Director, Software Development Engineer in Test

Walgreens•Deerfield, IL

About The Position

The Director, Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET) is a senior engineering leader responsible for defining and scaling enterprise wide test automation, quality engineering, and continuous testing practices across the software development lifecycle. This role leads teams of SDETs who design, build, and maintain automated testing frameworks, tools, and platforms that ensure high levels of software quality, reliability, and release confidence. Acting as a bridge between Software Engineering, Quality Assurance, and DevOps, the Director establishes modern quality engineering standards that embed testing into CI/CD pipelines and shift quality left across product teams. This leader partners closely with Engineering, Platform, SRE, and Product leaders to improve code quality, accelerate delivery, and reduce production defects through automation, observability, and data driven quality insights. Outcomes directed have a moderate to significant impact on the organization’s delivery velocity, system stability, and customer experience. Decisions have moderate to significant impact across engineering platforms, development practices, and technology outcomes.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field OR equivalent work experience.
10+ years of experience in software engineering, test automation, or quality engineering roles with increasing scope and complexity.
5+ years of people leadership experience, including leading managers or senior technical leaders.
Strong background in automated testing frameworks, software development practices, and modern SDLC methodologies.
Demonstrated experience integrating automated testing into CI/CD pipelines at scale.
At least 5 years of experience contributing to financial decisions in the workplace.
At least 5 years of direct leadership, indirect leadership and/or cross-functional team leadership.
Willing to travel up to/at least 10% of the time for business purposes (within state and out of state).

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field.
Experience leading SDET or quality engineering organizations in large scale, distributed environments.
Deep knowledge of modern test automation tools and frameworks for UI, API, and integration testing.
Experience with cloud native architectures and microservices testing strategies.
Proven ability to influence senior engineering leaders and drive cultural change toward engineering led quality.

Responsibilities

Leads and develops a team of Software Development Engineers in Test, including managers and senior technical leaders, fostering a culture of engineering excellence, ownership, and continuous improvement.
Defines and executes the SDET and quality engineering strategy aligned to enterprise software delivery and platform modernization initiatives.
Establishes the operating model for how SDETs partner with product and engineering teams, ensuring quality is built into design and development rather than inspected after the fact.
Builds organizational capability through hiring, coaching, succession planning, and skills development in test automation and quality engineering.
Oversees the design, development, and maintenance of scalable, reusable automated testing frameworks and tools across UI, API, integration, performance, and security testing.
Ensures test automation is treated as production quality code, with strong standards for maintainability, performance, and reliability.
Drives consistent engineering practices for test code reviews, versioning, and reuse across teams.
Reduces reliance on manual testing by increasing automation coverage and test execution efficiency.
Partners with DevOps and Platform teams to embed automated testing into CI/CD pipelines, enabling fast, reliable, and repeatable releases.
Establishes standards for continuous testing, test data management, and environment readiness.
Drives shift left testing practices, ensuring quality considerations are addressed early in the software development lifecycle.
Improves release confidence and cycle time through early defect detection and automated quality gates.
Defines and tracks quality metrics that provide visibility into code quality, test effectiveness, defect trends, and release readiness.
Uses data and insights to identify systemic quality issues and drive targeted improvement initiatives.
Leads root cause analysis for escaped defects and partners with engineering teams to prevent recurrence.
Continuously evaluates and evolves tools, frameworks, and practices based on industry trends and organizational needs.
Collaborates closely with Software Engineering, Product, Architecture, SRE, Security, and Vendor partners to align on quality standards and delivery expectations.
Influences engineering design decisions to improve testability, reliability, and long term maintainability.
Communicates quality posture, risks, and improvement progress to senior technology leadership.