QE Strategist / AI Automation Architect

We are seeking a seasoned Director-level QE Strategist and AI Automation Architect to join our Quality Engineering & Automation practice. This is a highly visible, client-facing leadership role that sits at the intersection of AI innovation, enterprise test strategy, and delivery excellence. The ideal candidate brings deep industry expertise, a strong hands-on technical foundation in AI-driven test automation, performance testing, and a proven track record of leading geographically distributed QE teams. Duties & Responsibilities Strategic Leadership & QE Governance · Define and own the enterprise-wide testing strategy, including standards, methodologies, governance models, and quality frameworks. · Conduct current-state assessments of client systems, processes, and tooling; provide actionable, data-driven quality recommendations. · Lead the design and implementation of Agentic AI testing frameworks and drive the organization's overall AI QE strategy. · Serve as a thought leader on AI-infused quality engineering, continuously evaluating emerging tools and incorporating them into the automation roadmap. Client Engagement & Business Development · Contribute substantively to RFPs, proposal development, and client presentations; effectively articulate complex technical concepts to C-suite executives and non-technical stakeholders. · Build and sustain trusted advisor relationships with client leadership, proactively identifying opportunities to expand QE value delivery. · Represent the QE practice in steering committees, executive reviews, and cross-functional planning sessions. · Contribute to creation of GTM assets & reusable accelerators creation, write thought leadership articles/blogs/webinars, speak in conferences or panels Delivery & Program Management · Own end-to-end delivery accountability for client engagements managing multiple mid-to-large teams across geographies and time zones · Develop project plans, resource models, risk registers, and status reporting for concurrent QE workstreams. · Partner with development, DevOps, and QA teams to ensure seamless integration of AI test automation into CI/CD pipelines and Agile delivery cycles. Architecture & Hands-On Engineering · Design and architect robust, scalable, and maintainable test automation frameworks covering functional, regression, performance, and integration testing. · Be hands-on in building frameworks and scripts centered on AI, automation & performance, including the creation of AI agents from scratch. · Create POCs around AI & automation and conduct technical demos for clients · Establish and enforce coding standards, best practices, and code review processes for automated and performance test scripts. · Evaluate, select, and integrate best-fit automation tools and technologies aligned to project and organizational needs. · Develop automated monitoring and reporting mechanisms to track test execution, defect trends, and quality metrics; provide stakeholders with regular health reports. People Leadership & Capability Development · Mentor and develop QE engineers and leads, elevating technical skills and deepening understanding of AI-infused automation and performance testing. · Foster a continuous-improvement culture through knowledge sharing, structured training programs, and adoption of industry best practices. · Provide technical leadership and subject-matter expertise across test automation teams and cross-functional stakeholders. Required Skills & Experience Mandatory Skills Skill / Technology Min. Years Exp. QE Leadership & Delivery 18+ Project & Client Management 15+ Effective Communication & Executive Presentation 18+ SDLC / Agile Tools — JIRA, Zephyr Scale, QMetry, Confluence, Tricentis qTest, TestRail, HP ALM / MF Octane, Azure DevOps, Smartsheet, Trello 15+ Test Automation (UI, API & Mobile) — Playwright, Selenium WebDriver 3.x/4.x, Selenide, Serenity, Katalon, Cucumber, Appium, BrowserStack, SauceLabs, ReadyAPI, Postman, RestAssured, Cypress, Provar, AccelQ 15+ AI Tooling (Generative & Agentic) — Claude / Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, ChatGPT, Perplexity, n8n, Replit; ability to build agents from scratch 8+ Programming Languages — Java, C#, Python, JavaScript, SQL (Oracle PL/SQL, SQL Server T-SQL), PowerShell, Unix Shell Scripting 15+ Source Control / CI/CD — Git, BitBucket, GitHub, Azure DevOps, Bamboo, Jenkins, Maven, Gradle, Ant 15+ Database & Data Tools — DBeaver, TOAD, SQL Developer, SQL Server Management Studio, Cloudera 10+ Platforms — Windows, Linux, AWS, Azure, Salesforce, iOS, Android, AS/400 / Mainframe 8+ Performance & Load Testing — JMeter, Gatling 15+ Test Data Management — Informatica, Talend, Collibra 10+ Preferred Skills (Nice-to-have) Skill / Technology Min. Years Exp. Additional Industry Experience — Travel & Hospitality industry 8+ Qualifications · Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field (advanced degree preferred). · 15+ years of experience in software testing, with 18+ years leading technical QA/automation teams. · Demonstrated experience delivering QE programs driving enterprise-wide QE transformation