Lead Software Development Engineer in Test

Job description Founding Teams is an AI accelerator & Talent platform. We are supporting the next generation of AI startup founders with the resources they need including engineering, product, sales, marketing and operations staff to create and launch their product. The ideal candidate will have a passion for next generation AI tech startups and working with great global startup talent. Role Overview We are seeking an experienced Lead Software Development Engineer in Test (Lead SDET) to design, develop, and drive a robust automated testing strategy across complex, scalable systems. This role is responsible for building modern test frameworks, advising on quality architecture, and embedding quality engineering into every stage of the SDLC. You will work at the intersection of software engineering, test architecture, DevOps, and quality strategy, leading both technically and strategically in ensuring high-performance, secure, and resilient systems. You will mentor SDETs and QA engineers, partner with developers and product managers, and champion a “quality-first” culture across the organisation. Key Responsibilities Strategy & Leadership Define and own the overall test automation strategy across web, API, mobile, microservices, and data platforms Lead and mentor a team of SDETs and QA engineers Set testing standards, best practices, coding standards, and governance Drive shift-left and shift-right testing strategies Influence overall engineering practices to improve reliability and scalability Test Architecture & Automation Design, build, and maintain scalable automated test frameworks Implement CI/CD-integrated automated testing pipelines Develop performance, security, reliability, and chaos tests Build custom testing tools and productivity utilities when required Ensure test frameworks support containerised, cloud-native environments Hands-on Development Write and maintain high-quality test automation code Review test code and provide technical oversight Champion maintainable, extensible, and reusable frameworks Participate in root-cause analysis and post-incident reviews Quality Assurance & Risk Management Define test strategies for complex systems including: Distributed systems Microservices AI/ML pipelines High-availability platforms Ensure production readiness for releases Establish and monitor quality metrics (defect escape rate, coverage, MTTR, etc.) Cross-functional Collaboration Work closely with software engineers, DevOps, architects, and product teams Participate in design reviews, sprint planning, and backlog refinement Act as the quality engineering voice in senior-level technical discussions Required Skills & Experience 5+ years in software development and/or test automation 3+ years in a lead or senior SDET role Strong programming experience in at least one language: Python / Java / C# / JavaScript / Go Extensive experience creating and scaling automation frameworks from scratch Expertise in: API testing (REST, GraphQL) UI automation (Playwright, Selenium, Cypress) Performance testing (JMeter, k6, Gatling) CI/CD integration (GitHub Actions, Jenkins, GitLab CI) Test containerisation / Docker Strong experience in cloud platforms: AWS / Azure / GCP Strong understanding of: Microservices architecture Distributed systems System design principles DevOps and Site Reliability Engineering concepts Excellent problem-solving and leadership abilities Nice-to-Have / Premium Skills Experience testing AI/ML systems, models, or data pipelines Experience in regulated industries (defence, fintech, healthcare) Knowledge of security testing and penetration testing tools Experience with chaos engineering (Gremlin, Litmus, etc.) Experience in Kubernetes-based environments Exposure to observability tools (Prometheus, Grafana, Datadog)