Lead Quality Assurance Analyst

Lead Quality Assurance Analyst

Are you a senior Quality Assurance professional who enjoys leading testing strategy while still remaining hands-on technically? Do you thrive in environments where quality, process improvement, and collaboration directly impact enterprise-wide technology initiatives?

A large, well-established organization headquartered in Buffalo, NY is seeking a Lead Quality Assurance Analyst to join its Information Technology team. This position offers a salary range of $95,000-$130,000, depending on experience, and is an excellent opportunity for a senior QA professional looking to lead testing strategy while helping modernize enterprise quality assurance practices.

This role combines hands-on testing responsibilities with leadership and strategic oversight. The Lead QA Analyst will work closely with developers, business analysts, and stakeholders to improve testing methodologies, release quality, automation adoption, and AI-assisted QA processes across enterprise applications and integrations.

The ideal Lead Quality Assurance Analyst candidate will bring strong experience in both manual and automated testing environments, enterprise systems, defect management, and QA leadership. Experience incorporating AI/LLM technologies into QA workflows is highly valued.

This organization offers long-term career growth, strong internal promotion opportunities, excellent benefits, and a collaborative team-oriented culture.

This is an in-person onsite position in Buffalo, NY.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a hands-on QA Lead, designing, executing, and reviewing manual and automated tests across enterprise systems
• Lead QA strategy, planning, execution, defect management, and release readiness activities
• Participate in requirements reviews, design discussions, and sprint planning to improve quality earlier in the development lifecycle
• Design and execute end-to-end test plans validating integrations, workflows, batch jobs, and data integrity
• Develop and maintain test case libraries, procedures, and QA documentation
• Coordinate and support System Integration Testing (SIT) and User Acceptance Testing (UAT) activities
• Drive adoption of test automation frameworks and AI-assisted QA methodologies where appropriate
• Define QA standards, release criteria, regression strategies, and testing governance processes
• Mentor and coach QA team members on testing techniques, defect analysis, and best practices
• Collaborate closely with developers, analysts, and stakeholders to improve overall delivery quality

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field (or equivalent experience)
• 10+ years of software quality assurance experience
• 2+ years in a lead or senior QA role
• Experience testing enterprise applications or ERP systems (SAP, People Soft, Service Now, or similar)
• Strong expertise in manual testing methodologies and defect management
• Experience with JIRA, Zephyr Scale, or similar QA/test management tools
• Experience incorporating AI/LLM technologies into QA workflows preferred
• Strong communication, leadership, and mentoring skills
• Experience with automation frameworks, API testing, CI/CD, or scripting languages is a plus

What Makes Someone Successful in This Role

• Strong balance of hands-on technical QA work and leadership capabilities
• Ability to think strategically while remaining detail-oriented
• Comfortable improving processes and introducing modern QA methodologies
• Strong collaboration and communication skills across technical and business teams
• Mentorship mindset with ability to support and elevate team members
• Curiosity around emerging technologies, automation, and AI-assisted testing

Compensation & Benefits

• Salary range: $95,000-$130,000, depending on experience
• Medical, dental, and vision coverage
• 401(k) with company match
• Company-funded retirement savings program
• Paid time off and company holidays
• Flexible work schedule options
• Tuition reimbursement
• Life and long-term disability insurance
• Flexible spending accounts
• Parental leave programs

The advertised pay range represents what we believe at the time of this job posting, that our client would be willing to pay for this position. Only in special…