Job Title: Lead QA Engineer - AI/ML Location: Remote (Brazil/Mexico) ContractAbout Smart IT Frame: At Smart IT Frame, we connect top talent with leading organizations across the USA. With over a decade of staffing excellence, we specialize in IT, healthcare, and professional roles, empowering both clients and candidates to grow together.Role Overview We are seeking a highly skilled, forward-thinking Lead QA Engineer to drive our quality strategy, with a strong emphasis on test automation and AI-driven testing solutions. This role combines leadership, technical expertise, and innovation to deliver high-quality software at scale. You will lead QA initiatives, mentor a team of engineers, and champion modern approaches to quality engineering, including machine learning and AI-assisted testing—while maintaining deep expertise in manual and blackbox testing practices.Key Responsibilities Leadership & Strategy Define and implement the QA strategy with a focus on automation-first and AI-enhanced testing. Lead and mentor a team of QA engineers across both manual and automation disciplines. Establish best practices, standards, and KPIs for quality engineering. Automation Excellence Design, build, and maintain scalable automated test frameworks. Drive adoption of CI/CD-integrated testing pipelines. Ensure high test coverage across: UI API Performance Security layers AI-Driven Testing Evaluate and implement AI/ML tools for: Test generation Maintenance Defect prediction Leverage AI for: Intelligent test case prioritization Self-healing test scripts Stay up to date with emerging AI technologies and integrate them into QA workflows. Manual & Blackbox Testing Leadership Define and oversee comprehensive blackbox testing strategies, including: Exploratory testing Usability testing Regression testing End-to-end testing Ensure thorough validation of business requirements and user flows without reliance on internal code knowledge. Lead complex manual testing efforts for new features, edge cases, and high-risk areas. Establish best practices for: Test case design Test data management Defect reporting Collaboration Work closely with engineering, product, and DevOps teams to embed quality throughout the SDLC. Participate in architecture and design discussions to ensure testability and scalability. Quality Advocacy Promote a culture of quality ownership across teams. Conduct risk assessments and ensure timely defect resolution.Required Qualifications Strong expertise in both automated and manual (blackbox) testing methodologies. Proven experience designing and executing: Detailed manual test plans Exploratory testing End-to-end validation Deep understanding of blackbox testing techniques, including: Equivalence partitioning Boundary value analysis User-centric validation Strong expertise in test automation frameworks: Selenium Playwright Cypress Proficiency in at least one programming language: Python Java JavaScript / TypeScript (preferably) Experience with CI/CD tools: Jenkins GitHub Actions GitLab CI Solid understanding of software testing methodologies and SDLC.Preferred Qualifications Hands-on experience with AI/ML tools in QA (e.g., test generation, visual testing, anomaly detection). Familiarity with AI-powered testing platforms or frameworks. Experience balancing manual exploratory testing with automation strategies in complex systems. Experience with performance testing tools: JMeter k6 Knowledge of cloud platforms: AWS GCP Azure Experience with containerization: Docker KubernetesKey Skills Leadership and team development Strategic thinking and problem-solving Strong communication and collaboration Innovation mindset with a passion for AI in testing Strong analytical skills with attention to detail Ability to deeply understand user behavior through manual testing approachesApply today or share profiles at