Validation Lead

We are seeking a Validation Lead to represent the Ecosystem teams within the broader Transcend testing program. This role will serve as the primary liaison between Ecosystem stakeholders and centralized test leadership across multiple testing cycles, including SIT, BST, UAT, Performance, and Regression testing. The Validation Lead will ensure Ecosystem readiness for testing, drive defect coordination, monitor testing progress through metrics and dashboards, and represent Ecosystem interests during testing execution. This role requires strong program coordination, testing governance, and stakeholder management skills in a complex enterprise environment. This individual will operate at the intersection of PMO, testing teams, and business ecosystem leads, ensuring testing activities align with program timelines, risk levels, and operational needs. 

Location: 100% Remote. Working hours are based on the US Eastern Time Zone.

About the Company:
Abstra is a fast-growing, Nearshore Tech Talent services company, providing top Latin American tech talent to U.S. companies and beyond. Founded by U.S.-bred engineers with over 15 years of experience, Abstra specializes in sourcing skilled professionals across a wide range of technologies to meet our clients’ needs, driving innovation and efficiency.

Key Responsibilities 

Testing Strategy & Ecosystem Representation 

• Act as the Ecosystem representative to the program Test Leadership team across all test cycles (SIT, BST, UAT, Performance, Regression). 

• Partner with Technology test leads to ensure Ecosystem testing needs are represented and incorporated into the overall program Test Strategy. 

• Gather and consolidate testing requirements and priorities from multiple Ecosystem teams. 

• Provide recommendations on testing scope and rigor based on ecosystem complexity, integration dependencies, and business risk. 

Test Readiness & Coordination 

• Ensure Ecosystem teams are prepared for upcoming testing cycles by communicating timelines, expectations, and required actions. 

• Maintain and continuously improve Ecosystem Test Readiness trackers, ensuring visibility into readiness across systems and teams. 

• Translate program-level testing plans into clear, actionable guidance for Ecosystem stakeholders and senior leadership. 

Metrics, Reporting & Governance 

• Develop and maintain testing metrics and dashboards for Ecosystem leadership and PMO. 

• Track testing progress, readiness, defect trends, and execution against planned timelines. 

• Work with PMO and Ecosystem leads to establish meaningful KPIs and monitor plan vs. actual progress. 

Defect Management & Resolution 

• Represent Ecosystem teams in defect triage meetings. 

• Review and classify defects in Jira, ensuring proper tagging and assignment to the appropriate Ecosystem teams. 

• Maintain alignment between the Ecosystem defect dashboard and broader testing program reporting. 

• Coordinate defect ownership and ensure timely resolution. 

Resource Coordination 

• Identify and onboard Ecosystem testing resources and defect assignees into the program’s Jira environment. 

• Coordinate with the Program Test Team to ensure defects are properly routed and managed across teams. 

Issue Resolution & Escalation 

• Lead targeted SWAT sessions when critical defects require rapid investigation and closure. 

• Drive cross-team collaboration to remove blockers and accelerate defect resolution. 

Test Scenario Review & Sign-Off 

• Manage the process for Ecosystem review and approval of test scenarios and test cases. 

• Coordinate with testing teams to ensure appropriate coverage for Ecosystem workflows. 

• Continuously refine processes and trackers as the testing program evolves. 

Qualifications 

Required 

• 7–12+ years of experience in testing coordination, program delivery, or validation leadership 

• Experience supporting large enterprise system implementations or transformations 

• Strong understanding of testing lifecycles (SIT, UAT, Regression, Performance, etc.) 

• Experience managing defects and testing workflows in Jira 

• Ability to operate across multiple stakeholder groups, vendors, and program teams 

• Strong analytical thinking and problem-solving skills 

• Excellent communication and stakeholder management capabilities 

Preferred 

• Experience working within complex enterprise transformation programs 

• Familiarity with PMO governance and program-level reporting 

• Experience supporting programs with multiple vendors and delivery teams 

• Prior experience in ecosystem or integration-heavy environments 

Key aspects to consider for the role: 

-Be the Ecosystem representative to the Transcend Test Leads (different test lead by cycle – SIT, BST, UAT, Performance, Regression, and also JJT Test Lead has an - Test Lead counterpart) – interact and face off with them at their level.

• Being an owner, leader, and proactive, and comfortable having tough discussions, good communication

-Using the Transcend Test Strategy, provide input to the Strategy from an Ecosystem perspective on what Ecosystems need and desire to test by collecting and consolidating input from the Ecosystems.

• Understanding the Validation process

-Take into consideration the complexity and risk – highly complex Ecosystems would require more rigorous testing whereas simple Ecosystems can get away with base required testing. Use judgement in how hard you push for changes.

• Being scalable to manage lower complexity to higher complexity

-Understand the Transcend timeline, process, and actors involved in preparing for testing and executing the testing. Summarize and share from an Ecosystem perspective and communicate to the Ecosystems and the Ecosystem Senior Managers so that they understand what they need to know and what they need to do.

• Communication, being able to create relationships easy and influencing

-There will be an Ecosystem tracker for Test Readiness in place, however use your critical thinking to improve the tracker and process. Ideally as we become more experienced over time, we should make processes more efficient and reduce the administrative effort.

• Bringing your tools, expertise and experience

-Provide metrics for Ecosystem leads and PMO as well as supporting status on a weekly basis. Work with Ecosystem leads and PMO on shaping the metrics that should be tracked and KPIs (not just actual % but also develop a plan so that we can track plan vs. actual).

• Understanding of project management and metrics

-Manage Ecosystem defects – attend the defect triage meetings to represent Ecosystems, review defects in Jira ahead of time and update with the right labels to ensure they are reflected in our Ecosystem Defect Dashboard and the Test Team’s dashboards.

• Accountability

-Collect and manage test support resources from Ecosystems and defect assignees for each Ecosystem. Onboard the necessary resources onto the Transcend Jira where they will be logging and assigning defects. Work with the Transcend Test Team so that they properly assign defects to the right assignees with the right labels based on Ecosystem.

• Be hands-on with defects to drive the testing forward

-At times, management and leadership will focus on certain defects – have the driver and planning mindset to drive “SWAT” sessions with the goal of getting the defects closed with urgency.

• Proactive, driver, accountability, leadership

-SDLC / CSV (Computerized System Validation) - Manage the process of sharing and tracking Ecosystem review and sign-off of the test scenarios and test cases. The Test Team will continue to evolve their process and tracker after each release so it is important to always see how our existing process and trackers need to evolve.

• Software validation compliance experience

What We Offer: 

• Flexible working hours and remote work options. 

• Opportunities for professional growth and development. 

• A collaborative and inclusive work environment. 

• The chance to work on impactful projects with a talented team. 

• Excellent compensation in USD. 

• Hardware and software setup.