***Please note: This position is onsite and not remote. Candidates must be based in the Houston area, as relocation assistance is not provided. Only individuals authorized to work in the U.S. without sponsorship will be considered.***

Job Title: Senior QA Automation Lead

Job Type: Contract (this role is a 6-month assignment)

Job Salary: $71-$73/hour (DOE)

Job Schedule: M-F, 40 hrs/week

Job Location: Houston, TX 77002

About the Role

We are seeking a Senior QA Automation Lead to lead enterprise-level test automation and quality engineering efforts for a large-scale technology environment.

This is a hands-on leadership role where you will design and build automation frameworks from the ground up, guide QA teams, and drive modernization of testing practices through automation, CI/CD integration, and AI-supported solutions.

You will collaborate across Product, Development, DevOps, and Architecture teams to ensure high-quality, scalable, and reliable software delivery.

Must pass a background check, drug screening, and reference check as part of onboarding.

Key Responsibilities

Lead and mentor QA Automation Engineers and QA teams
Design, develop, and implement scalable automation frameworks
Define and drive enterprise automation strategy and roadmap
Build and maintain UI, API, database, and end-to-end automated test suites
Integrate automation into CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, Azure DevOps, etc.)
Establish automation standards, governance, and quality metrics
Participate in Agile ceremonies (sprint planning, backlog grooming, etc.)
Perform manual testing as needed to support coverage
Analyze test results, identify risks, and drive defect resolution
Implement test data strategies and support test environment management
Promote shift-left testing and continuous quality practices
Provide reporting on automation coverage, defects, and quality trends

Requirements

Required Qualifications

8+ years of Software QA experience
5+ years leading QA Automation teams
Proven experience building automation frameworks from scratch
Strong experience with CI/CD integration and DevOps practices
Hands-on experience in Agile/Scrum environments
Experience managing enterprise or multi-project automation initiatives
Strong collaboration and leadership skills

Technical Skills

Experience with one or more automation tools:

Selenium, Cypress, Playwright, or Tosca
Appium (preferred)

Programming experience in:

Java, JavaScript/TypeScript, Python, or C#

Additional expertise:

UI, API, and database testing
Test data management
Functional, regression, integration, and system testing
Git-based development
CI/CD tools (Jenkins, Azure DevOps, GitLab, Bamboo)
Automation architecture and quality governance

Preferred Qualifications

Experience with AI-driven or AI-supported testing solutions
Experience with enterprise-scale applications
Background in large, complex environments
Experience establishing automated quality gates

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