Senior QA Automation Engineer / Lead Test Engineer

About Avid Systems

Avid Systems is a Washington, DC-based managed services provider specializing in IT staff augmentation, business application development, cloud enablement, infrastructure, mobility, virtualization, cybersecurity, storage, and managed IT services. Since 2004, Avid Systems has supported government and commercial clients by delivering skilled technical talent and innovative technology solutions.

Job Description

Avid Systems is seeking an experienced Senior QA Automation Engineer / Lead Test Engineer to support a major digital modernization initiative for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA).

This position will support the modernization of WMATA's public website and SmarTrip mobile applications, helping improve the customer experience across web, iOS, and Android platforms.

The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in automated software testing, quality assurance, test planning, and enterprise application testing. The role requires strong technical expertise in Selenium, JavaScript, Agile development, and end-to-end testing of complex web and mobile applications.

The selected candidate will collaborate with software developers, DevOps engineers, technical teams, and business stakeholders to ensure applications meet functional, performance, security, and quality standards throughout the software development lifecycle.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead quality assurance and software testing activities for enterprise web, mobile, and backend applications.
• Develop and execute comprehensive test strategies, test plans, test cases, test scripts, and test data.
• Design, develop, maintain, and enhance automated testing scripts using Selenium, JavaScript, and industry-standard testing frameworks.
• Perform functional, integration, system, regression, and end-to-end testing.
• Validate application functionality across WMATA's public website, SmarTrip mobile applications, APIs, and supporting backend systems.
• Review business requirements, user stories, functional specifications, and technical designs to ensure comprehensive test coverage.
• Identify, document, prioritize, track, and verify software defects through resolution.
• Participate in defect triage meetings and collaborate with development teams to troubleshoot and resolve issues.
• Analyze application changes and assess their impact on existing automated test suites and testing procedures.
• Coordinate integration testing across interconnected systems and third-party services.
• Support user acceptance testing (UAT) and collaborate with business stakeholders to validate application requirements.
• Work closely with developers, DevOps engineers, and infrastructure teams to support application releases and production deployments.
• Integrate automated and regression testing into continuous integration and deployment processes.
• Prepare testing progress reports, quality metrics, defect summaries, and release readiness assessments.
• Maintain testing environments, automation frameworks, test data, and supporting documentation.
• Perform production validation and post-deployment testing to ensure application stability and functionality.
• Ensure compliance with organizational security policies, quality standards, and software development best practices.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Management Information Systems, Mathematics, Engineering, Business Administration, Public Administration, or a related field.
• Minimum 6 years of experience in software testing and quality assurance.
• Minimum 6 years of experience developing and executing automated test scripts using Selenium and JavaScript.
• Minimum 6 years of experience performing functional, integration, system, regression, and end-to-end testing.
• Minimum 6 years of experience testing web-based, mobile, and enterprise applications.
• Proficiency with Selenium, JavaScript, C#, .NET Framework, .NET Core, SQL Server, and/or Oracle databases.
• Experience analyzing business and technical requirements and developing comprehensive test plans and test cases.
• Experience using defect tracking and test management tools.
• Strong understanding of Agile/Scrum software development methodologies.
• Excellent analytical, troubleshooting, debugging, and problem-solving skills.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively with cross-functional technical and business teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Cucumber and Behavior-Driven Development (BDD).
• Experience testing REST and SOAP APIs.
• Experience supporting CI/CD pipelines and DevOps practices.
• Knowledge of test automation frameworks and performance testing tools.
• Experience testing customer-facing websites and mobile applications.
• Experience with transit systems, payment processing, or fare collection applications.
• Familiarity with mobile testing frameworks and automated testing on iOS and Android platforms.
• Experience supporting enterprise application modernization initiatives.
• Experience with cloud-based environments and integrated backend services.