SDET Senior Test Lead

We are seeking an experienced Senior Payments Test Automation Engineer (8+ years of QA/automation experience) to lead payments testing efforts within a major Payments Modernization program. This role is crucial for ensuring quality across a complex, multi-rail payments processing platform undergoing transformation from legacy Mainframe systems to a cloud-native, real-time payments ecosystem. The candidate will combine deep banking/payments domain knowledge with advanced test automation skills (Java, Selenium, Playwright), excellent communication abilities, and an innovative mindset to leverage emerging technologies like Generative AI in testing processes. The role is client-facing and requires working effectively in a global, distributed team setting (collaborating across onshore/offshore teams)., Test Strategy & Planning: Develop and implement comprehensive test strategies and plans for end-to-end payments processing scenarios, covering multiple payment types (e.g., domestic wires, SWIFT cross-border payments, ISO 20022 messages, real-time and batch payments) to ensure no "room for error" in critical financial transaction workflows. Identify testing scope, requirements, and success criteria for each release. Automation Framework Development: Design and maintain robust, scalable test automation frameworks using Java-based tools and libraries. Leverage Selenium WebDriver, Playwright, and related frameworks to automate both UI and API testing. Ensure the framework supports functional, regression, and integration testing for a large-scale payments platform, enabling quick and reliable test execution. Test Case Design & Execution: Create and execute automated test cases and test scripts that validate complex payment flows, data transformations, and reporting functionalities. Achieve high coverage across varied payment types (wire transfers, SWIFT/ISO 20022 messages like pacs.008, pacs.009, pain.001, camt.056, domestic networks like Fedwire, CHIPS) and ensure accurate verification of payment processing, compliance (e.g. format validations, data mapping), and reporting outputs. AI-Driven Testing & Tools: Integrate Generative AI and machine learning tools into the testing lifecycle to enhance efficiency and depth of testing. Leverage AI models for test automation, such as using generative AI to automatically produce test cases, synthetic test data, and intelligent test agents that can simulate user interactions and predict potential defect areas. Continuously research and prototype AI-driven test automation techniques to improve coverage and reduce manual effort. Quality Assurance & Defect Management: Establish rigorous QA best practices for the program, including defect triage, root cause analysis, and timely bug resolution. Monitor and report on test results, coverage, and quality metrics. Ensure that regression test suites are continuously updated and executed to safeguard existing functionality during the modernization process. Collaboration & Communication: Work closely with development teams and business stakeholders to ensure alignment on quality goals. Integrate automated tests into CI/CD pipelines (e.g., Jenkins/DevOps) to enforce continuous testing as part of the development lifecycle. Provide regular updates on testing progress, risks, and issues in agile ceremonies (daily stand-ups, demos, retrospectives) while proactively coordinating with onshore and offshore team members. Domain Compliance & Performance Testing: Validate that the modernized platform meets industry standards and regulatory requirements for payments processing. Oversee test scenarios for compliance (e.g., ISO 20022 message format compliance, SWIFT network rules) and critical non-functional requirements. Where necessary, coordinate or support performance testing (simulating high transaction volumes, stress tests) to ensure the system handles real-time and batch payments at scale.

Experience: 8+ years of professional experience in software test automation/QA, with a significant focus on banking or payments systems. Proven track record of leading QA/test automation efforts for complex, business-critical financial applications. Payments Domain Expertise: Strong knowledge of banking and payments processes, including wire transfers, cross-border payments (SWIFT MT/MX), ISO 20022 message standards, and real-time payment systems (e.g., RTGS, SEPA, Fedwire, CHIPS). Ability to design test cases around various payment types and regulatory scenarios (e.g., MT to MX message conversions, reconciliation, reporting validations).them use Technical Proficiency in Test Automation: Hands-on expertise in Java programming for test automation development. Extensive experience creating and maintaining test scripts using Selenium WebDriver, Playwright, or similar frameworks for web UI testing. Proficient in API testing (e.g., using REST Assured, Postman or similar tools) and familiar with test management tools and defect tracking systems. Experience implementing Behavior-Driven Development (BDD) approaches (e.g., Cucumber with Gherkin) is a strong Automation Framework & Tools: Demonstrated ability to build and enhance reusable automation frameworks integrating various tools (Selenium, Playwright, JUnit/TestNG, etc.), and to implement full test automation life cycle - from test case design, scripting, execution, to results analysis. Solid understanding of continuous integration (CI) and DevOps practices; experience integrating automated tests into CI/CD pipelines (e.g., Jenkins, Azure DevOps) to achieve continuous testing. Generative AI & Innovative Testing: Familiarity with Generative AI tools and methodologies for QA. Comfort with adopting or building AI-based testing agents or using AI-assisted testing tools (for example, using large language models to generate test scripts or assist in test maintenance). A keen interest in staying updated with new AI and ML applications in quality engineering. Soft Skills: Excellent communication and interpersonal skills. Ability to articulate complex technical issues and testing status clearly to business stakeholders, developers, and management. Experience working in distributed teams and collaborating in a fast-paced Agile environment. High attention to detail, analytical thinking, and a proactive approach to problem-solving and quality improvement. Other Requirements

Additional Technical Tools: Experience with performance testing (e.g., JMeter, LoadRunner) and security testing for financial systems. Familiarity with SQL and database testing for verifying data integrity and data migrations. Exposure to service virtualization or test data management tools for simulating upstream/downstream systems. AI & Automation Innovations: Prior experience implementing advanced or emerging QA techniques, such as self-healing tests, intelligent (AI-driven) test analytics, or model-based testing, is an advantage. Knowledge of Generative AI platforms or AI coding assistants (e.g., GitHub Copilot) and their use in test case development can set you apart. Certifications: Relevant industry certifications such as ISTQB Advanced Test Automation Engineer, or domain certifications in Payments (e.g., SWIFT, ISO 20022) or Certified Scrum/Agile qualifications, are beneficial.