Empowering companies to work with the best engineers in the world
QA Automation Lead
Location
Romania
Posted
52 days ago
Salary
0
Seniority
Senior
Job Description
QA Automation Lead
Smart Working
• Define and drive the QA automation strategy, improving framework quality, test coverage, and overall automation maturity • Lead, mentor, and support a team of QA engineers, providing both technical guidance and hands-on contribution • Design, build, and maintain scalable UI and end-to-end automation frameworks • Improve and optimise automated test execution within CI/CD pipelines to ensure fast, reliable feedback • Drive a risk-based testing approach, making informed decisions on test prioritisation, coverage, and trade-offs • Shape a balanced testing strategy across UI, mobile, API/service-level, and manual testing layers • Lead end-to-end testing efforts across mobile applications (iOS/Android) and backend services • Evaluate where UI automation is valuable vs where API or service-level testing provides better efficiency and stability • Manage bug tracking, triage, and failure analysis, providing clear reporting on quality metrics and risks • Collaborate closely with engineering, product, and platform teams to improve testability and quality standards • Contribute to continuous improvement of QA processes, tooling, and ways of working • Support expansion into non-functional testing areas such as performance, load, and (longer term) security
Job Requirements
- 6+ years of experience in QA / Test Automation, delivering automation in production environments
- Experience in a QA leadership or mentoring role, with responsibility for guiding engineers and shaping QA direction
- Proven ability to define and evolve automation strategy, not just implement individual automated tests
- Strong foundation in manual QA, including exploratory and regression testing, with sound judgment on what should and should not be automated
- Experience designing, building, or improving UI and end-to-end automation frameworks
- Experience working with modern UI automation tools (e.g. Playwright, Cypress, Selenium, WebdriverIO or similar)
- Experience with mobile testing and/or automation (iOS/Android), ideally in business-critical environments
- Strong understanding of risk-based testing and how to optimise coverage, speed, and confidence
- Ability to lead a team (approx. 4 engineers) while remaining hands-on and technically credible
- Experience with API / service-level testing and a solid understanding of test pyramid principles
- Experience integrating automated testing into CI/CD pipelines
- Experience with defect management, bug triage, and QA reporting
- Strong collaboration skills with engineering, product, and platform teams
- Familiarity with automation languages such as TypeScript, JavaScript, Python, Java, or Kotlin (TypeScript preferred)
- Experience working in modern product engineering environments with evolving systems and priorities
- Strong problem-solving skills and ability to operate in complex environments
Benefits
- Be a Smart Worker - valued, empowered, and part of a culture that celebrates integrity, excellence, and ambition.
- Join one of the highest-rated workplaces on Glassdoor and experience what it means to thrive in a truly remote-first world.
Related Guides
Related Categories
Related Job Pages
More SDET Jobs
Senior Software Engineer, Test
TenableCloud Security | Operational Technology | Identity Security | and more
• Drive the evolution of our existing testing architecture by designing modular libraries and maturing our Python frameworks to ensure scalable, fault-tolerant coverage in a high-velocity environment. • Drive the convergence of QA and Development by performing RCAs, contributing to the codebase to resolve complex defects, and championing "Shift-Left" testing methodologies. • Partner with Product and Engineering to define quality benchmarks, ensuring high-performance standards and reliability are integrated into the SDLC from inception to deployment. • Design advanced monitoring and alerting strategies using Datadog and Coralogix; leverage Pytest and Playwright to build sophisticated, non-flaky end-to-end (E2E) suites that validate complex distributed workflows. • Establish and enforce quality gates, comprehensive test strategies, and release readiness protocols to maintain a gold standard for production deployments. • Act as a subject matter expert (SME) to identify systemic bottlenecks, mentor junior engineers, and continuously evolve testing processes to increase deployment velocity without compromising quality.
QA Automation Engineer, Python
Plain ConceptsRediscover the meaning of technology | Spain, USA, UK, Germany, Netherlands, Australia and Romania.
• Participating in the design and validation of software quality solutions for challenging projects. • Contributing to testing strategies and quality-related decision-making in a constructive environment with strong co-creation dynamics. • Participate, review, support and take care of the quality of the projects where your teammates are involved. • Be a key player in the development and evolution of testing best practices, clean, maintainable and reusable automated tests. • Be up to date with the latest tools and technologies in the market.
Software Test Lead
STRSTR makes the world a safer place by developing technology and applying it to solve emerging national security challenges.
About the Team: STR’s Analytics and Command & Control (AC2) Division focuses on developing actionable, advanced technology solutions to provide asymmetric advantages within the information domain. The Mission Applications (MA) Group within the AC2 Division specializes in ensuring the technology that STR creates produces outsized mission impact. Staff within the MA group have a deep understanding of missions and technology needs for national security with skills targeting transition of technology to operational use, including product management, UX Product implementation, software integration & mission engineering, platform engineering, DevOps, and program management. MA staff combine with other science and engineering staff from the various STR research and development groups to form dedicated product teams focused on accelerating the operational transition of cutting-edge software technologies. The Role: A Test Lead coordinates all efforts associated with test, to include test-driven development and implementing automation for various elements of system test. This approach places a strong emphasis on all aspects of test (unit, integration, and system-level) to ensure STR is fulfilling the end-user's operational needs, thus enabling the success of the overall mission. Ensuring all facets of system test are accounted for in the end-to-end software development and deployment can significantly improve the impact of STR software. We are seeking experienced candidates – preferably, established technical leads with experience as a test lead on a software development program and skill interfacing with teams of developers. What you will do: - Lead the development team in designing and implementing integration tests for innovative software services in an agile DevSecOps environment - Collaborate with program leadership to prioritize test planning and execution activities - Ongoing work includes developing and maintaining automated system and regression tests and working with program management/staff to identify key system-level test cases - Hands-on experience with ability to quickly grasp overall system architecture picture is essential Who You Are: - Ability to obtain a Top Secret security clearance with SCI eligibility, for which U.S citizenship is needed by the U.S government - BS in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related technical field with a minimum of 7+ years of relevant experience. Equivalent experience will be considered. - Experience with relevant technologies, including: - Python - Kafka - RESTful services - Gitlab, specifically Gitlab CI/CD and understanding pipelines - Kubernetes (good familiarity with kubectl and experience putting together k8s yml config files) - ELK stack tools - Docker and docker-compose - Java applications (e.g., deployment/configuration) - xUnit-based test frameworks, primarily pytest, PyUnit, Jest, and Junit - Web-based UI test automation tools (e.g., Selenium, Playwright) Even Better: - Active Security Clearance at the Top Secret level with SCI Eligibility - Advanced Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related technical field - Located near STR offices in Woburn, MA, Arlington, VA, or San Diego, CA, Denver, CO or willing to relocate - Demonstrated ability to work across DevOps and development teams to find solutions to enable automated testing - Demonstrated test framework/infrastructure debugging skills, especially debugging microservices deployed to a cloud infrastructure (leverages multiple skills including kubectl, ELK, Docker knowledge - Ability to fully understand the architecture of the system under test and to identify weak/failure points Pay Information Full-Time Salary Range: $175,000 - $240,000 The salary range listed is based on external market data. Offers are based on factors, such as but not limited to, the candidate’s experience, education, training, key skills/critical skills, security clearances, and prevailing market and business conditions. STR is a growing technology company with locations near Boston, MA, Arlington, VA, near Dayton, OH, Melbourne, FL, and Carlsbad, CA. We specialize in advanced research and development for defense, intelligence, and national security in: cyber; next generation sensors, radar, sonar, communications, and electronic warfare; and artificial intelligence algorithms and analytics to make sense of the complexity that is exploding around us. STR is committed to creating a collaborative learning environment that supports deep technical understanding and recognizes the contributions and achievements of all team members. Our work is challenging, and we go home at night knowing that we pushed the envelope of technology and made the world safer. STR is not just any company. Our people, culture, and attitude along with their unique set of skills, experiences, and perspectives put us on a trajectory to change the world. We can't do it alone, though - we need fellow trailblazers. If you are one, join our team and help to keep our society safe! Visit us at www.str.us for more info. STR is an equal opportunity employer. We are fully dedicated to hiring the most qualified candidate regardless of race, color, religion, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation and pregnancy), marital status, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, genetic information or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any portion of the employment process, email us at appassist@str.us and provide your contact info. Pursuant to applicable federal law and regulations, positions at STR require employees to obtain national security clearances and satisfy the requirements for compliance with export control and other applicable laws.
• validate mission-critical, complex software systems in secure environments • design test strategies • lead automation • ensure compliance with security protocols • act as a key quality partner in Agile, high-stakes development • design, develop, and maintain automated and manual test plan, test cases, and test scripts • provide day-to-day program oversight, including schedule management, resource allocation, budget tracking, and coordination of monthly software releases • lead end-to-end testing efforts across multiple program segments and releases • collaborate with developers, product managers, and stakeholders to define acceptance criteria and ensure testability • build and maintain scalable, automated testing frameworks to maximize efficiency within CI/CD pipelines • perform integration, performance, and functional testing to verify high-reliability software, particularly for secure or embedded systems • identify, document, and track defects to resolution • develop and maintain automated testing frameworks and tools • analyze test results and provide actionable insights to improve product quality • mentor junior engineers and promote best testing practices • drive continuous improvement in QA processes, tools, and methodologies • facilitate and participate in Agile program ceremonies including sprint planning, sprint reviews, and retrospectives • conduct annual performance reviews for all direct reports • manage procurement and renewal of required licenses • coordinate, authorize, and facilitate conference travel • review and approve expense reports in accordance with company policy



