QA Lead

Job Title: QA Lead (Quality Assurance Lead)

Location: Cincinnati, OH (Hybrid)

Contract Type: W2 Only (NO C2C)

Duration: Long term contract

Job Summary

We are looking for an experienced QA Lead to oversee our quality assurance processes and lead a team of QA engineers. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in manual and automated testing, along with expertise in test strategy, team management, and CI/CD integration. You will ensure the delivery of high-quality software by implementing best practices, mentoring team members, and collaborating with cross-functional teams.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and implement QA strategies, test plans, and processes for Agile/DevOps environments.
• Lead and mentor a team of QA engineers, providing technical guidance and performance feedback.
• Establish quality metrics (test coverage, defect density, escape rate) and drive continuous improvement.
• Coordinate with Product, Dev, and DevOps teams to align QA with business goals.
• Oversee manual and automated testing (functional, regression, performance, security).
• Design and maintain test automation frameworks (Selenium, Cypress, Appium, RestAssured).
• Integrate automated tests into CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps).
• Ensure shift-left testing by advocating for early QA involvement in SDLC.
• Implement best practices for test case management, defect tracking, and reporting.
• Conduct root cause analysis for critical defects and prevent recurrence.
• Ensure compliance with industry standards (ISO, GDPR, HIPAA) where applicable.
• Evaluate and recommend QA tools and technologies to enhance efficiency.
• Report test progress, risks, and quality status to senior management.
• Collaborate with business analysts and product owners to clarify requirements.
• Facilitate QA sign-offs for production releases.

Required Skills & Experience

• Over 12 years of experience with tools such as Selenium, Cypress, RestAssured, and TestNG/JUnit.
• Extensive experience in exploratory, usability, and ad-hoc testing, ensuring comprehensive coverage and high-quality results.
• Proficient with tools such as Selenium, Cypress, RestAssured, and TestNG/JUnit.
• Experience with continuous integration and continuous deployment tools like Jenkins, GitLab CI, or similar.
• Strong understanding and practical experience in Agile/Scrum environments.
• Comprehensive understanding of testing strategies and best practices for web, mobile, and API applications.
• Familiarity with tools such as JMeter and LoadRunner for performance and load testing.
• Proficient in using defect tracking and management tools like JIRA and Bugzilla.
• Proven ability to lead and mentor QA teams.
• Strong communication skills to effectively collaborate with cross-functional teams and stakeholders.
• Exceptional problem-solving abilities to identify and resolve issues efficiently.

Nice to Have

• ISTQB Advanced or similar certifications.
• Experience with security testing (OWASP, SAST/DAST).
• Knowledge of AI/ML in testing (test case generation, predictive analytics).