Products & Systems Integration QA Lead (SDET)

About

We are seeking a hands-on QA Lead / SDET to build and own the test automation and quality strategy from the ground up within a Product Management Office. This role will act as the technical authority on quality across both proprietary software products and complex 3rd-party system integrations, ensuring reliability, scalability, and seamless system performance.

Day-to-Day Responsibilities

• Build and own the end-to-end QA strategy, including defining standards, frameworks, and "definition of done”
• Design, develop, and maintain scalable automation frameworks for UI, API, and integration testing
• Lead testing efforts across internal products and 3rd-party system integrations
• Perform API and data-layer validation to ensure system integrity across environments
• Establish and enforce quality governance across multiple workstreams
• Collaborate with product, engineering, and leadership to align testing with business priorities
• Identify and communicate system risks, defects, and release readiness to stakeholders
• Select and manage QA tools, test environments, and reporting frameworks
• Lead and mentor a small QA team (2-3 engineers) while remaining hands-on

Requirements

Must-Have Skills/Experiences

• 7+ years of experience in SDET, QA Automation, or Software Engineering roles
• 2+ years of experience in a lead, mentor, or team leadership capacity
• Strong programming experience in Java or Kotlin
• Deep experience building and scaling test automation frameworks (not just executing tests)
• Hands-on experience with Selenium or similar automation tools
• Experience with API testing (REST/SOAP) and integration testing across systems
• Strong SQL skills for data validation and backend testing
• Solid understanding of software engineering and testing best practices
• Proven ability to operate independently and build processes from scratch

Nice-to-Have Skills/Experiences

• Background in software engineering beyond testing (true dev-to-SDET path)
• Experience testing systems that integrate with 3rd-party or COTS platforms
• Familiarity with cloud environments and CI/CD pipelines
• Understanding of networking, infrastructure, and distributed systems
• Experience in mission-critical or systems-heavy environments (e.g., security, infrastructure, automation)
• Exposure to systems engineering concepts such as V-model or integration testing at scale