Application Modernization Testing COE Lead
About The Position
The Application Modernization Testing COE Lead is responsible for establishing, leading, and scaling a global Testing Center of Excellence that enables high-quality, low-risk modernization of enterprise applications across mainframe, distributed, cloud, SaaS, and custom application landscapes. The role owns the testing strategy, governance framework, automation architecture, agentic AI testing capabilities, quality standards, reusable assets, and delivery model required to support large-scale application modernization initiatives. The COE Lead serves as the executive quality authority for modernization programs and drives adoption of automation-first, AI-enabled, and DevSecOps-integrated testing practices across the enterprise.
Requirements
- 15+ years of software testing, quality engineering, or application delivery experience.
- 8+ years leading enterprise-scale testing organizations or COEs.
- Proven experience supporting large-scale application modernization initiatives.
- Experience leading testing across: Mainframe applications, Distributed platforms, Cloud-native environments, SaaS ecosystems.
- Demonstrated success building global delivery organizations and governance frameworks.
- Experience managing executive stakeholders and complex transformation programs.
Nice To Haves
- Experience in financial services, insurance, healthcare, telecommunications, or other regulated industries.
- Understanding of compliance frameworks and audit requirements.
- Industry certifications such as: ISTQB Advanced Certified Agile Tester, SAFe Agilist, AWS/Azure Cloud Certifications, DevOps Certifications.
- Experience with Agentic SDLC and AI-driven software engineering practices.
Responsibilities
- Define and execute the enterprise testing vision for application modernization programs.
- Establish a scalable Testing COE operating model supporting multiple modernization engagements.
- Create testing standards, methodologies, governance processes, templates, accelerators, and reusable assets.
- Drive continuous improvement of testing practices through automation, AI, and modern quality engineering approaches.
- Develop a multi-year roadmap for testing modernization capabilities.
- Define quality strategies for: Mainframe modernization, Cloud transformation, Monolith decomposition, API modernization, ERP modernization, Custom application modernization.
- Establish validation approaches for: Functional equivalency, Regression testing, Integration testing, Data migration validation, Performance testing, Security testing, User Acceptance Testing (UAT).
- Ensure modernization programs achieve business continuity and production readiness objectives.
- Define enterprise-wide automation architecture and tooling standards.
- Lead implementation of: Test automation frameworks, API automation, Performance automation, CI/CD quality gates, Service virtualization, Synthetic test data generation.
- Drive adoption of Agentic AI capabilities including: Test case generation, Test data creation, Defect triage agents, Test execution optimization, Equivalence validation agents.
- Establish measurable automation adoption and coverage objectives.
- Define quality policies, KPIs, reporting standards, and executive dashboards.
- Establish entry and exit criteria for testing phases and go-live readiness.
- Monitor program-level quality risks and remediation plans.
- Lead quality reviews, release readiness assessments, and audit compliance activities.
- Serve as the escalation point for major testing, quality, and release risks.
Benefits
- medical and dental coverage
- disability
- retirement benefits
- paid leave and paid time off
- Kyndryl's discretionary annual bonus program
- employee learning programs
- company-wide volunteering and giving platform
Stand Out From the Crowd
Upload your resume and get instant feedback on how well it matches this job.
What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
Education Level
No Education Listed
