QE Automation Engineer Lead

firstPRO US; Arlington (VA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

firstPRO US partners with a growing fintech and commercial lending platform to stand up a modern Quality Engineering practice in Arlington, VA. The QE Automation Lead will drive automation strategy and architect scalable frameworks using Playwright with TypeScript across UI, API, integration, and data validation layers.

The role requires hands-on expertise, CI/CD integration, and a passion for shifting left.

Qualifications

• 8+ years in software quality engineering with leadership experience.
• Hands-on expertise building and scaling test automation with Playwright + TypeScript.
• Strong API testing, backend validation, and SQL/data management skills.
• Experience influencing distributed teams and defining automation strategy.

Responsibilities

• Define and own automation strategy, roadmap, and quality direction across streams.
• Architect scalable automation frameworks and reusable test libraries across UI/API/data layers.
• Integrate automated tests and quality gates into CI/CD pipelines.
• Establish standards for test architecture, reviews, data management, branching, and reporting.
• Drive shift-left quality with improved story testability and in-sprint automation.
• Lead transition from manual regression to automated suites, expanding coverage.
• Define and track metrics like defect escape, flaky tests, speed, and coverage trends.
• Perform root cause and risk analysis for defects across environments and data.
• Mentor and lead quality engineers across distributed teams.
• Explore emerging tools, containerized testing, and AI-assisted automation.

Skills

Technical leadership

Quality engineering

Test automation

Shift-left quality

Test strategy

Mentoring

Tools

Playwright

TypeScript

API testing

SQL

Jira

Confluence

Zephyr Scale

Git

AWS

Docker

K6

JMeter

Job description

A growing fintech and commercial lending platform is standing up a modern Quality Engineering practice centered on automated regression, continuous testing, and release readiness.

We are seeking a hands on QE Automation Lead to drive the technical automation strategy, architect scalable frameworks from the ground up, and elevate engineering standards across distributed delivery teams. In this role, you will partner closely with Architecture, Product, DevOps, and Development to shift from manual verification to robust, pipeline-gated automated quality gates.

What You Will Do

• Define & Own Strategy: Lead the automation strategy, technical roadmap, and quality direction across multiple product delivery streams.
• Architect Frameworks: Design, build, and maintain scalable, reusable automation frameworks and test libraries using Playwright with TypeScript across UI, API, integration, and data validation layers.
• Integrate with CI/CD: Embed automated test execution and quality gates directly into CI/CD pipelines to provide rapid feedback and enforce automation within the Definition of Done.
• Establish Standards: Set best practices for test architecture, code reviews, test data management, branching, maintainability, and reporting.
• Drive Shift-Left Quality: Collaborate with Product and Engineering to improve story testability, acceptance criteria, and in-sprint automation.
• Transition Legacy Testing: Lead the systematic shift from manual regression to automated suites, capturing edge cases and retiring manual effort as coverage expands.
• Make Quality Measurable: Define and track key engineering metrics, including defect escape rates, flaky test frequency, execution speed, pass rates, and coverage trends.
• Root Cause & Risk Analysis: Direct root cause analysis for recurring or complex defects, isolating environment, data, application, and test issues.
• Mentor & Lead: Guide, pair with, and coach quality engineers across distributed teams to raise technical capabilities and code quality.
• Explore Emerging Tools: Evaluate and safely adopt modern testing tools, containerized environments, and AI-assisted automation techniques.

What You Bring

• 8+ years of experience in software quality engineering, with at least 3 years providing technical leadership or driving automation initiatives across multiple engineering teams.
• Advanced hands-on experience designing, developing, and scaling test automation frameworks using Playwright and TypeScript.
• Strong proficiency in API testing, service integration, backend validation, SQL, and robust test data management.
• Practical background testing full-stack applications and enterprise platforms (such as Salesforce).
• Solid grasp of software architecture, object-oriented design patterns, clean coding standards, and maintainable test structures.
• Proven ability to influence, align, and mentor distributed teams without relying solely on direct reporting lines.
• Strong communication skills with experience presenting quality metrics, release risks, and trade-offs to technical and business stakeholders.
• Strong working knowledge of Agile/Scrum, DevOps, Jira, Confluence, Zephyr Scale, and Git-based workflows.
• Experience in financial services, fintech, or regulated, high-availability environments is a strong plus.

Preferred / Nice-to-Have Skills

• Experience with additional languages and frameworks such as Python, Java, Selenium, Cypress, Rest Assured, or Pytest.
• Experience migrating legacy automation frameworks to Playwright.
• Familiarity with AWS cloud services, Docker/containerized test execution, and observability tools.
• Performance testing experience with k6 or JMeter, along with web accessibility standards.
• Experience leveraging generative or AI-assisted testing tools for test design and maintenance.
• Industry certifications (ISTQB, AWS, Agile, or DevOps).