Lead SDET

As a Lead Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET), you will serve as a technical leader and quality architect, responsible for designing and driving sophisticated test automation strategies, frameworks, and quality initiatives across multiple teams and products. You will partner closely with product managers, developers, SDETs, and leaders across the organization to shape how we build, test, and deliver modern software. You will define cross-team test strategies, establish enterprise-level automation standards, and mentor SDETs and developers to uplift the quality engineering maturity. You will regularly evaluate new technologies, build proof-of-concept automation solutions, and lead continuous improvements in CI/CD, testing, tooling, and reliability practices. Above all, you will champion a culture of quality-first engineering, ensuring that our products are reliable, scalable, maintainable, and built with automation at their core.

Responsibilities:

• Lead quality engineering strategy across multiple teams, defining scalable automation architectures and frameworks for enterprise-grade web applications.
• Design and drive implementation of cross-team test strategies, ensuring alignment with product architecture, release milestones, and long-term technical direction.
• Build advanced automation frameworks and tooling for functional, integration, API, performance, and reliability testing using Java and Java-based automation ecosystems.
• Act as a quality architect, analyzing and decomposing complex software systems to determine optimal testing patterns, coverage models, and automation approaches.
• Collaborate closely with engineering leadership and staff/principal engineers to ensure testability, observability, and reliability are built into solutions from day one.
• Mentor and coach SDETs and developers, elevating testing skills, automation capabilities, debugging proficiency, and engineering best practices.
• Drive continuous improvement of quality processes, automation frameworks, testing speed, test coverage depth, and CI/CD pipeline integration.
• Lead investigations into complex defects, using strong debugging skills and system-level understanding to identify root causes and ensure long-term corrective action.
• Prototype and evaluate new tools, technologies, and frameworks, guiding adoption decisions with POCs and data-driven recommendations.
• Champion quality practices in design reviews, architectural discussions, sprint planning, and production release readiness.

Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 6+ years of experience in software development or SDET roles, with a strong emphasis on automated testing and framework development in Java
• Proven experience testing modern web-based enterprise applications, including UI, API, and backend components.
• Strong development experience using Java for automation frameworks, test harnesses, and tooling.
• Deep understanding of automated testing, test design techniques, and software validation strategies
• Experience with RESTful API testing, end-to-end web application testing, and CI/CD integration.
• Proficiency with SQL and database testing concepts.
• Exceptional debugging, problem-solving, and analytical skills.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to influence teams and articulate.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience building internal automation frameworks, reusable test libraries, or testing tools used across multiple product teams.
• Expertise with cloud platforms (AWS preferred), including cloud-native testing approaches and automation in distributed systems.
• Experience with performance testing, load testing, profiling, or reliability engineering practices.
• Familiarity with microservices, distributed architectures, and strategies for testing complex systems.
• Experience with observability tooling (logs, metrics, traces) and applying insights to improve testing and system reliability.
• Prior leadership in cross-team quality initiatives, quality governance, or strategic automation programs.