QA Lead – Automation, Karate & API Testing

Location: Charlotte, NC
Employment Type: Contract-to-Hire
Work Arrangement: Local/Charlotte-area candidates preferred

Position Overview

We are seeking a highly skilled QA Lead / Automation Test Lead with strong hands-on experience in test automation, Karate Framework, API testing, and Web Services testing. The ideal candidate will have experience leading QA initiatives while remaining technically hands-on with automation development, framework enhancement, and API validation.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead QA activities across application development and release cycles.

• Design and implement comprehensive test automation strategies and frameworks.

• Develop and maintain automated test scripts using Karate Framework.

• Perform extensive REST API and Web Services testing.

• Create test scenarios covering functional, integration, regression, and end-to-end testing.

• Validate API requests/responses, JSON/XML payloads, status codes, headers, authentication, and business rules.

• Integrate automated test suites into CI/CD pipelines.

• Analyze automation results and troubleshoot test failures.

• Identify, document, and track defects through resolution.

• Collaborate closely with developers, business analysts, product owners, and QA teams.

• Review requirements and technical specifications to ensure adequate test coverage.

• Establish QA automation standards, best practices, and reusable testing components.

• Provide technical guidance and mentoring to QA engineers.

• Participate in Agile ceremonies including sprint planning, daily stand-ups, backlog refinement, and retrospectives.

• Continuously identify opportunities to improve automation coverage and overall testing efficiency.

Required Skills

• Strong experience as a QA Lead, Test Lead, Automation Lead, or Senior QA Automation Engineer.

• Strong hands-on experience with test automation.

• Hands-on experience with Karate Framework.

• Strong experience in API and Web Services testing.

• Experience testing RESTful APIs and microservices.

• Strong understanding of HTTP methods such as GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, and PATCH.

• Experience validating JSON and XML request/response payloads.

• Experience with Java and automation development.

• Experience with API testing tools such as Karate, Postman, or REST Assured.

• Experience with Selenium WebDriver is preferred.

• Experience with SQL/database testing.

• Experience with Git/source control.

• Experience with CI/CD tools such as Jenkins, Azure DevOps, GitLab, or similar platforms.

• Strong understanding of Agile/Scrum methodologies.

• Excellent analytical, troubleshooting, communication, and leadership skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with BDD/Gherkin.

• Experience with JUnit or TestNG.

• Experience with Maven or Gradle.

• Experience testing microservices and distributed applications.

• Knowledge of OAuth2, JWT, API keys, and other API authentication mechanisms.

• Experience with automated test reporting tools.

• Experience with performance testing is a plus.

• Experience working with enterprise-scale applications.

Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate will be a hands-on QA Lead who can provide technical leadership while actively contributing to automation development. Strong experience with Karate, API/Web Services testing, Java, and automation frameworks is highly preferred.

Candidates with primarily manual QA experience and limited hands-on automation experience will not be a strong fit.

Contract-to-Hire Opportunity

This is a Contract-to-Hire opportunity for a strong QA professional interested in transitioning into a long-term position.

Key Search Terms: QA Lead, Test Lead, Automation Lead, QA Automation, Test Automation, Karate Framework, Karate DSL, API Testing, REST API, Web Services, REST Assured, Postman, Selenium, Java, SQL, CI/CD, Jenkins, Azure DevOps, Microservices, Agile, Scrum.