QA Career Path
See reference/career-levels.md for
the shared 8-level ladder, the progression diagram, and the three
track-agnostic advancement dimensions (Autonomy, Impact/scope,
Mentorship). This file adds only what’s specific to QA.
Levels
Section titled “Levels”| Level | Scope in QA |
|---|---|
| Trainee | Executes predefined test cases under close guidance. |
| Junior | Writes and executes test cases for a single feature from a spec, with review before and after. |
| Junior Advanced | Designs and automates test cases independently; asks for help only on ambiguous requirements. |
| Semi Senior | Owns a project’s test strategy for a feature area end-to-end: planning, automation, reporting. |
| Semi Senior Advanced | Owns the project’s full test strategy across feature areas, including performance/accessibility gates. |
| Senior Level 1 | Owns a project’s quality architecture decisions (test pyramid, tooling, coverage strategy). |
| Senior Level 2 | Defines QA patterns and standards reused across projects on the account. |
| Senior Level 3 | Leads the project’s technical delivery end-to-end, managing the Developers on the team — see roles/leader.md. |
Criteria to advance
Section titled “Criteria to advance”Each transition lists only the track-specific bar (Technical
complexity). Autonomy, Impact/scope and Mentorship are the same for
every track — see
reference/career-levels.md.
Trainee → Junior
Section titled “Trainee → Junior”- Technical complexity: Executes a predefined test suite and reports results accurately without rework.
Junior → Junior Advanced
Section titled “Junior → Junior Advanced”- Technical complexity: Writes and automates test cases for a feature from a spec, with review.
Junior Advanced → Semi Senior
Section titled “Junior Advanced → Semi Senior”- Technical complexity: Designs a feature’s test approach independently, including edge cases.
Semi Senior → Semi Senior Advanced
Section titled “Semi Senior → Semi Senior Advanced”- Technical complexity: Owns a project’s full test strategy across feature areas (functional, performance, accessibility).
Semi Senior Advanced → Senior Level 1
Section titled “Semi Senior Advanced → Senior Level 1”- Technical complexity: Makes coverage and tooling trade-off calls for the project’s quality gates without escalating them.
Senior Level 1 → Senior Level 2
Section titled “Senior Level 1 → Senior Level 2”- Technical complexity: Defines the project’s quality architecture (test pyramid, tooling, automation strategy).
Senior Level 2 → Senior Level 3
Section titled “Senior Level 2 → Senior Level 3”- Technical complexity: Sets QA standards adopted across multiple projects on the account, in addition to taking on project delivery ownership.