Products & Systems Integration QA Lead

Job Description Job Description Apply now: Products & Systems Integration QA Lead (SDET) , location is Hybrid (Tysons, VA - 2-3 days onsite). The start date is ASAP for this Contract-to-Hire (6 Months) position. Job Title: Products & Systems Integration QA Lead (SDET) Location-Type: Hybrid (Tysons, VA - 2-3 days onsite) Start Date Is: ASAP Duration: Contract-to-Hire (6 Months) Pay Rate: $65-75/hr W2 Conversion Salary: $160,000 Benefits: Medical, dental, vision, 401k Benefits: Eligible for Health, Dental, Vision, 401K Not eligible for Visa sponsorship

Job Description:

We are seeking a hands-on QA Lead / SDET to build and own the test automation and quality strategy from the ground up within a Product Management Office. This role will act as the technical authority on quality across both proprietary software products and complex 3rd-party system integrations, ensuring reliability, scalability, and seamless system performance.

Day-to-Day Responsibilities:

• Build and own the end-to-end QA strategy, including defining standards, frameworks, and "definition of done
• Design, develop, and maintain scalable automation frameworks for UI, API, and integration testing
• Lead testing efforts across internal products and 3rd-party system integrations
• Perform API and data-layer validation to ensure system integrity across environments
• Establish and enforce quality governance across multiple workstreams
• Collaborate with product, engineering, and leadership to align testing with business priorities
• Identify and communicate system risks, defects, and release readiness to stakeholders
• Select and manage QA tools, test environments, and reporting frameworks
• Lead and mentor a small QA team (2-3 engineers) while remaining hands-on

Requirements:

Must-Have Skills/Experiences:

• 7 years of experience in SDET, QA Automation, or Software Engineering roles
• 2 years of experience in a lead, mentor, or team leadership capacity
• Strong programming experience in Java or Kotlin
• Deep experience building and scaling test automation frameworks (not just executing tests)
• Hands-on experience with Selenium or similar automation tools
• Experience with API testing (REST/SOAP) and integration testing across systems
• Strong SQL skills for data validation and backend testing
• Solid understanding of software engineering and testing best practices
• Proven ability to operate independently and build processes from scratch

Nice-to-Have Skills/Experiences:

• Background in software engineering beyond testing (true dev-to-SDET path)
• Experience testing systems that integrate with 3rd-party or COTS platforms
• Familiarity with cloud environments and CI/CD pipelines
• Understanding of networking, infrastructure, and distributed systems
• Experience in mission-critical or systems-heavy environments (e.g., security, infrastructure, automation)
• Exposure to systems engineering concepts such as V-model or integration testing at scale