Automation Test Lead

Role name:
Automation Test Lead
Work site:
Orlando, US (Onsite)

** Role Summary*
* We are seeking a
** high-impact Automation Test Lead
** to drive
** end-to-end test automation strategy, delivery, and innovation
** for complex enterprise applications. This is a
** client-facing, onshore leadership role in Orlando**, requiring a
** hands-on technical leader
** who can
** own automation outcomes**, influence stakeholders, and continuously improve quality engineering practices. The ideal candidate is a
** thought leader
** who challenges the status quo, establishes modern automation standards, and introduces
** AI-enabled automation
** to increase productivity and enhance deliverable quality

** Key Responsibilities*
* *
* 1) Automation Strategy & Thought Leadership*
* - Own and drive the
** automation vision, roadmap, and delivery strategy
** across UI and API layers, aligned to business goals and release timelines
- Act as a
** thought leader**: identify bottlenecks, propose new ways of working, and introduce innovative quality engineering practices to improve speed, stability, and coverage
- Define and enforce
** automation standards** (framework design, coding guidelines, reusable components, reporting, and governance).

*
* 2) Automation Engineering (UFT Playwright)*
* - Lead development and maintenance of robust
** UFT automation suites
** for functional/regression coverage, including stability improvements, execution reliability, and maintainability.
- Design and implement modern
** Playwright automation** (web) with scalable architecture patterns to improve execution speed and reliability.
- Ensure automation is designed for
** reusability, traceability, and business-critical coverage**, including strong failure triage and quick turnaround on stabilization

3) API Automation (Postman Scripting)*
* - Own API test strategy and implementation using
** Postman** (including scripting/collections, automation enablement, and integration into pipelines).
- Establish API quality gates (contract checks, response validation, negative testing, and regression packs) and integrate results into dashboards and stakeholder reporting.

*
* 4) AI / GenAI Enablement (Productivity Quality)*
* - Introduce
** AI-assisted automation
** to reduce manual effort, accelerate scripting, and improve maintainability—e.g.,
** Git Hub Copilot-assisted scripting
** and AI-enabled approaches for test generation/maintenance
- Drive adoption of AI-enabled tool chains (e.g.,
** Playwright Client

P-style integrations
** where applicable) to modernize automation and increase delivery throughput.
- Build a measurable innovation backlog and report outcomes (e.g., execution speed, maintenance reduction, coverage uplift).

*
* 5) CI/CD Integration & Quality Gates*
* - Integrate automation suites into CI/CD using tools such as
** Azure Dev Ops/Jenkins**, ensuring repeatable runs, stable pipelines, and actionable reporting.
- Define automation entry/exit criteria, enforce “quality gates,” and ensure release readiness signals are clear for leadership decisions

*
* 6) Client Leadership & Onsite-Offshore Delivery*
* - Serve as the
** onshore automation lead
** interfacing with client stakeholders; communicate strategy, risks, progress, and outcomes clearly and confidently.
- Lead in a
** hybrid onshore-offshore model**: plan work, delegate effectively, remove blockers, and ensure delivery commitments are met with high quality.
- Provide governance: weekly status, risk/dependency management, escalations, and continuous improvements across the automation function

** Required Skills & Experience*
*
- ** 9 years
** in QA/Test Automation with
** 3 years
** in a lead role driving automation delivery and stakeholder communication
- Strong hands-on expertise in:

- ** UFT (Unified Functional Testing)
** and automation framework practices

- ** Postman
* * for API testing and scripting/automation enablement

- ** Playwright** (preferred for modern web automation) with structured framework design
- Experience integrating automation into
** CI/CD
** and version control (e.g.,
** Azure Dev Ops/Jenkins, Git)*
* - Strong defect triage, root-cause mindset, and ability to stabilize flaky suites and improve reliability

- ** Excellent communication
** and client-facing skills; ability to influence without authority and drive outcomes.

Preferred / Nice-to-Have*
* - AI/GenAI exposure in automation (e.g., Copilot-assisted scripting, AI-assisted test generation/maintenance, intelligent automation concepts)
- Experience in large-scale enterprise environments with distributed teams and multiple releases running in parallel.
- Retail/POS/domain experience (if applicable to the engagement)