QA team composition depends on program size, complexity, methodology.
Roles:
- QA Engineer / Tester: manual + light automation.
- Test Automation Engineer: automation focus.
- Performance Engineer: load / performance.
- Security Tester: pentesting.
- Test Lead: project-level QA leadership.
- QA Manager: across-projects management.
- QA Architect: tooling, framework, standards.
Team sizes:
Small program (3-5 devs): 1-2 QAs.
Medium program (10-15 devs): 3-5 QAs, mix of manual and automation.
Large program (30+ devs): 8-15 QAs, multiple specialists.
Enterprise / multi-program: 20+ QAs, strong leadership.
Skill mix per role:
- QA Engineer: Salesforce admin/platform, manual testing, basic scripting.
- Test Automation Engineer: Salesforce + scripting + tools (Provar, Selenium).
- Performance: JMeter, Gatling, performance methodologies.
- Security: OWASP, Burp Suite, penetration techniques.
Build vs hire:
- External hire: faster; costs more; vetted skills.
- Internal transfer: cheaper; cultural fit; takes longer.
- Mix: typical.
Senior insight: right-size QA team to actual need. Over-staffed = waste; under-staffed = quality risk.
The senior framing: invest where risk is highest. Critical features = more QA; trivial features = less.