Lead Quality Test Automation Engineer

Intone Inc; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 165,000 - 248,000; Full time

Job summary

Intone Inc. in Boston seeks a Lead Quality Test Automation Engineer for a hands-on contract role guiding QA across mission-critical trading tech and asset management platforms.

You will own quality strategy, lead automation efforts, and mentor a team of ~20 QE pros, with a ~70/30 split between hands-on work and leadership. Expect collaboration across onshore/offshore teams and evolving CI/CD integration.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field
• 8+ years of QE/testing experience
• Proven experience leading QE efforts or managing QE teams
• Deep expertise across functional, performance, and end-to-end testing
• Strong hands-on automation with Java development or Java-based automation
• Working knowledge of BDD frameworks and Gherkin/BDD syntax
• Hands-on experience building and maintaining CI/CD pipelines, preferably Jenkins
• Cloud exposure; AWS is ideal, but any cloud platform is acceptable
• Expertise with Playwright for UI testing automation
• Experience leveraging AI-assisted development and testing tools (Claude, Copilot, etc.)
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and leadership skills
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to influence stakeholders across levels
• Based in Boston as the primary location

Responsibilities

• Define and drive the overall quality engineering strategy across applications and initiatives
• Own and evolve test and automation strategies, ensuring alignment with architecture and business goals
• Lead end-to-end test design, execution, and automation across multiple workstreams
• Drive development and adoption of scalable automation frameworks and best practices
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to QE engineers; guide design and execution
• Collaborate with business, product, and engineering teams to translate complex requirements into effective test strategies
• Establish and enforce quality gates and release standards across the SDLC
• Proactively identify, track, and mitigate delivery risks and quality issues
• Lead efforts to diagnose and resolve performance, scalability, and stability issues in complex systems
• Champion QE best practices, innovation, and continuous improvement, including AI-driven testing solutions
• Lead proof-of-concepts (POCs) for new tools, frameworks, and automation approaches
• Drive and optimize CI/CD integration, enabling continuous testing and faster, reliable releases
• Collaborate effectively across onshore and offshore teams, ensuring alignment and delivery consistency

Skills

QE leadership

Test automation

Java automation

BDD/Gherkin

CI/CD

Cloud AWS

Performance testing

AI-assisted testing

Mentorship

Stakeholder influence

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Playwright

Jenkins

Java

BDD

Gherkin

AWS

Job description

We are seeking a Lead Quality Test Automation Engineer for a contract position in Boston, Massachusetts. This is a hands‑on leadership role supporting mission‑critical trading technology applications within an asset management environment. You will own quality engineering strategy, lead test automation efforts across multiple initiatives, and mentor a team of approximately 20 QE professionals. The role is 70% hands‑on technical work and 30% leadership and strategic direction, based in Boston with occasional flexibility for Needham.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive the overall quality engineering strategy across applications and initiatives
• Own and evolve test and automation strategies, ensuring alignment with architecture and business goals
• Lead end‑to‑end test design, execution, and automation across multiple workstreams
• Drive the development and adoption of scalable automation frameworks and best practices
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to QE engineers; guide design and execution
• Collaborate with business, product, and engineering teams to translate complex requirements into effective test strategies
• Establish and enforce quality gates and release standards across the SDLC
• Proactively identify, track, and mitigate delivery risks and quality issues, providing regular updates to stakeholders
• Lead efforts to diagnose and resolve performance, scalability, and stability issues in complex systems
• Champion QE best practices, innovation, and continuous improvement, including adoption of AI‑driven testing solutions
• Lead proof‑of‑concepts (POCs) for new tools, frameworks, and automation approaches
• Drive and optimize CI/CD integration, enabling continuous testing and faster, reliable releases
• Collaborate effectively across onshore and offshore teams, ensuring alignment and delivery consistency

Qualifications

• Required

  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field
  • 8+ years of QE/testing experience
  • Proven experience leading QE efforts or managing QE teams
  • Deep expertise across multiple testing types, including functional, performance, and end‑to‑end
  • Strong hands‑on automation experience with Java development or Java‑based automation
  • Working knowledge of BDD frameworks and Gherkin/BDD syntax
  • Strong understanding of software engineering practices, design principles, and coding standards
  • Hands‑on experience building and maintaining CI/CD pipelines, preferably Jenkins
  • Cloud exposure; AWS is ideal, but any cloud platform is acceptable
  • Expertise with Playwright for UI testing automation
  • Experience leveraging AI‑assisted development and testing tools (such as Claude, GitHub Copilot, or building/testing agents)
  • Strong analytical, problem‑solving, and leadership skills
  • Excellent communication skills with the ability to influence stakeholders across levels
  • Based in Boston as the primary location

• Preferred

  • Trading technology domain exposure, ideally Order Management Systems (OMS), pre‑trade, post‑trade, or broader asset management experience
  • Experience managing or coordinating work across onshore and offshore teams
  • Proficiency in Java or other programming languages