Senior Python Automation Lead
QA Automation Engineering | API Testing & Framework Development
Experience: 8 14 years (10+ preferred)
Location: Philadelphia, PA
About the Role
We're looking for an exceptional Senior Python Automation Lead who is equal parts engineering craftsperson and driven leader. This role is at the heart of our quality strategy you won't just write tests, you'll build the automation foundation that enables our teams to ship with confidence and speed. As a thought leader and champion of quality, you'll drive automation initiatives from the ground up, set the standard for testing excellence, and empower engineers around you. If you're the type of person who sees a manual process and immediately thinks about how to automate and scale it and can bring an entire team along for the ride this role is built for you.
What You'll Do
Define, own, and execute the automation strategy across API, integration, and end-to-end testing layers.
Design and build scalable, maintainable Python automation frameworks from the ground up, tailored to enterprise-grade applications.
Lead API testing initiatives REST/SOAP API validation, contract testing, performance, and security testing.
Collaborate closely with developers, architects, and product owners to integrate automation into CI/CD pipelines from day one.
Drive adoption of automation best practices, frameworks, and tooling across multiple agile/fast-moving teams.
Own test strategy documentation, reporting dashboards, and automation coverage metrics for leadership visibility.
Work with AWS services (Lambda, API Gateway, SQS, Redis, etc.) to understand system behavior and design targeted automation.
Champion shift-left testing embedding quality practices early in the development cycle.
Mentor and upskill QA and developer peers in automation skills and testing discipline.
Engage with CMS, upsell, and offer management platforms to ensure comprehensive test coverage across commercial flows.
Communicate testing strategy, risk assessments, and quality metrics to senior stakeholders clearly and confidently.
What You Bring
10+ years of QA/testing experience with deep focus on Python automation (8 years minimum, up to 14 years), with at least 4 years leading automation efforts.
Expert-level Python skills writing clean, efficient, and reusable automation code that others want to build on.
Deep expertise in API testing REST/GraphQL API validation using Pytest, Requests, HTTPx, or equivalent; contract testing (Pact), schema validation, and mock/stub management.
Hands-on experience building Python automation frameworks from scratch modular design, reporting, fixtures, parallel execution, and data-driven testing.
Experience with AWS services understanding of Lambda, API Gateway, Redis, SQS, and cloud-native behaviors that impact test strategy.
Proficiency with CI/CD integration GitHub Actions, Jenkins, GitLab CI, and automated test pipeline design.
Solid understanding of software architecture and enterprise applications enough to reason about integration points and failure modes.
Familiarity with Java systems enough to understand system interactions even if not writing production Java code.
Background in Sitecore/CMS, upsell flows, or offer management testing is a strong plus.
Excellent communication and documentation skills you write clear test plans, strategies, and reports.
Leadership & Culture Fit
A true thought leader in quality you shape how the organization thinks about testing, not just what tests are written.
Self-driven and proactive you identify quality gaps before they become production issues.
High ownership and accountability you treat the quality of the product as your personal mission.
An inspirational team leader you build psychological safety and drive automation culture across engineering.
Thrives in fast-moving, high-velocity environments you bring structure to chaos without slowing teams down.
Decisive and influential able to push back on poor practices and champion the right approach at all levels.
Excellent collaborator works seamlessly with Dev, DevOps, Product, and business teams.
Nice to Have
Experience with performance/load testing tools Locust, k6, or JMeter.
Exposure to security testing basics OWASP, fuzzing, auth token validation.
Familiarity with telecom or broadband enterprise platforms.
AWS certifications or cloud familiarity in a testing context.
Open-source contributions or community involvement in testing tools.
Never miss an opportunity! Create an alert based on the job you applied for.