Lead SDET QA Engineer

Lead SDET QA Engineer

Hybrid 3 days Somerville, MA

JOB DESCRIPTION SUMMARY:

Manages and supervises other SDET QA to ensure application code the team tests performs as expected in terms of function, compatibility, design, and performance chiefly by developing testing programs to identify possible defects in pre-deployment software. Operates at all levels of the testing pyramid, employing knowledge of the end user business domain to mentor the team to validate suitability for purpose. Collaborates with team, engineering and product colleagues to ensure consistently high quality software. Oversee and help implement full automation test coverage at a squad level for a release and coordinate the work within the squad/team to completion. Participates in automation code reviews, pair-programming, makes automation framework updates to support new/enhanced functionality, Able to understand automation coding and best practices and mentor other SDET QA to get the team to develop test automation to the same standards that the development team follows. Keep up with innovations in the industry and be a driver of continuous improvement.

KEY ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Quality and Best Practices Champion

• Promotes automation first approach to test plans that incorporate both positive and negative scenarios
• Identifies functional interdependencies between squads that optimizes testing of related/dependent features that are cross-squad and cross-team
• Participates and leads in postmortem activities to better understand and automate escapes and implement process improvements
• Understands each tier of the testing pyramid and the how to use the different automation solutions for them
• Helps ensure both stories and epics meet both Definition of Ready (DoR) and Definition of Done (DoD)
• Applies test-first BDD and TDD best practices

Innovator

• Experience with integrating AI into test automation solution
• A vision for how Generative AI can transform QA
• Ideas for client-centric testing that includes persona and workflow based test strategy

Automated Test Developer

• Has a vision for how to make Leverages AI to enhance automation and productivity while ensuring high quality coding standards
• Designs\refactors automation to validate the intended functionality using common classes and shared configs that keeps the framework lean and fast
• Able to automate and do code reviews at all levels of the test pyramid
• Ensures automated tests are incorporated into CI/CD pipeline and ensure test results are monitored
• Be a hands on lead and automate and validate end to end system/functional workflows within multiple components

Agile Practitioner

• Demonstrates understanding of Agile principles and supports the overall delivery for product releases
• Able to accurately estimate stories and one’s own capacity
• Processes retrospectives and applies Kaizen principles to daily work

Business Domain Expert

• Has business domain experience and extends business domain through purposeful study
• Has client centered approach and promotes customer personas and application workflows as a testing practice
• Able to identify domain knowledge gaps within the team and recommend individualized training options
• Demonstrates analytical, systems and innovative thinking
• Acquires subject matter expertise in application under test to a level of demoing and training others

Test Framework Developer

• Learns the appropriate uses of, architecture for, and construction of test frameworks and tooling
• Suggests and implements improvements to the test framework
• Work with multiple frameworks; REST/API, GUI, performance, ETL/big data as well as custom test solutions
• Incorporates AI and new technologies into our framework that boost both productivity and product quality

Tier 3 Support Troubleshooter

• Understands the production support model
• Understands how production environments are deployed and configured
• Prioritizes production issue troubleshooting and delegates to the team.

EXPERIENCE/EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Bachelor’s/Master’s degree in the Hard Sciences (Computer Science, Math, Engineering preferred)
• 10 years of software development or automation development or technical team leadership experience
• Demonstrable experience with some of CI/CD, BDD/TDD, C#, Relational Databases and Python/JavaScript
• Experience with performance tools like Neoload/JMeter/Etc
• Familiarity with Playwright
• Experience managing technical automation QA teams in an agile and CI/CD environment
• Finance industry experience
• Experience using generative AI within a development environment

KEY COMPETENCIES

• Business Orientation (Proficient)- Understands the needs and priorities of internal and external clients. Conducts work with a customer point of view. Observes and reports problems relevant to the client and works to gain their trust and respect
• Cooperation (Advanced)- The ability to work effectively with others in order to achieve a shared goal- even when the objective at stake is of no direct personal interest. Acknowledge the contribution from others disciplines; Discuss plans and ideas with others and invite them to contribute; Is able to compromise- lets a group's interest prevail over their own; Makes others see their contribution is vital for achieving a shared goal.
• Focus on Quality (Advanced)- Sets high quality standards and strives for continuous improvement. Encourages others to take quality into account; Self-manages and creates test and checks of the work of others to ensure work is up to prescribed quality standards; Indicates clearly and specifically what level of quality is expected
• Initiative (Proficient)- Recognizes and creates opportunities and acts accordingly. Communicates and starts something than waiting passively for it to happen. Mentions and discusses practices that are inefficient and a drag on productivity and actively searches for and suggests solutions.
• Result Orientedness (Advanced)- Sets high standards, defines/achieves challenging yet feasible goals; Considers the option carefully; mobilizes means and people, even when others need to be persuaded of its necessity; Does not give in, actively looks for alternative possibilities when facing difficulties.
• Workmanship (Proficient)- Independently carrying out one's work. Has a thorough knowledge of one's field. Knows the causes and solutions to commonly occurring problems; shows interest in his professional field- keeps their professional knowledge up-to-date by all means possible; Shows what has priority and where necessary, changes the work order; Sees work that has to be done and takes initiatives to get it done.