A-10/9 - 8377 - Software QA Automation Lead - - Contract to Hire - Must be Local to AZ Only

Job Description

Job Description

• *** Contract to Hire - This position is not eligible for visa sponsorship, either now or in the future. ***

  ** Hybrid work model, mostly remote; on-site in Phoenix, AZ for design/whiteboard session as needed.

  Candidate must currently reside in Arizona – no relocation allowed. Candidate must attend an in-person interview. Candidate must provide AZ Driver’s License as proof of residency.

  Candidate must use their own personal laptop with a Windows workstation for remote access.

  Candidate must work AZ time zone business hours. All work must be completed in the United States . **

  Our direct client has an opening for a Software QA Automation Lead # 8377. This position is for 6 months contract to hire and will be worked in a hybrid schedule on-site in Phoenix, AZ as needed – however mostly remote. All work must be completed in the United States.

  If you are interested, please submit the following:

  YOUR CURRENT RESUME

  YOUR HOURLY RATE Rate Range is $50-63/hr W2 or $55-67/hr Corp to Corp – Direct with candidate ONLY – No Subcontractors Allowed

  Below is the job description – Resumes due ASAP – Resumes Due by Monday, October 13

  Required Skills:

  3+ years in a technical leadership or lead automation engineer role. MUST have Leadership experience

  Behavior-Driven Development (BDD) using Gherkin or Cucumber

  JavaScript, PowerShell, Python, Bash, or Ruby experience

  Experience with Spring Framework

  Preferred Skills:

  Grafana experience

  Container Architecture: Docker or Kubernetes

  Experience with Azure, AWS, or GCP

  Maven

  AI experience

  Jira

  Confluence

  Description:

  Lead the quality platform behind mission-critical software at ASRS. Partner directly with architects to fix today’s framework pain, modernize our stack, and hard-wire a true shift-left culture—while piloting AI-assisted testing to boost coverage, speed, and confidence.

  What You’ll Do

  • Own the quality platform: Set strategy, architecture, and standards for automation—Java today, with pragmatic evolution to modern UI/API automation where it improves reliability.

  • Embed quality early: Drive PR-level tests, contract/API checks, and CI/CD quality gates for rapid, trusted developer feedback.

  • Apply AI where it counts: Use AI/LLM-assisted test generation, self-healing locators, flake triage, and test-impact analysis to reduce toil and raise signal.

  • Simplify the SDLC: With DevOps, streamline pipelines, test data management, environment provisioning, and release guardrails for faster flow.

  • Solve hard problems with architects: Tackle cross-cutting issues (auth, data, performance, flakiness) and retire tech debt with durable solutions.

  • Build the right tests: Expand reliable web/UI, API, and integration coverage; harden environments and test data.

  • Coach and elevate: Mentor QA engineers, review automation code, and set standards for readability, reliability, and maintainability.

  • Measure what matters: Stand up live dashboards (coverage, pass/fail, flakiness, MTTR) to inform decisions and continuously raise the bar.

  • Own root cause: Lead deep-dive debugging across test and prod, driving prevention—not just fixes.

  Your Toolbox (What We Use & Value)

  • Languages/Frameworks: Java, JUnit, Maven; BDD with Cucumber/Gherkin.

  • Automation: Selenium WebDriver (today); informed experience with Playwright (Java/TypeScript) a plus.

  • CI/CD & SCM: Jenkins, GitHub Actions; GitHub for collaboration.

  • Observability & Metrics: Grafana (quality and performance dashboards).

  • Backend/Platform context: Spring Boot/Spring Security; Oracle DB; FileNet/content systems.

  • Scripting: PowerShell or similar for utilities.

  • Quality practices: Testing pyramid, risk-based design, code reviews, and environment parity.

  Where We’re Headed (And Where You’ll Lead)

  • GitHub-native CI/CD: Standardize on GitHub pipelines for frequent, automated deployments—define branch strategy, environment promotions, and reusable workflows that make shipping safe by default.

  • Reliable testing for high velocity: Build a strategy that scales with cadence—PR checks, contract/API tests, fast UI smoke suites, test-impact analysis, deterministic data & ephemeral envs, parallelization, and rigorous flake control.

  • AI-assisted, data-driven quality: Apply LLM-assisted test generation/self-healing and enforce quality gates backed by live dashboards (coverage, flakiness, MTTR, DORA) to boost signal and confidence.

  • Framework evolution (tool-agnostic): Evaluate and pilot modern UI/API automation options against clear criteria (reliability, speed, parity, maintainability, ROI) and recommend phased adoption that protects delivery.

  What You Bring

  • 10+ years in QA/automation with 5+ years leading/architecting frameworks.

  • Proven success embedding automated quality gates into CI/CD for high-velocity releases.

  • Track record mentoring engineers and raising the bar on code quality and test design.

  • Comfort collaborating with architects and senior engineers on systemic quality problems.

  Nice-To-Have

  • Experience introducing AI tooling (e.g., Copilot, test-gen, self-healing) into real teams.

  • Performance, security, or contract-testing exposure.

  Work Setup & Logistics

  • Hybrid: Mostly remote; design/whiteboard sessions in Phoenix as needed.

  • Equipment: Personal laptop required; Windows workstation provided for remote access.

  • Eligibility: Must be AZ-local and able to work for any U.S. employer (no sponsorship).