QA Automation Lead

The Recruitment Company Australia; Leinster; On-site; EUR 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

The Recruitment Company Australia is seeking a QA Automation Lead for a fully remote, Ireland-based six-month contract. You will shape and implement the automation strategy, improve test coverage and mentor junior QAs while collaborating with Development and DevOps to embed testing across the tech stack.

Strong hands-on experience with Playwright and performance testing is required, along with the ability to communicate clearly with stakeholders and to balance strategic planning with hands-on

Qualifications

• 7+ years in QA Automation with leadership experience.
• Strong hands-on automation, preferably Playwright.
• Experience building and implementing QA strategy and plans.
• Exposure to performance/load testing approaches.
• Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines and testing integration.
• Ability to communicate with Developers and DevOps teams.
• Hands-on and strategic thinking to improve automation coverage.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design and implementation of the QA automation strategy.
• Mentor junior QAs and drive best practices across teams.
• Collaborate with Development and DevOps to embed testing in CI/CD.
• Build and improve automation frameworks from scratch.
• Identify gaps, bottlenecks and raise QA perspectives in delivery.

Skills

QA Automation

QA Leadership

Playwright

Performance testing

Gatling

CI/CD integration

Stakeholder comms

Strategic QA

Tools

Spring Boot

Gatling

Job description

QA Automation Lead – 6 Month Contract

Fully remote, must be based in Ireland
Newly created role within a growing SaaS business Initial 6-month contract with a strong day rate, high extension chance Opportunity to have a genuine impact on the company’s QA strategy

QA Automation Lead required for a fully remote 6-month contract, with an opportunity to make a real impact within a small but established SaaS business experiencing significant demand and growth.

As part of their 2027 growth strategy, the company has identified a need to significantly improve QA coverage and automation. They are therefore looking to bring in a senior QA professional who can help shape and implement their automation strategy, improve test coverage, mentor junior QAs and work closely with the Development and DevOps teams to embed effective testing practices across the technology estate.

This is a hands‑on QA leadership role and would suit someone who enjoys being close to the technology. You’ll have the opportunity to build and improve automation frameworks from the ground up, while also working across the wider engineering function to understand bottlenecks, identify gaps and provide a strong QA perspective on development and delivery.

The technology environment is particularly interesting, with modern applications built on a Spring Boot microservices architecture, alongside Machine Learning and LLM technologies. This is a genuinely modern SaaS environment where there is plenty of scope to influence how QA is approached going forward.

Desired Skills & Experience

• 7+ years’ experience in QA Automation, including experience building automation frameworks from scratch


• Previous experience operating in a QA Lead / Senior QA capacity, with a strong understanding of QA strategy, planning and best practice


• Strong hands‑on automation experience, ideally with Playwright or a similar modern framework


• Experience developing performance / load testing solutions would be highly beneficial


• Exposure to Gatling would be advantageous but is not essential


• Strong understanding of QA planning across regression, integration and UAT


• Strong experience working closely with DevOps teams and integrating automated testing into CI/CD pipelines


• Ability to communicate effectively with Developers, DevOps and other technical stakeholders


• A hands‑on approach with the ability to operate strategically while still getting into the detail