Automation Test Lead

Role Name: Automation Test Lead
Work site: Orlando, FL 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., **GitHub Copilot-assisted scripting** and AI-enabled approaches for test generation/maintenance
- Drive adoption of AI-enabled toolchains (e.g., **Playwright ClientP-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 DevOps/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 DevOps/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)