Job Title: Lead QA Engineer - AI/ML
Location: Remote (Brazil/Mexico)
Contract
About 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
* Kubernetes
Key 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 approaches
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