IT Quality/Test Engineer 5 – Lead QA Specialist

American Society for Quality; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 77,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Full benefits

Health insurance

401k

Holiday pay

Job summary

Cullerton Group seeks an IT Quality/Test Engineer 5 – Lead QA Specialist to join in Chicago or Peoria, IL. This 100% onsite role on the first shift is a 12-month contract with potential for permanent placement, offering up to $68/hr plus full benefits.

Travel up to 25% may be required. The Lead QA Specialist will drive QA strategy, test planning, automation execution, defect management, and quality initiatives across a large Agile environment, coordinating with product, development, PM, and QA

Qualifications

• 10+ years of relevant experience, including at least 3 years in a QA/Test Lead role.
• Degree is not required but advantageous.
• Strong background in software testing and/or development.
• Knowledge of SDLC, Agile methodologies.
• Leadership or project management in a fast-paced cross-functional setting.
• Working knowledge of AWS, SQL, Azure DevOps (ADO), Power BI, Excel.
• Ability to design, plan, and execute testing strategies.
• Strong analytical and communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead QA strategy, test planning, and automation across projects.
• Own system, regression, integration, performance, and UAT testing.
• Own defect management and validation.
• Perform root cause analysis on high-impact issues.
• Collaborate with product, development, and QA teams.
• Independently manage complex testing in a fast-paced environment.
• Mentor QA team members and guide testing standards.

Skills

QA leadership

Test strategy

Automation testing

Cross-functional collaboration

Agile/Scrum

Data analysis

Mentoring

Tools

AWS

SQL

Azure DevOps (ADO)

Power BI

Excel

Job description

Cullerton Group has a new opportunity for an IT Quality/Test Engineer 5 – Lead QA Specialist in Chicago or Peoria, IL. The work will be 100% onsite, Monday–Friday on first shift, and candidates must already be local to the Chicago or Peoria area. This is a 12-month position that can lead to permanent employment with our client. Compensation is up to $68/hr + full benefits (vision, dental, health insurance, 401k, and holiday pay). The position may require up to 25% travel.

Job Summary

The IT Quality/Test Engineer 5 will serve as a Lead QA Specialist supporting a cross-functional engineering organization developing a new large-scale digital platform using modern technologies. This position will lead QA strategy, test planning, automation execution, defect management, and quality initiatives across multiple projects and releases. The engineer will work across a large Agile environment, collaborating with product, development, program management, and QA teams to identify critical issues and drive them through resolution.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead QA strategy, test planning, and automation execution across multiple projects and software releases.
• Lead system, regression, integration, performance, and user acceptance testing (UAT) and identify gaps in test coverage.
• Own defect management and validation, reproduce complex software defects, collect supporting artifacts, and drive issues through resolution.
• Perform root cause analysis on high-impact issues and use data and quantitative analysis to support technical and business decisions.
• Collaborate with product owners, developers, end users, and internal stakeholders to resolve issues, enhancements, and upgrades.
• Independently manage complex testing and quality assurance assignments in a fast-paced environment.
• Mentor QA team members and provide technical guidance on testing standards, tools, and best practice

Required Qualifications

• 10+ years of relevant experience, including a minimum of 3 years in a true QA/Test Lead role.
• Degree is not required, but is considered a plus.
• Strong background in software testing and/or software development.
• Strong knowledge of SDLC, Agile, Quality Assurance, and Quality Control methodologies.
• Leadership and/or project management experience within a fast-paced, cross-functional environment.
• Working knowledge of AWS, SQL, Azure DevOps (ADO), Power BI, and Excel.
• Strong understanding of software product testing and the ability to design, plan, and execute comprehensive testing strategies.
• Strong analytical, data-mining, critical-thinking, communication, and presentation skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience leading QA activities across large-scale enterprise platforms and multiple concurrent releases.
• Strong background in test automation and defect management.
• Experience working within large Agile/Scrum organizations and coordinating quality efforts across multiple teams.
• Demonstrated ability to mentor QA engineers and establish testing standards and best practices.
• Experience communicating technical quality issues and test results to multiple levels of an organization.

Why This Role?

This position offers an opportunity to take a leadership role in quality assurance for a large-scale digital platform and work alongside cross-functional engineering and product teams using modern technologies. The environment spans more than 50 Scrum teams, providing significant exposure to complex enterprise software initiatives and opportunities to influence testing strategy.