QA Automation Lead

Job Title: QA Automation Lead
Location: Washington D.C. 20250
Employment Type: Full-Time
Experience Level: Senior

We are seeking a QA Automation Lead to join our dynamic team in Washington D.C. In this role you will lead the development and implementation of automated testing strategies frameworks and tools to ensure the delivery of high-quality software solutions in enterprise environments. As a senior leader in quality assurance you will collaborate with cross-functional teams to drive testing excellence optimize testing processes and align testing practices with business objectives.

• Lead and design automated testing strategies for enterprise-scale applications ensuring robustness and scalability.
• Develop maintain and enhance automated testing frameworks (e.g. Selenium TestNG JUnit Cucumber) to support CI/CD pipelines and agile workflows.
• Collaborate with development teams product managers and stakeholders to identify testing requirements and align automation efforts with release cycles.
• Architect continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines with testing integration (e.g. Jenkins GitLab CI Azure DevOps).
• Mentor and guide QA engineers and junior team members in automation best practices test design and defect tracking.
• Design and execute performance regression and functional test suites to identify risks and ensure system stability.
• Analyze test results identify root causes of defects and drive resolution across teams.
• Evaluate and advocate for new tools technologies and methodologies to improve test automation efficiency.

Required:

• 8 years of experience in software quality assurance with 5 years in test automation (enterprise environment preferred).
• Advanced proficiency in automation tools: Selenium Postman REST Assured or equivalent; experience with test frameworks (BDD TDD data-driven).
• Strong knowledge of CI/CD pipelines and DevOps practices.
• Agile/Scrum expertise with a proven track record in fast-paced collaborative development environments.
• Scripting/programming skills in languages such as Java Python or C#.
• Experience with defect tracking tools (e.g. Jira Bugzilla) and ALM platforms.
• Analytical mindset with the ability to translate business requirements into test scenarios and metrics.
• Exceptional communication skills with the ability to align technical and stakeholder priorities.

Preferred:

• Certifications: ISTQB CSTE or equivalent in test automation.
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS Azure) or containerization tools (Docker Kubernetes).
• Knowledge of API testing security testing or performance testing (e.g. JMeter LoadRunner).