We are seeking an experienced QA Manual Test Lead / Principal QA Engineer to lead quality assurance initiatives for digital applications supporting pharmaceutical early discovery research. This role will be responsible for defining testing strategy, driving quality governance, and ensuring scientific applications are thoroughly validated before release.

The successful candidate will work closely with scientists, product owners, business analysts, software engineers, data teams, and research operations stakeholders to validate scientific workflows, data integrity, usability, integrations, and end-to-end business processes.

This is a leadership role requiring deep expertise in manual testing, risk-based quality assurance, stakeholder management, and scientific application validation.

Key Responsibilities

Define and own manual testing strategies, methodologies, test plans, quality gates, and release readiness criteria.
Establish risk-based testing approaches for scientific and research applications.
Lead requirement reviews and convert business requirements, user stories, scientific workflows, and acceptance criteria into comprehensive test scenarios and test cases.
Own testing estimates, schedules, resource planning, and quality reporting.

Drive quality governance throughout the software development lifecycle.

Functional & System Testing

Plan and execute:

Functional Testing
System Testing
Integration Testing
Regression Testing
Exploratory Testing
End-to-End Testing
Usability Testing
Compatibility Testing

Data Validation Testing

Validate researcher workflows including:

Study and experiment setup
Sample and compound management
Assay execution and analysis
Results review
Data visualization
Scientific reporting
Search and retrieval
Collaboration workflows

Data export processes

Data & Integration Validation

Verify data integrity across multiple platforms and systems.

Validate:

Data transformations
Scientific calculations
Unit conversions
Metadata accuracy
Data lineage
Controlled vocabularies
Scientific identifiers

Source-to-target reconciliation

Test integrations involving:

Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS)
Electronic Laboratory Notebooks (ELN)
Scientific Data Management Systems (SDMS)
Compound Registration Platforms
Research Analytics Solutions

External Scientific Data Sources





Defect Management & Quality Reporting

Manage defect lifecycle using Jira, Azure Dev Ops, HP ALM, or similar tools.
Lead defect triage sessions and quality review meetings.

Provide executive-level quality updates and release recommendations.

Track and report:

Test coverage
Test execution status
Defect leakage
Defect aging
Release risks

Quality trends

Leadership & Mentoring

Mentor QA professionals and testing teams.
Review test artifacts and ensure adherence to quality standards.
Build reusable testing assets, regression suites, and domain-specific quality frameworks.

Promote best practices in test design, defect management, stakeholder communication, and quality engineering.

Early Discovery Research Testing Responsibilities

The selected candidate will support applications and workflows across:

Target Identification & Validation
Hit Identification
Hit-to-Lead Programs
Lead Optimization
Assay Development
Compound Management
In Vitro Research
In Vivo Research

Translational Science

You will validate solutions used by teams including:

Medicinal Chemistry
Computational Chemistry
Biology
DMPK
Toxicology
Bioinformatics
Screening Sciences
Laboratory Operations

Sample Management

Testing scope includes scientific entities such as:

Compounds
Samples
Assays
Plates
Targets
Experiments
Study Metadata
Results & Observations

Protocols & Methods

Required Qualifications

Advanced English Proficiency level.
10+ years of software quality assurance and testing experience.
Significant experience leading manual testing and functional QA initiatives.
Proven success delivering quality assurance for complex enterprise and business-critical platforms.
Demonstrated experience managing end-to-end testing across integrated systems.

Experience partnering with senior business, scientific, product, engineering, architecture, and data stakeholders.

Testing Expertise

Strong expertise in:

Manual Testing
Functional Testing




Integration Testing
System Testing
Regression Testing
Exploratory Testing
End-to-End Testing
Data Validation Testing
API Validation
Usability Testing

Compatibility Testing

Technical Skills

REST API validation using Postman, Swagger, or similar tools.

Strong SQL skills for data verification and defect investigation.

Experience with:

Jira
Azure Dev Ops
HP ALM
Zephyr
Xray
qTest

Similar test management platforms

Understanding of:

Role-based access control
Authentication and authorization processes
Web applications
Batch processing
System integrations
Environment management

Application logs

Quality Leadership

Risk-based testing methodologies
Release readiness assessments
Test planning workshops
Requirement walkthroughs
Root cause analysis
Quality governance frameworks

Defect prevention strategies

Preferred Domain Experience

Strong preference for candidates with experience in:

Pharmaceutical Research
Biotechnology
CRO Organizations
Laboratory Informatics
Scientific Data Platforms
Preclinical Research

Translational Science

Exposure to:

ELN Platforms
LIMS Platforms
SDMS Solutions
Chromatography Data Systems (CDS)
Compound Registration Systems
Research Analytics Platforms
Bioinformatics Solutions

Scientific Visualization Tools

Knowledge of:

Chemistry & Biology Workflows
Assay Data Management
Scientific Metadata Standards
FAIR Data Principles
Data Lineage & Governance
Scientific Ontologies

Controlled Vocabularies

Nice to Have:

GxP Compliance
Computer System Validation (CSV)
Data Integrity Principles
Electronic Records & Audit Trails

Privacy & Security Regulations

Education

Bachelor's or Master's degree in one of the following areas:

Computer Science
Information Technology
Life Sciences
Pharmacy
Chemistry
Biology
Bioinformatics
Engineering

Related Scientific or Technical Discipline

Why Join Us?

Join a high-impact team helping advance scientific innovation and drug discovery through technology. In this role, you'll partner with researchers and scientific leaders to ensure critical research applications deliver the quality, reliability, and integrity required to accelerate life-changing therapies from discovery to development.

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📌 QA Manual Test Lead (San Miguel de Tucumán)
🏢 Cognizant
📍 San Miguel de Tucumán