Remote QA Lead: Shift-Left & AI Testing Champion

Nicoll Curtin; Ireland; On-site; EUR 81,000 - 99,000; Full time

Job summary

Nicoll Curtin is seeking an experienced QA Lead to steer a three-person QA team within an embedded product pod, driving quality from inception through delivery. This hands-on leadership role bridges Engineering Management and QA to embed best practices, coach engineers, and ensure quality throughout the software lifecycle.

The position emphasizes shift-left quality, AI-driven workflows, and robust test strategy.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of software testing in a commercial environment
• 3+ years as QA Technical Lead or QA Team Lead
• Experience managing and developing high-performing QA teams
• Strong understanding of software architecture and quality pipelines
• Hands-on experience with AI-assisted development tools and workflows
• Experience with modern CI/CD platforms and DevOps environments
• Strong background in test automation and quality engineering practices
• Experience with tools such as Java/Python, Cypress, Stryker, Allure, PactumJS or similar
• Knowledge of performance, security, and accessibility testing methodologies

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of three Quality Engineers
• Manage goal setting, performance reviews, and day-to-day team leadership
• Act as the primary escalation point for quality-related challenges
• Champion quality during feature specification and planning activities
• Define and improve testing frameworks, guardrails, and quality standards used by AI coding agents
• Review and validate automated tests using techniques such as mutation testing
• Mentor developers and QA engineers on test effectiveness and quality engineering best practices
• Drive continuous improvement by incorporating lessons learned into testing standards and processes
• Support exploratory testing, end-to-end testing, and challenging quality scenarios when required
• Promote performance, security, accessibility, and reliability testing practices
• Collaborate with Product Managers, Engineers, and cross-functional teams to build quality into delivery from the outset

Skills

Test Strategy

Shift-Left Testing

AI Coding Agents

Test Automation

Performance Testing

Security Testing

Accessibility Testing

CI/CD & DevOps

Tools

Java

Python

Cypress

Stryker

Allure

PactumJS

Job description

Nicoll Curtin is seeking an experienced QA Lead to steer a three-person QA team within an embedded product pod, driving quality from inception through delivery. This hands-on leadership role bridges Engineering Management and QA to embed best practices, coach engineers, and ensure quality throughout the software lifecycle.

The position emphasizes shift-left quality, AI-driven workflows, and robust test strategy.