Technical QA and Automation Lead

AIS (Applied Information Sciences); Virginia; Remote; USD 116,000 - 175,000; Full time

Job summary

Applied Information Sciences is seeking a Lead QA Engineer to drive the technical QA and automation strategy for a large cloud migration. The role emphasizes hands-on framework development, risk-based testing, and mentorship of QA engineers across Azure and AWS environments.

The position is remote, contingent on contract award, with a focus on defining test strategies, quality gates, and reliable automation to support enterprise projects for our clients.

Qualifications

• US Citizen or right to work in the United States.
• Minimum eight years of quality engineering or software testing experience, including automation framework design.
• Experience developing enterprise test strategies, quality gates, and technical acceptance criteria.
• Experience with cloud testing, including validating migrated or cloud-hosted applications.
• Strong experience with enterprise test management, requirements traceability, and automated test reporting.
• Hands-on ability to build an automation framework and guide other QA engineers.
• Ability to work on complex problems and coordinate a multi-disciplinary team.

Responsibilities

• Defines the enterprise test strategy, quality gates, and technical acceptance criteria for migrated applications.
• Designs and establishes the initial automation framework and reusable test utilities used across the migration teams.
• Guides and coaches the Cloud Migration Test Automation Engineers, reviewing their test plans, results, and acceptance evidence.
• Oversees requirements traceability, test cases, and acceptance evidence in the program's test management tools.
• Integrates automated testing and reporting into CI/CD pipelines to support repeatable execution.
• Oversees technical validation of migrated applications across Azure and AWS environments.
• Reviews technical acceptance packages and provides Go/No-Go recommendations.
• Reports quality metrics, risks, and trends to program leadership.

Skills

Automation framework design

Quality engineering

Test planning

Cloud testing

CI/CD integration

Tools

Jama Connect

Job description

Why AIS?

When you join AIS, you’re joining a mission‑driven team that’s passionate about making a difference. You’ll work on projects that matter, alongside industry‑leading experts, in an environment that fosters innovation, driving client success, and empowering our team to make a lasting impact. As an employee‑owned company, we value collaboration, inclusivity, continuous growth, and shared success.

• Employee Ownership: Your contributions directly impact the company’s success, and you share in its achievements.
• Continuous Learning: Access to resources, training, and mentorship to support your professional growth.
• Inclusive Culture: A workplace where diversity is celebrated, and everyone’s voice is valued.
• Mission‑Driven Work: Engage in projects that make a meaningful difference for our clients and communities.

Why AIS?

When you join AIS, you’re joining a mission‑driven team that’s passionate about making a difference. You’ll work on projects that matter, alongside industry‑leading experts, in an environment that fosters innovation, driving client success, and empowering our team to make a lasting impact. As an employee‑owned company, we value collaboration, inclusivity, continuous growth, and shared success.

• Employee Ownership: Your contributions directly impact the company’s success, and you share in its achievements.
• Continuous Learning: Access to resources, training, and mentorship to support your professional growth.
• Inclusive Culture: A workplace where diversity is celebrated, and everyone’s voice is valued.
• Mission‑Driven Work: Engage in projects that make a meaningful difference for our clients and communities.

What are we looking for?

At AIS, we’re looking for more than just skills - we’re looking for driven individuals who are passionate about making a difference, eager to grow, and aligned with our core principles.

What you will be doing?

This position is contingent upon contract award. We are currently pursuing a proposal and are seeking qualified candidates to include in our submission and identify candidates for future hiring needs on the program once awarded.

At AIS, we are dedicated to providing our employees with diverse opportunities to grow their careers while supporting a variety of impactful projects. For this position, we are seeking a talented individual to join AIS as a Lead QA Engineer.

• Core Knowledge & Skills: Develops strategic test plans, risk-based testing, advanced automation, compliance audits, and innovative testing solutions.
• Work & Complexity: Leads complex projects, creates test strategies, performs risk assessments, and mentors team members.
• Quality & Independence: Optimizes processes, defines quality metrics, ensures stakeholder satisfaction, and makes high-level decisions.
• Teamwork & Communication: Leads and mentors teams, aligns efforts with organizational goals, manages performance, and collaborates with stakeholders.
• Consulting & Engagement: Provides strategic guidance, consults on automation strategies, advises on metrics, and communicates with senior stakeholders.

As your initial project assignment, you will support the unique needs of our client as a Technical QA and Automation Lead.

Project Summary

The Technical QA and Automation Lead leads quality and technical acceptance for a large‑scale enterprise cloud migration program, moving a complex application portfolio from on‑premises data centers to Azure and AWS. The role establishes the program’s test strategy, automation framework, and quality gates, and guides the QA engineers in the migration teams. The role is hands‑on, building the initial automation framework rather than serving solely as an administrative test manager. The role is remote.

Key Responsibilities

• Defines the enterprise test strategy, quality gates, and technical acceptance criteria for migrated applications.
• Designs and establishes the initial automation framework and reusable test utilities used across the migration teams.
• Guides and coaches the Cloud Migration Test Automation Engineers, reviewing their test plans, results, and acceptance evidence and assessing their readiness.
• Oversees requirements traceability, test cases, and acceptance evidence in the program's test management tools, including Jama Connect where applicable.
• Integrates automated testing and reporting into CI/CD pipelines to support repeatable execution.
• Oversees technical validation of migrated applications, including Azure and AWS configuration, connectivity, identity, APIs, databases, performance, and reliability.
• Reviews technical acceptance packages and provides Go/No-Go recommendations.
• Reports quality metrics, risks, and trends to program leadership.

Required For This Opportunity

• US Citizen
• Minimum eight years of quality engineering or software testing experience, including automation framework design
• Experience developing enterprise test strategies, quality gates, and technical acceptance criteria
• Experience with cloud testing, including validating migrated or cloud-hosted applications
• Strong experience with enterprise test management, requirements traceability, and automated test reporting
• Hands‑on ability to build an automation framework and guide other QA engineers
• Works on increasingly complex problems, exercises independent judgment, and provides direction and coordination for a multi-disciplinary team

At AIS, we are committed to offering competitive and fair compensation that reflects the skills, experience, and contributions of each team member. The targeted base salary range for this role is $116,000-$175,000 per year. Please note that this range is provided as a guideline and the final offer will be based on several factors, including but not limited to, skillset and competencies, level of experience, education, certifications, and location. We value transparency in our hiring process and are happy to discuss how your unique qualifications align with our compensation structure during the interview process.

Applied Information Sciences does not discriminate on the basis of race, national origin, religion, color, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, protected veteran status, or any other basis. Employment decisions are based solely on qualifications, merit, and business needs.