Title: QA Automation Lead
Location: Remote
Rate: $30–$35/hour
Employment Type: Contract
We are seeking a hands-on QA Automation Lead to own test automation strategy and execution for flagship products. This is a contract engagement in which the resource will remain employed by the staffing firm while working as a dedicated contractor embedded within the client's QA organization.
This is a working-lead role. The ideal candidate will write automation every week while also setting technical direction, raising the standard for quality practices, and mentoring QA engineers.
The automation environment is modern and evolving, utilizing Playwright with TypeScript for UI and API automation, AI-assisted development as part of the engineering workflow, and Tricentis Tosca for additional automation. All automation code is maintained in GitHub, with the SDLC managed through Azure DevOps.
This person will provide technical leadership across the toolchain, determine which testing approaches and tools are appropriate for different scenarios, and establish standards for reviewing and maintaining AI-generated automation.
Because the products support accounting and operations functions, testing must extend beyond the UI. The QA Automation Lead will design automation that validates underlying data, APIs, databases, batch processes, and financial calculations using controlled test data.
Own the test automation strategy and roadmap across Playwright and Tricentis Tosca.
Determine what should be automated, what should remain manual, and where each automation tool provides the most value.
Establish automation standards, best practices, and technical direction across the QA organization.
Administer the Tosca environment, including workspaces and repository maintenance.
Manage user access and licensing.
Maintain Distributed Execution (DEX) agents.
Support Tosca version upgrades and environment maintenance.
Design, build, and maintain Playwright TypeScript automation frameworks.
Develop and maintain page objects, fixtures, API testing, environment configuration, and parallel execution capabilities.
Diagnose failures using traces and CI artifacts.
Maintain reliable, scalable, and maintainable automation suites.
Lead the use of AI-assisted automation development using tools such as Claude and Playwright MCP.
Establish standards for AI-generated test code.
Review AI-generated automation to ensure tests are robust, maintainable, accurate, and capable of identifying actual failures.
Help define disciplined engineering practices for incorporating AI into the QA automation workflow.
Develop automated validation that extends beyond the user interface.
Perform SQL and API validation to verify data accuracy and business logic.
Create and utilize seeded or controlled test data.
Validate batch processes, financial calculations, and data workflows.
Test critical business processes such as month-end close, revenue distribution, and related financial workflows.
Maintain automation code in GitHub using disciplined branching and pull-request workflows.
Conduct and participate in code reviews.
Integrate automated test suites into CI/CD pipelines.
Maintain fast, stable, and reliable automation suites.
Identify and eliminate flaky tests through evidence-based diagnosis rather than relying on retries or unnecessary delays.
Provide technical leadership and mentorship to QA engineers.
Conduct code reviews and establish locator and assertion standards.
Pair with QA engineers to improve automation skills and engineering practices.
Mentor team members on automation development and responsible use of AI-assisted testing tools.
Lead defect triage with development, product, and support teams.
Distinguish application defects from test and environment issues.
Track defects and work items through Azure DevOps.
Follow high-severity issues through resolution.
Provide clear, evidence-based release readiness assessments.
Communicate what has been tested, remaining risks, and areas requiring additional validation.
Provide go/no-go recommendations based on business impact and quality risk.
Monitor and report automation health using meaningful metrics.
Track automation flake rate, coverage of critical business workflows, escaped defects, and suite runtime.
Identify opportunities to improve automation reliability, coverage, and execution efficiency.
8+ years of software quality assurance experience.
5+ years of hands-on test automation experience.
2+ years of experience leading or mentoring QA engineers.
Expert-level experience with Playwright and TypeScript/JavaScript.
Experience designing and building automation frameworks from scratch.
Strong experience with Playwright fixtures, API testing, and framework architecture.
Hands-on experience diagnosing flaky tests using traces and CI artifacts.
Strong API testing and SQL skills.
Demonstrated experience validating data correctness, not just UI behavior, particularly in data-intensive applications.
Hands-on experience with AI coding assistants such as Claude, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, or similar tools in a disciplined engineering workflow.
Direct experience with Playwright MCP or MCP-based agent tooling is strongly preferred.
Strong Git/GitHub skills, including branching, pull requests, and code reviews.
Experience integrating automated testing into CI/CD pipelines.
Familiarity with Azure DevOps for SDLC and work-item management is a plus.
Strong judgment regarding what should and should not be automated.
Excellent communication skills with the ability to explain quality risks to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Tricentis Tosca experience or certification.
Experience administering Tosca workspaces, user management, DEX agents, and upgrades.
Demonstrated ability to quickly learn and implement model-based testing tools.
Experience in oil and gas, energy, accounting/ERP, or other financial software environments.
Experience testing batch, ETL, or event-driven data workflows.
Performance testing experience using K6, LoadRunner, or similar tools.
ISTQB certifications, including CTFL or CT-TAE.
Contract engagement with the candidate employed by the staffing firm and working as a dedicated contractor.
Fully remote position.
Working hours must overlap with U.S. Central Time to support collaboration with QA and development teams.
Embedded role with day-to-day direction provided by QA leadership.
Access to required development, testing, source-control, and SDLC tools will be provided according to security and access policies.
Opportunity to work within a modern QA environment utilizing AI-assisted engineering and automation.
The selected candidate will have significant ownership over automation strategy and the continued development of QA automation practices.
Candidates should submit a current resume and, where possible, verifiable professional profiles such as LinkedIn.
Shortlisted candidates should be prepared for a hands-on technical interview covering Playwright, AI-assisted automation, API/SQL testing, and data validation.
