Staff Quality Assurance Engineer

AI71; Abu Dhabi; On-site; AED 250,000 - 450,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation support

Tax-free compensation

Job summary

AI71 invites an experienced Lead/Staff QA Engineer to shape the quality strategy for our platform serving regulated environments. You will own test architecture across SaaS and on-prem deployments, mentor QA engineers, and drive multi-quarter quality initiatives.

You will define automation standards, select tools, and oversee release gates, ensuring quality scales from cloud to air-gapped environments. This role demands deep expertise in Python testing, data‑driven systems, and a track record of

Qualifications

• 10+ years of QA, test engineering, or quality architecture with architectural ownership.
• At least 2 years focused on testing complex data-driven applications, ML models, or AI agents.
• Proven track record designing test architecture and quality processes at scale.

Responsibilities

• Define test architecture and quality standards across the platform (test pyramid, automation strategy, release gates).
• Lead major decisions on test tooling, automation investment, and release-quality processes.
• Mentor senior QA engineers; raise the quality bar across multiple teams.
• Drive cross-team initiatives that reduce defect escape rate and improve release confidence.
• Partner with engineering and product leadership on multi-quarter quality strategy.
• Own the release sign-off process, including for fully air-gapped / on-prem release candidates.
• Ensure quality practices scale across managed SaaS and disconnected on-prem deployments.

Skills

QA leadership

Test architecture

Mentorship

Data-driven testing

Tools

Python (Pytest)

Selenium/Playwright

Requests

Job description

About AI71

AI71 builds enterprise-grade AI and data platform software for organisations operating in regulated, mission-critical environments.

Our solutions are delivered in two deployment modes:

• Managed SaaS — multi-tenant, cloud-hosted, continuously updated.
• On-premises — single-tenant installs in customer data centres, including fully disconnected and air‑gapped environments.

Quality engineering at AI71 means proving that releases behave correctly in the cloud and behind a firewall, including fully disconnected, air‑gapped installs where a shipped defect can’t be quietly patched the next day.

The Mission

As a Lead / Staff QA Engineer you set the quality strategy and testing architecture for AI71’s platform. You own test architecture and release‑quality standards across both SaaS and on‑prem operating models, mentor QA engineers across teams, and drive multi‑quarter quality strategy. You are a force multiplier.

Key Responsibilities

• Define test architecture and quality standards across the platform (test pyramid, automation strategy, release gates).
• Lead major decisions on test tooling, automation investment, and release‑quality processes.
• Mentor senior QA engineers; raise the quality bar across multiple teams.
• Drive cross‑team initiatives that reduce defect escape rate and improve release confidence.
• Partner with engineering and product leadership on multi‑quarter quality strategy.
• Own the release sign‑off process, including for fully air‑gapped / on‑prem release candidates.
• Ensure quality practices scale across managed SaaS and disconnected on‑prem deployments.

What You’ll Bring

• 10+ years of QA, test engineering, or quality architecture with a history of architectural ownership.
• At least 2 years focused on testing complex data‑driven applications, ML models, or AI agents.
• Proven track record designing test architecture and quality processes at scale.
• Expert proficiency in Python (Pytest) and standard libraries (Selenium/Playwright, Requests).
• Mentorship record — engineers you have grown now operate independently at higher levels.
• Track record of leading major quality initiatives end‑to‑end.
• Deep comfort architecting test strategy for systems that run in both managed SaaS and on‑premises / disconnected air‑gapped environments.

Nice to have

• Conference speaking, technical writing, or industry thought leadership.
• Open‑source test tooling contributions.
• Arabic language skills.

Why AI71?

• Final Line of Defence: You define whether an AI agent is “trusted” to negotiate a contract or design a critical system component in a safety‑critical environment.

• Tax‑Free Compensation: A market‑leading, 100% tax‑free salary and benefits package.

• Full Relocation Support: Comprehensive assistance including flights, housing support, and visa sponsorship for you and your family to Abu Dhabi.

• Pioneering Work: Set the global standard for how organisations validate intelligent systems using world‑leading models.