IT Testing Automation Lead

"Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States without the need for current or future visa sponsorship."

The IT Testing Automation Lead is a senior technical role responsible for driving test automation strategy and execution across a broad and complex technology portfolio spanning point-of-sale (POS) systems, supply chain and inventory management, e-commerce platforms, ERP, mobile applications, loyalty and pricing systems, and both SaaS and custom-developed applications.

This role serves as the company’s client-side automation lead in partnership with a Cognizant-managed Test Center of Excellence (TCoE), acting as the internal subject matter expert who bridges business and technology expectations with hands-on automation delivery. The Testing Automation Lead will work closely with Solution Delivery Leaders, Development Leads, Dev Ops Engineers, and the Cognizant TCoE team to embed quality at every stage of the software delivery lifecycle.

This role is expected to grow into a team lead capacity with responsibility for defining, hiring, and developing a small automation team of several engineers as the practice matures.

The ideal candidate brings deep, current expertise in modern testing technologies and demonstrates a strong command of techniques spanning functional, API, performance, and regression testing disciplines. Hands‑on experience in a high-volume retail environment is highly desirable.

• Design, develop, and maintain robust, scalable test automation frameworks covering the company’s full application landscape — spanning commercial SaaS platforms and custom-built systems across POS, supply chain, ERP, e-commerce, mobile, and loyalty and pricing domains.

• Serve as the client-side automation authority within the Cognizant TCoE engagement, providing technical direction, reviewing automation deliverables, and ensuring frameworks align with company standards and retail domain requirements.

• Identify, evaluate, and champion the adoption of leading automation tools and methodologies that advance the organization’s quality engineering maturity.

• Contribute to the evolution of TCoE standards, reusable automation assets, and best practices without necessarily bearing responsibility for the initial TCoE build-out.

• Develop and execute comprehensive automated test suites covering functional, regression, integration, API, and end-to-end testing scenarios.

• Lead performance and load testing efforts using industry-standard tools to ensure systems can sustain the demands of a 7,000+ store retail operation.

• Collaborate with development and business teams to define test entry/exit criteria, review test coverage, and drive shift-left testing practices within CI/CD pipelines.

• Support and coordinate offshore POS robotic test automation activities conducted in a dedicated lab environment, ensuring alignment with overall automation strategy.

• Define, track, and report on key automation metrics including test coverage, execution rates, defect escape rates, and automation ROI to technology leadership.

• Conduct root cause analysis on defect trends and provide actionable insights to development and business stakeholders.

• Partner with Dev Ops and development teams to embed automated quality gates into build and release pipelines, enabling continuous validation at every stage of delivery.

• Own the integrity of test data provisioning and environment readiness, ensuring automated suites execute reliably and consistently across all testing stages.

• Stay current with emerging QA tools, AI-assisted testing capabilities, and retail technology trends to continuously elevate the company’s automation capabilities.

• Define the skills, roles, and structure needed to build a high-performing automation team in support of the TCoE engagement and broader quality engineering goals.

• Participate in the recruitment and onboarding of automation engineers, establishing clear performance expectations and development plans.

• Provide day-to-day technical guidance, mentorship, and coaching to direct…