Lead Software Development Engineer - Test
First seen by Alion on Sep 11, 2026.
Role Overview :
We are looking for a Lead SDET - Quality Engineering to lead and drive the quality engineering strategy for our cloud-native SaaS platform. The role involves building scalable test automation frameworks, defining testing strategies for distributed systems, integrating quality into the CI/CD lifecycle, and leading a team of Quality Engineers.
Key Responsibilities :
- Lead the quality engineering strategy and drive quality practices across the development lifecycle.
- Design, develop, and maintain scalable automation frameworks for UI, API, and integration testing.
- Define test strategies for microservices, distributed, and cloud-native applications.
- Integrate automated testing into CI/CD pipelines with appropriate quality gates.
- Drive API-first testing, including contract and schema validation.
- Use observability tools such as logs, metrics, and traces to validate system behavior and production quality.
- Plan and support performance and load testing using tools such as k6, Locust, or Gatling.
- Participate in architecture and design discussions to improve testability and quality.
- Mentor and manage Quality Engineers while driving continuous improvement in testing processes and frameworks.
Qualifications :
- Bachelor's/Master's degree in Computer / IT.
- 8 - 12 years of experience in Test Automation / Quality Engineering.
- Strong programming skills in Python, Java, or JavaScript.
- Hands-on experience with Playwright, Cypress, Pytest, Robot Framework, or similar tools.
- Strong experience in API testing using Postman/Newman, REST Assured, Python Requests, or similar tools.
- Experience with Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, or other CI/CD tools.
- Strong understanding of microservices, distributed systems, containers, and cloud-native architectures.
- Hands-on experience with Docker and Kubernetes.
- Experience testing cloud-based applications, preferably on AWS.
- Knowledge of contract testing and schema validation using OpenAPI, Pact, or similar tools.
- Experience with observability tools such as Prometheus, Grafana, ELK, or OpenSearch.
- Strong leadership, mentoring, analytical, debugging, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
Skills
SDET, GUI Testing, API Testing, Integration Testing, Microservices Testing, Robot Framework, PyTest, POSTMAN, RestAssured, Python