus on risk management. For instance, they could set a quality benchmark of zero defects in the checkout flow, meaning that customers must experience a seamless and error-free checkout process. They could also set a standard for refund processing within 24 hours of payment and account lockout after five failed authentication attempts.

The QA Manager's role is impact-focused. They translate technical quality metrics into business impact for stakeholders, build and mentor testing teams, and communicate with upper management.

Think of them as the bridge between technical quality and business success.

QA Team Lead

A QA Team Lead translates quality standards created by the QA manager into actionable testing tasks for the QA team. You could say, in essence, that they bridge the gap between strategy and execution.

Still using our e-commerce example, a QA Lead would coordinate daily testing activities across features like payment processing, inventory management, and user authentication. They would break down test requirements into specific tasks and then assign them to the QA engineers. For example, when integrating a payment method into the system, a QA Team Lead will break down testing requirements into tasks like:

• Validating payment flows
• Verify graceful error handling
• Verify data integrity of transaction records.

QA Leads are often the first point of contact for product managers and developers when quality issues arise. Their hands-on leadership ensures that quality standards translate into practical testing outcomes.

QA Engineer

The QA engineer’s job is to execute tasks created by the QA lead.

QA Engineers write and maintain automated test suites that verify feature functionalities in the software development lifecycle. In an e-commerce project, they would focus mainly on two testing strategies, automation and exploratory testing. For automation, they write end-to-end tests that verify user workflows like:

• Adding items to the cart and completing checkout
• Applying discount codes and verifying price calculations
• Validating inventory updates after successful purchases
• Testing session management during long checkout processes

For exploratory testing, their goal is to uncover edge cases that they might have missed in their automated tests. So, during exploratory tests, if they find out that an issue occurs when multiple users try to purchase the last item in stock simultaneously, they would file a bug report and communicate with relevant team members.

Test Analyst

Now that we understand how QA engineers handle automated testing, let's look at who determines what to test.

Test Analysts design and execute test cases based on software requirements and potential user behaviours. In our e-commerce project, they would analyze user and business requirements to identify what needs testing and determine the most effective testing approaches. A Test Analyst creates detailed functional, regression, usability, and performance test scenarios.

• Functional testing: verifying checkout flows and payment processing
• Regression testing: ensuring new features don't break existing functionality
• Usability testing: validating that the shopping experience remains intuitive
• Performance testing: checking site responsiveness during high-traffic periods

When they find defects, they document and track them using project management or bug-tracking tools like Jira, prepare reports, and summarize test results for stakeholders.

Their responsibility is to provide clear insight into a product’s quality.

Test Architect

Test Architects design all the testing infrastructure that makes test execution possible.

In our e-commerce platform, they would make decisions about testing tools, automation frameworks, and testing approaches that align with business goals. They focus on building scalable testing infrastructure that includes:

• Setting up continuous integration pipelines for automated testing
• Designing framework architecture that supports different types of tests
• Implementing security and performance testing strategies
• Creating custom testing tools for platform-specific needs

In a sentence, their job is to design and implement testing frameworks that support the entire QA process. They also guide teams on best practices for test implementation and mentor them on using the testing infrastructure effectively.

Their architectural decisions determine how effectively the entire QA team can perform their testing responsibilities.

What's Next?

Understanding these roles will help you picture potential career paths and set goals for where you see yourself in the future.

Maybe you’re drawn to the technical challenges of a Test Architect or aspire to lead and mentor as a QA Team Lead or Manager.

Recognizing the responsibilities and impact of each role will help you seize opportunities and grow in your career as a software testing professional.

References

Quality Assurance Manager Job Description: Detailed Guide

Roles And Responsibilities of QA in Software Development

What Is a QA Tester? Skills, Requirements, and Jobs in 2025