SDET/QA Automation Lead (remote-only, worldwide remote)

We're looking for an SDET Automation Lead who can transform a technically capable but operationally strained QA team into a strategic, AI-powered quality engineering function. This is the opportunity to fundamentally rethink how we assure quality at scale.

- Define key product quality metrics and build a strategic multi-quarter QA roadmap - Execute the defined QA roadmap - Expand test coverage systematically: prioritize by risk, by impact - Own the test system infrastructure and the resource strategy

- Build a team culture focused on heavy AI & automation usage - Restructure on-duty rotation so it's equitable and sustainable - Mentor 6 SDETs from "test writers" to "product quality engineers" who own subsystems end-to-end - Create career growth paths

- Test Framework - pytest, Python, Playwright (emerging) - CI/CD - Jenkins (Multibranch Pipelines, 100+ jobs), GitLab CI (migration target) - Infrastructure - OpenNebula (VM orchestration), S3/Ceph - Reporting - Allure Framework (POC), Redash/ClickHouse (current) - Communication - Slack (daily reports, bots), Jira (DEF project, 1200+ issues)

- 5+ years in test automation, 2+ years leading a QA team (5+ engineers) - Deep experience with Linux-based product testing (RPM, systemd, multi-distro matrix) - Proven track record of dramatically improving test reliability metrics - Experience building or integrating AI/ML into QA workflows (not theoretical - show us what you shipped) - Strong Python skills (the entire test framework and tooling is Python) - CI/CD pipeline architecture experience (Jenkins Pipelines > GitLab CI is upcoming)

- Strategic thinking - Delegation instinct: you'd build processes that distribute and track ownership - Data-driven execution: You measure, set targets, and hold teams accountable to metrics - Strategic initiative: You proactively propose and drive improvements, not wait for problems to be assigned to you - Automation bias: If a human does it daily (like the nightly report), it should be automated - period

- VM orchestration/cloud infrastructure testing experience - Security product testing background (WAF, antivirus)