LEAD QUALITY ENGINEER

Code and Theory is seeking a QA Lead with extensive expertise in scaling QA automation implementation within professional services.

As part of our quality engineering team, you will ensure the excellence of our web experiences by directly designing and executing robust automated testing procedures. Collaborating with engineering and product teams, you will lead the hands-on development of our automation initiatives and analyze complex functionality to guarantee high-quality software delivery.

You will foster a culture of automation by implementing the frameworks and CI/CD structures that support QA across the organization. While supporting major accounts (Fortune 50/100), you will maintain a deeply tactical focus, managing the technical health of multiple projects and tailoring automated solutions to meet client KPIs. You will provide technical mentorship to engineering teams to achieve these objectives.

You are a passionate advocate for software quality, with a track record of building stable frameworks and driving continuous improvement through contemporary tools and methodologies.

 

WHAT YOU’LL DO

• Deliver hands-on testing across our web and mobile ecosystem, acting as the squad’s technical authority and quality advocate.
• Lead project delivery through mentorship and delegation; while people management and administration are minimal, they remain a key part of your technical leadership
• Drive stakeholder management by aligning quality goals with business objectives and providing clear, data-driven progress updates.
• Partner with product leadership to develop and evolve robust testing strategies with a strong shift-left mindset.
• Effectively estimate and scope high-level testing efforts, ensuring the team remains highly adaptable to changing requirements.
• Lead requirements gathering and regression strategies across all functional systems, ensuring consistency and coverage.
• Own the release cycle by managing scope planning, effort estimation, and providing final sign-off for deployments.
• Be a key driver in the Quality Practice Community by leading and supporting all activities.
• Actively work with all members of the Practice Community to cross-pollinate learnings across other project deliverables.

 

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

• 7+ years of experience as a tactical leader who can navigate high-pressure environments and complex project constraints.
• Proven ability to guide team members through consistent feedback, helping the team adapt and evolve their technical skills.
• The confidence to be a vocal champion for quality and the maturity to make risk-tolerant decisions that meet business goals.
• Deep commitment to developing a strong culture of mentorship and maintaining a healthy environment for team development.
• Expert-level ability to design stable, deterministic tests that eliminate flakiness across the entire stack.
• Proven experience in architecting, maintaining, and customizing automation frameworks and shared libraries.
• Mastery of integrating test frameworks into CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, Jenkins, etc.) and managing API/Load testing suites.
• Technical proficiency in optimizing application performance and detecting complex memory usage issues.
• Fluency in reading and troubleshooting HTML, CSS, JavaScript/TypeScript, and backend languages like PHP or Java.
• Expert-level use of JIRA and Confluence for strategic test planning, reporting, and high-level defect management.
• A positive, solutions-oriented leadership style with a relentless commitment to team excellence.

ABOUT US

Born in 2001, Code and Theory is a digital-first creative agency that sits at the center of creativity and technology. We pride ourselves on not only solving consumer and business problems, but also helping to establish new capabilities for our clients. With a global client roster of Fortune 100s and start-ups alike, we crave the hardest problems to solve. We have teams distributed across North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. The Code and Theory global network of agencies is growing and includes Kettle, Instrument, Left Field Labs, Create Group, Current, and TrueLogic.

Striving never to be pigeonholed, we work across every major category: from tech to CPG, financial services to travel & hospitality, government and education to media and publishing. We value the collaboration with our client partners, including but not limited to Adidas, Amazon, Con Edison, Diageo, EY, J.P. Morgan Chase, Lenovo, Marriott, Mars, Microsoft, Thomson Reuters, and TikTok.

The Code and Theory network is comprised of nearly 2,000 people with 50% engineers and 50% creative talent. We’re always on the lookout for smart, driven, and forward-thinking people to join our team.