Principal Quality Engineer

Hiscox; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 115,000 - 135,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) with company match

Comprehensive health insurance

Sabbatical after 5 years

Paid time off

Job summary

Hiscox in Boston, MA is seeking a Principal Quality Engineer to advance testing through automation and AI-driven strategies. You will lead automation frameworks across UI, API, and integration layers, driving an automation-first culture and partnering with Dev and Security to embed testing early in the lifecycle.

The role demands 10+ years in software test automation with 5+ years in a principal or lead capacity, deep TypeScript, Playwright, and Cucumber expertise, and strong CI/CD knowledge.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in software test automation or software engineering, with at least 5+ years in a principal or lead role.
• Strong hands-on expertise with TypeScript, Playwright, Cucumber, and modern automation frameworks.
• Solid understanding of CI/CD pipelines, cloud-native testing, and DevOps-aligned QA workflows.
• Experience designing automation frameworks from scratch and scaling them across teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead design, implementation, and evolution of automation frameworks across UI, API, integration, and regression layers.
• Own test strategy for assigned value streams and ensure alignment with CI/CD pipelines.
• Build scalable, reusable automation frameworks and integrate tests into CI/CD (GitHub Actions, Jenkins, Azure DevOps).
• Define standards for test data management, mocking, and service virtualization.
• Track quality indicators like automation coverage, flakiness, performance trends, and release readiness.
• Lead enablement sessions on Playwright, Cucumber, and TypeScript best practices.

Skills

Automation leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

CI/CD pipelines

Agile/SAFe experience

Performance testing

API testing

Observability

Test strategy

Tools

Playwright

Cucumber

TypeScript

Job description

**Principal Quality Engineer**We are seeking an innovative Principal Quality Engineer who will advance our testing capabilities through modern automation and AI-driven methodologies. This position is responsible for establishing an automation-centric approach, designing sophisticated test frameworks, and ensuring quality is integrated throughout the software development lifecycle by utilizing artificial intelligence for efficient test generation, anomaly detection, and predictive analytics.Reporting directly to the Director of Quality Engineering, the successful candidate will support and guide scrum teams, exemplify best practices, and champion ongoing improvement initiatives. The ideal applicant will demonstrate a strong commitment to scalable automation, effective cross-functional collaboration, leveraging AI in testing strategies, and addressing complex testing scenarios.**Key Responsibility Areas:****Quality Engineering Leadership & Execution:*** Lead the design, implementation, and evolution of **automation frameworks** using **Playwright, and Cucumber**.* Drive an **automation‐first mindset**, ensuring new features are supported by robust automated tests across UI, API, integration, and regression layers.* Partner with developers to improve code quality through testability reviews, shift‐left practices, and continuous testing.* Own test strategy for assigned value streams, ensuring coverage, reliability, and alignment with CI/CD pipelines.**Framework & Tooling Ownership:*** Build and maintain scalable, reusable automation frameworks that support multiple teams and applications.* Integrate automated tests into modern CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, Jenkins, Azure DevOps, or similar).* Establish standards for test data management, mocking, and service virtualization.* Evaluate and introduce new tools that improve speed, stability, and observability of automated tests.**Process Engineering & Quality Governance:*** Define and enforce best practices for test automation, defect triage, root‐cause analysis, and quality gates.* Partner with QE leadership to standardize tooling, reporting, and quality metrics across teams.* Track and communicate key quality indicators such as automation coverage, flakiness, performance trends, and release readiness.**Cross‐Functional Collaboration & Enablement:*** Work closely with Engineering, Product, Architecture, and Security to embed testing early in the development lifecycle.* Lead enablement sessions on Playwright, Cucumber, TypeScript best practices, and continuous testing.* Support performance testing, security testing, and observability initiatives as needed.**Qualifications:*** 10+ years of experience in software test automation or software engineering, with at least 5+ years in a principal or lead role.* Deep hands‐on expertise with **TypeScript**, **Playwright**, **Cucumber**, and modern automation frameworks.* Strong understanding of **CI/CD pipelines**, cloud‐native application testing, and DevOps‐aligned QA workflows.* Experience designing automation frameworks from scratch and scaling them across teams.* Solid understanding of performance testing, API testing, and test observability tools.* Familiarity with Agile/SAFe practices; insurance or financial services domain experience is a plus.* Excellent communication, collaboration, and technical leadership skills.**What We Offer:*** Competitive salary and bonus (based on personal & company performance)* 401(k) with competitive company matching* Comprehensive health insurance, vision, dental and FSA plans (medical, limited purpose, and dependent care)* Company paid group term life, short- term disability and long-term disability coverage* 24 Paid time off days plus 2 Hiscox days, 10 paid holidays plus 1 paid floating holiday, and ability to purchase 5 PTO days* Paid parental leave* 4 week paid sabbatical after every 5 years of service* Financial Adoption Assistance and Medical Travel Reimbursement Programs* Annual reimbursement up to $600 for health club membership or fees associated with any fitness program* Company paid subscription to Headspace to support employees’ mental health and wellbeing* Recipient of 2024 Cigna’s Well-Being Award for having a best-in-class health and wellness program* Dynamic, creative and values-driven culture* Modern and open office spaces, complimentary drinks* Spirit of volunteerism, social responsibility and community involvement, including matching charitable donations for qualifying non-profits via our sister non-profit company, the Hiscox USA Foundation**Salary: $115-$135k***The actual salary for this position will be determined by a number of factors, including the scope, complexity and location of the role; the skills, education, training, credentials and experience of the candidate; and other conditions of employment.***\\*\\*Please note that this position is hybrid and requires two (2) days in our office weekly\\*\\***