Defines organizational code quality strategy for quality assurance processes: test methodology governance, cross-team quality standards, test infrastructure quality frameworks. Makes decisions on QA tooling investments and shapes organization-wide testing culture and practices.
Roles · QA Engineer (Manual) · Principal
What a Principal } should know
30 core skills, 45 in total. Expectations per skill, and what changes at the next level.
This page lists what a Principal } is expected to know and do, skill by skill. Core skills are the ones a manager and peers assess in a review cycle; the rest count only in self-assessment. Main areas: Programming Fundamentals, Database Management, API & Integration.
Core skills for a Principal
Grouped by area. The label on the right is the expected depth: Awareness, Working, Advanced or Expert.
Programming Fundamentals · 2
Defines organizational data structure strategy for quality assurance: enterprise test management data governance, cross-team requirements traceability standards, quality reporting data frameworks. Makes strategic decisions on QA data infrastructure investments.
Database Management · 1
Defines organizational approach to database verification in QA: evaluates enterprise standards for database-level testing practices, designs guidelines for data integrity validation in quality assurance, establishes standards for QA team database skills and verification methodologies across the organization.
API & Integration · 6
Defines organizational API documentation quality strategy spanning documentation completeness validation and developer experience assessment. Designs platform-level quality frameworks for API documentation review processes and automated compliance checking. Establishes enterprise API documentation governance ensuring testability, accuracy, and cross-team consistency.
Defines organizational API strategy. Designs platform API. Establishes enterprise API governance and standards.
Defines organizational API strategy. Designs platform API. Establishes enterprise API governance and standards.
Defines organizational GraphQL API quality strategy bridging automated schema testing with expert manual validation. Designs platform-level quality frameworks for evaluating API usability, documentation completeness, and consumer developer experience. Establishes enterprise GraphQL testing governance and cross-team quality coordination processes.
Defines organizational API testing strategy: enterprise API quality assurance standards, cross-team API testing governance, API test infrastructure investment decisions. Designs enterprise-grade API testing architecture and establishes API quality programs.
Defines the organization-wide quality assurance vision for event-driven integrations, establishing standards for webhook reliability testing and contract verification. Pioneers testing methodologies for complex webhook choreographies spanning multiple bounded contexts. Drives adoption of consumer-driven contract testing and chaos engineering practices to validate webhook resilience across the entire platform ecosystem.
Cloud & Infrastructure · 1
Defines organizational container strategy for QA: enterprise test environment platform standards, cross-team environment provisioning governance, environment-as-code maturity frameworks. Designs enterprise-grade container infrastructure for test environment management and establishes FinOps practices.
DevOps & CI/CD · 1
Defines organizational DevOps strategy for quality assurance: designs internal platform for QA environment automation, fosters engineering excellence culture for quality-integrated delivery, evaluates CI/CD approaches for QA process optimization at organizational scale.
Testing & QA · 10
Shapes the organization's accessibility quality strategy, embedding inclusive testing practices across all product lines and delivery processes. Drives innovation in manual accessibility assessment methodologies including severity frameworks, risk-based testing prioritization, and integration of disabled user feedback into product development cycles. Influences industry accessibility testing standards through thought leadership, conference presentations, and contributions to WCAG and ARIA specification development.
Defines organizational QA strategy. Fosters quality engineering culture. Implements platform solutions for testing.
Defines organizational QA strategy bridging manual and automated integration testing across complex enterprise landscapes. Fosters quality engineering culture that values exploratory testing insights alongside automated regression at system boundaries. Implements platform solutions for test environment provisioning and cross-team integration test coordination at organizational scale.
Defines organizational QA strategy. Fosters quality engineering culture. Implements platform solutions for testing.
Defines organizational QA strategy. Fosters quality engineering culture. Implements platform solutions for testing.
Defines organizational QA strategy with BDD as a core practice: quality engineering culture, behavior-driven requirements management, and living documentation standards. Drives adoption of BDD across the organization as a business-technology alignment tool. Implements platform solutions for BDD scenario management and test evidence governance. Shapes quality assurance practices industry-wide.
Defines organizational QA strategy. Fosters quality engineering culture. Implements platform solutions for testing.
Defines organizational QA strategy. Fosters quality engineering culture. Implements platform solutions for testing.
Defines organizational QA strategy. Fosters quality engineering culture. Implements platform solutions for testing.
Defines organizational QA strategy integrating manual and automated testing: enterprise quality metrics standards, cross-team testing methodology governance, quality engineering maturity programs. Implements platform-wide solutions bridging manual QA expertise and automated testing frameworks.
Security · 1
Defines enterprise security testing strategy bridging manual QA expertise with application security requirements. Shapes security-aware quality engineering culture ensuring OWASP coverage in testing processes at organizational scale. Coordinates compliance verification frameworks and represents quality perspective in security governance decisions.
AI-Assisted Development · 3
Defines the future of AI-augmented manual testing across the industry, creating frameworks where AI handles routine test generation while human testers focus on creative and critical thinking scenarios. Establishes thought leadership in combining human expertise with AI capabilities for maximum defect detection, publishing methodologies for AI-human collaborative testing at scale.
Defines organizational strategy for ChatGPT/Claude adoption across QA engineering. Establishes enterprise-wide AI-assisted quality assurance frameworks balancing test automation with human expertise and critical thinking. Mentors leads and architects on responsible AI integration for quality engineering at organizational scale.
Defines organizational approach to AI-assisted QA: evaluates enterprise AI tools for QA team productivity enhancement, designs guidelines for AI-assisted test analysis and documentation at scale, establishes standards for responsible AI adoption in quality assurance practices across the organization.
Observability & Monitoring · 2
Defines organizational observability strategy. Implements platform solutions. Builds reliability culture. Establishes enterprise SLO framework.
Defines organizational approach to observability in QA: establishes enterprise standards for QA team observability tool proficiency, designs guidelines for log-based test investigation at scale, builds reliability-aware QA culture across quality assurance teams.
Version Control & Collaboration · 3
Defines organizational strategy for QA participation in code review: enterprise QA review integration standards, cross-team review governance for testability, review culture programs bridging QA and development. Mentors leads on QA-engineering review collaboration.
Defines enterprise QA documentation strategy: standardized quality reporting, compliance documentation automation, and test evidence management as code. Drives adoption of living documentation practices across QA teams. Shapes organizational culture around documentation-driven quality assurance.
Defines organizational approach to Git knowledge in QA: evaluates enterprise standards for QA team Git competency requirements, designs training programs for Git skills in quality assurance practice, establishes guidelines for QA participation in Git-based release and deployment workflows.
Additional skills
Not assessed by the team, but part of the self-assessment and the development plan.
} in the open competency matrix: 45 skills across 5 levels. The matrix is free for individuals and stays free.