Lead QA Engineer

Company : 1872 Consulting

Lead QA Engineer – AI Team

Chicago, IL – hybrid work from home: 3 days onsite in the loop, 2 days WFH

Summary:

The Lead QA Engineer will lead a team of 3-4 QA Engineers, and all automated AND manual testing efforts for web applications on the newly created AI team. You'll work closely with DevOps and Product teams to drive end-to-end testing frameworks in a CI/CD environment.

You'll be very hands on, while leading the team and leading projects – we use Playwright extensively for web testing, so strong Playwright experience is a must have. You'll also be conducing performance and load testing using tools like JMeter, LoadRunner and Selenium.

We are a Microsoft shop, so any experience working in an Azure environment, specifically with Azure DevOps for test case tracking and test plan execution, would be a bonus.

While the focus of this role is leading the testing efforts, we do expect our Lead QA Engineer to also have scripting/programming experience – this team primarily uses JavaScript, Typescript and Python.

What you'll be doing

• Design and execute comprehensive test plans and test cases directly from business and technical requirements.
• Develop and maintain automation frameworks supporting functional, regression, load, and performance testing.
• Build and automate test scripts using Playwright and integrate them seamlessly into Azure DevOps CI/CD pipelines.
• Collaborate with product, development, and DevOps teams to define testing goals, acceptance criteria, and release standards.
• Own the QA process end-to-end, ensuring thorough coverage and consistent execution across all stages of development.
• Define and track key quality metrics to measure test effectiveness and product stability.
• Investigate and resolve test failures through root-cause analysis and coordination with developers.
• Maintain clear and detailed test documentation, including test plans, test cases, automation logic, and defect reports.
• Continuously evaluate and implement new tools and methodologies to enhance QA practices and automation efficiency.
• Promote a proactive, quality-first approach to development by embedding testing early in the software lifecycle.

Skills we're seeking

• 7+ years of QA Engineering
  • Must have both Automated AND Manual Testing experience
• 3+ years of experience with Automated Testing
  • Must have strong Playwright experience
• 2+ years of experience leading QA Engineering or SDET teams/projects
• 2+ years of experience with scripting and/or programming using JavaScript, Typescript, Python or something similar
• Experience leading QA efforts in Agile, CI/CD environments

Nice to haves

• Experience with Azure DevOps
• Experience creating AI-generated test cases
• Experience testing AI-focused web applications
• Experience with YAML
• Certifications in QA or automation such as ISTQB or CSTE
• Bachelor's or Master's Degree in Computer Science, or an IT related field

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