Lead Software Development Engineer

Our core UI test automation stack includes :

- Playwright (primary UI automation framework)

- TypeScript (primary language for test development)

- Jest (for unit testing and test utilities)

- Docker and Kubernetes (for containerized test environments)

- GitHub Actions (for CI/CD)

- Karate (for E2E API Testing)

Key Responsibilities :

- Provide technical leadership, mentorship, and guidance to the UI SDET/QA engineering team

- Lead the design, implementation, and maintenance of Playwright-based UI automation frameworks

- Architect and enforce the use of the Page Object Model (POM) and data-driven testing paradigms for UI automation

- Design and own comprehensive test plans in partnership with Product Owners to align testing strategies and automation scripts with BDD delivery practices

- Ensure UI test suites are maintainable, reliable, efficient, and scalable

- Drive adoption of best practices for reducing flakiness, increasing speed, and ensuring meaningful assertions in UI tests

- Establish and maintain robust regression testing processes to ensure ongoing UI quality

- Implement feedback loops from test results and production issues to continuously improve test coverage and effectiveness

- Drive the evolution and refactoring of UI test suites to adapt to product changes, reduce technical debt, and maximize long-term value

- Champion a culture of quality, rapid feedback, and continuous improvement throughout the SDLC

- Drive a TDD (Test-Driven Development) culture across the UI engineering team, including promoting learning and adoption of test automation by all engineers

- Collaborate closely with product, development, UX, and DevOps teams to deliver integrated, high-quality solutions

- Lead the adoption of modern UI testing tools, frameworks, and best practices

- Drive root cause analysis and continuous improvement for UI defects and quality issues

- Ensure engineering rigor, code quality, and effective documentation in all UI test assets

- Facilitate clear communication, knowledge sharing, and effective documentation within the team

- Support team growth through coaching, feedback, and skills development

Core Qualities Skills :

- Proven experience leading UI SDET or QA engineering teams and delivering complex UI automation projects

- Deep expertise in Playwright and the Page Object Model for UI automation

- Experience with data-driven testing approaches for UI, including test data creation and test data management, with knowledge of BDD frameworks and practices

- Demonstrated ability to deliver maintainable, reliable, and efficient UI test suites

- Strong understanding of explicit waits, robust locator strategies, and atomic test design

- Experience with test reporting and analyticsfor UI automation

- Experience with risk-based testing and exploratory testing for UI

- Strong programming and scripting skills in TypeScript

- Experience with CI/CD pipelines and integrating UI automated tests into the SDLC

- Strong collaboration and alignment skills across disciplines

- Willingness to learn,share knowledge, and adapt to evolving technologies

- System design skills and awareness of technical debt and tradeoffs in UI test automation

- Excellent communication, documentation, and stakeholder management abilities

- Comfort with ambiguity, discovery, and rapid change

- Commitment to engineering excellence, security, and responsible practices

Preferred Qualifications :

years of hands-on UI SDET, QA, or software engineering experience, with 2+ years in a technical leadership role

- Track record of architecting and delivering scalable, reliable UI automation systems

- Experience with modern development and testing practices (CI/CD, automated testing, code reviews)

- Demonstrated ability to mentor and grow engineers

- Experience working in cross-functional, agile teams

- Highly Desirable

- Experience testing non-deterministic systems, AI/ML outputs, or GenAI-powered UI features

- Experience using AI to accelerate the SDLC, UI test automation, and quality analysis

- Experience with test strategies for non-deterministic, probabilistic, or data-driven UI systems

- Experience with containerization (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes) for UI test environments

- Familiarity with the Test Pyramid and balancing UI, integration, and unit tests

- Experience thriving in fast-paced, ambiguous environments and balancing rapid delivery with technical excellence

- Experience leading or working with distributed, multidisciplinary teams