Technical Lead - Quality and Test Automation

Must be located in, or willing to relocate to, the Dallas Fort Worth area. This role must report to the Richardson office 3 days a week. 

Who we are:  BAL is a team of brilliant people who change lives through elite immigration work and collaborative innovation. We pursue the exceptional in all that we do, but never at the expense of our values. There’s no denying our work is demanding, both in volume and pace, but we’re up for the challenge. We love the balance of hard work and fun – so, you’ll see us in jeans as we shatter glass ceilings and conventional stereotypes. BAL employees feel valued, rewarded, and respected. We seek opportunities to be of service to others and our communities. We are committed to your growth and development, and want to set you up for success here at BAL and beyond.

Who you are: You are looking for work that has purpose. You aren’t afraid to roll up your sleeves and get stuff done. You learn quickly. You move fast. You embrace challenge and detail as well as creative thinking.  You believe you have something unique to contribute and you aren’t afraid to raise your hand.  You understand that powering human achievement is ultimately about impacting a real person. You are looking for a place to grow and an environment where everyone has a spot and is genuinely welcome. 

We’re better together:  A bright, driven person like you and an industry-leading powerhouse like BAL? It’s a perfect combination! We truly want to see you succeed here and become an integral part of our mission to provide an experience that makes a positive difference in people’s lives. Come be a part of something special, where you can have an impact and be valued just for being you!

OVERVIEW: 
Berry Appleman & Leiden is not your typical law firm when it comes to technology. We've built an in-house Products team from the ground up that is dedicated to building the best technology in our industry. Our Products Team supports our flagship SaaS product, Cobalt, which won the SIIA CODiE award for "Best Legal Solution" in 2020, was a 2020 Tech Titans Finalist for Corporate Innovation and won the 2021 Law.com award for Most Innovative Operations Team. We've also built our industry's first mobile application, a new B2C mobile app and we're looking for new trails to blaze this year! 

We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced Quality and Test Automation Lead to oversee and ensure the implementation of high-quality standards and test automation practices throughout the software development lifecycle. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in test automation, quality assurance processes, and leadership, guiding teams to deliver reliable and high-performance software products. They will play a critical role in shaping a quality-driven culture across development, product, and operations. This role focuses on strategy, oversight, and mentorship, without hands-on coding or testing.

• Responsible for defining our test strategy and vision, to align with our automation-first approach.
• Lead initiatives to foster a quality-driven culture, by implementing automation-first principles across teams.
• Lead and oversee the entire quality assurance and test automation process, ensuring alignment with organizational standards and customer requirements.
• Develop and implement test automation strategies, ensuring proper frameworks are in place.
• Lead the integration of automated testing into the CI/CD pipelines by collaborating closely with development, DevOps, and product teams.
• Lead quality review sessions, establish quality gates, and ensure adherence to test plans and organizational standards.
• Monitor and assess the effectiveness of automation tools, driving continuous improvement initiatives.
• Define, track, and report on key quality metrics, such as test coverage, defect rates, and automation ROI.
• Mentor and guide QA engineers and test automation teams to meet strategic goals.
• Ensure industry-standard testing practices, including unit, integration, end-to-end, performance, and security testing, are implemented.
• Coordinate with stakeholders on release schedules and automation readiness.
• Ensure compliance with performance and security testing protocols.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• 7+ years of experience in software quality assurance and test automation, with at least 3+ years in a leadership role (e.g., QA Lead, Test Automation Lead).
• Proven experience leading quality assurance teams and implementing automation strategies in complex software projects.
• Deep expertise in test automation strategies and software testing methodologies, with hands-on experience using leading frameworks and automation tools.
• Experience leading teams using modern testing tools such as Playwright, as well as other frameworks such as Selenium, Cypress, Appium, JUnit, TestNG.
• Strong background of leading teams in designing and maintaining automated tests using programming languages such as TypeScript, Java, Python, or C#.
• History of successfully leading teams using CI/CD tools like Jenkins, GitLab, and Bamboo, with an understanding of how to integrate these tools effectively with automated tests.
• Experience testing in cloud environments (e.g., AWS, Azure).
• Experience with unit testing, integration testing, performance testing, security testing, regression and end-to-end testing.
• Hands-on experience with version control systems such as Git.
• Strong knowledge of Agile methodologies and how quality assurance fits within Scrum or Kanban frameworks.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively with cross-functional teams.
• Strong problem-solving and analytical skills, with a focus on improving efficiency and quality through automation.
• Ability to mentor and guide junior team members in quality practices and test automation frameworks.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Familiarity with performance testing tools such as JMeter and security testing tools like OWASP ZAP.
• Experience with containerization tools (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes) and microservices testing.
• Familiarity with DevOps and Infrastructure as Code (IaC).