Quality Assurance Automation Lead

Job Title: Lead QA Automation Engineer

Location: Santa Clara, CA (Hybrid)

Long Term Contract On W2

NOTE: Local to CA Only -----

Job Summary

We are seeking an experienced Lead QA Automation Engineer to design, develop, and maintain automated testing frameworks and ensure the quality, reliability, and performance of software applications. The ideal candidate will have strong experience in automation testing, API testing, functional testing, and CI/CD integration.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain automated test scripts and frameworks for web, API, and backend applications.
• Create detailed test plans, test cases, test scenarios, and automation scripts based on business and technical requirements.
• Execute automated and manual testing to identify functional, regression, integration, and system-level defects.
• Develop and maintain automation frameworks using Selenium, Cypress, Playwright, or similar tools.
• Perform API testing using tools such as Postman, REST Assured, or similar technologies.
• Validate application functionality across different browsers, platforms, and environments.
• Perform regression, smoke, sanity, integration, and end-to-end testing.
• Identify, document, prioritize, and track defects using tools such as Jira, Azure DevOps, or similar platforms.
• Work closely with developers, business analysts, product managers, and other QA engineers to troubleshoot and resolve defects.
• Integrate automated test suites with CI/CD pipelines using Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Azure DevOps, or similar tools.
• Execute automated tests as part of build and deployment pipelines and analyze failures.
• Perform database validation and backend testing using SQL queries.
• Maintain test data, test environments, automation documentation, and testing standards.
• Participate in Agile/Scrum ceremonies, including sprint planning, daily stand-ups, backlog refinement, reviews, and retrospectives.
• Identify opportunities to improve test coverage, automation efficiency, and overall QA processes.
• Analyze test results and provide quality/status reports to project stakeholders.

Required Skills:

• 10+ years of experience in QA Automation / Software Testing.
• Strong experience with Selenium WebDriver, Cypress, Playwright, or equivalent automation tools.
• Strong programming experience in Java, Python, JavaScript, or TypeScript.
• Experience with API testing using Postman, REST Assured, or similar tools.
• Strong knowledge of SQL and database testing.
• Experience with Git/GitHub/GitLab and source-code management.
• Experience integrating automation frameworks with CI/CD pipelines.
• Good understanding of SDLC, STLC, defect lifecycle, and QA methodologies.
• Experience working in Agile/Scrum environments.
• Strong analytical, troubleshooting, and communication skills.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience with BDD frameworks such as Cucumber.
• Experience with Docker and cloud environments such as AWS, Azure, or GCP.
• Knowledge of performance testing using JMeter, LoadRunner, or similar tools.
• Experience testing microservices and distributed applications.
• Knowledge of mobile automation using Appium.
• Experience with test reporting tools such as Allure, Extent Reports, or similar.