Lead Quality Engineer

FHLBank Chicago•Chicago, IL

1d•$108,450 - $180,825•Onsite

About The Position

The Lead Quality Engineer at the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago is responsible for advancing the Bank’s quality engineering capabilities by shifting from traditional test execution toward an automation-first, engineering-led quality model driving built-in quality end to end. This role combines hands-on technical delivery like an experienced SDET with team leadership, quality governance and mentoring across agile delivery teams. The role designs, develops, and maintains End to End Test Plans, scalable automated test frameworks; integrates continuous testing into CI/CD pipelines; and partners with developers, product owners, business analysts, security, architecture, operations, and risk stakeholders to ensure quality is built into every phase of the SDLC. The position helps enable the Bank’s modern engineering transformation through test automation, Performance testing, test environment, test data and DevSecOps practices. Enables AI-assisted delivery, secure pipeline controls, DORA-aligned metrics, and quality ownership across product teams. This role is expected to be both hands-on manual, automation and supervisory: directly contributing to Test plans, automation frameworks, test strategy, code review, CI/CD quality gates, and technical problem-solving, while also coaching Quality Engineers / SDETs, influencing standards, and helping product teams adopt modern quality practices.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Software Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Engineering, or a related technical discipline; equivalent experience may be considered.
10+ years of experience in Quality Engineering, Test planning, Software Development Engineering in Test (SDET), Test Automation, Software Engineering, Test Management end to end or related technology disciplines.
5+ years of experience mentoring, coaching, or supervisory oversight to Quality Engineers, SDETs, or software delivery teams.
Experience designing, implementing, and maintaining enterprise-scale automated test frameworks and quality engineering solutions for API/Web/ERP/Mobile/CRM/Salesforce/SaaS/Summit/Data/EDW/Batch processes/Financial systems or Similar.
Strong hands-on programming experience using object-oriented languages such as C#, JavaScript/TypeScript, Python, or equivalent.
Experience with modern test automation frameworks including Playwright, Selenium, Appium, SpecFlow/Cucumber, API automation frameworks, BDD and service virtualization tools.
Experience integrating automated testing and quality controls into CI/CD pipelines using platforms such as GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps, Jenkins, or similar technologies.
Strong experience testing APIs, web applications, cloud-native solutions, databases, and integrated enterprise platforms.
Experience with performance/load test, test environment/data TDEM management, security, and non-functional testing practices.
Experience with source control, code review, branching strategies, and modern engineering workflows using GitHub and/or Azure DevOps.
Working knowledge of relational databases including PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server, or similar technologies.
Experience with cloud platforms such as AWS or comparable environments, microservices and Event based architectures, domain model understanding.
Familiarity with DevSecOps tooling and practices, including code quality, security scanning, software supply chain controls, and automated quality gates.
C#, TypeScript, Python (optional – Java Script/Python)
Playwright, Selenium, Specflow
API Automation & Testing -Postman, Swagger/OpenAPI
GitHub, Azure DevOps, CI/CD Pipelines, GitHub Actions
PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server
AWS and/or comparable cloud solutions & architectures
Performance Testing - Artillery, Gatling, JMeter
Test Environment/Data Management -Tonic.ai or equivalent
Security Testing and DevSecOps Tooling
GitHub Copilot and AI-assisted engineering tools
Deep understanding of modern Quality Engineering, automation-first testing, continuous testing, shift-left practices, and defect prevention.
Strategic Thinking beyond day to day test delivery.
Ability to do hands-on coding, scripting, and automation framework design capabilities.
Requires working knowledge of SDLC, Agile or Hybrid, DevOps, TDD, BDD, DevSecOps, CI/CD, and modern engineering delivery practices.
Ability to embed automated quality checks, test coverage, release readiness controls, and quality gates into delivery pipelines.
Strong analytical, troubleshooting, SQL/data validation, and root-cause analysis skills.
Ability to communicate quality risks, technical issues, and delivery impacts clearly to both technical and business stakeholders.
Strong collaboration skills across Product, Engineering, Architecture, Security, Operations, Risk, and Compliance teams.
Ability to plan, prioritize, estimate, and execute work effectively in a fast-paced delivery environment.
Expert/Advanced Competencies- Quality Engineering Practices, Quality Engineering Strategy / KPIs / DORA, Test Strategy Development & Test Planning, Test Management in ADO, Functional Testing, API Testing, System Integration Testing / SIT, End-to-End Testing, UAT / Business Validation Support, Test Automation of Functional, Regression, Integration, E2E, Regression Test Automation Optimization & Integrated in pipelines, Test Framework development & Maintenance / Harness Development, Test Data Management, Test Environment Readiness & Validation, TDEM, Ephemeral Test Environments / IaC, Cloud Fundamentals / Containers, Service Mocking / Service Virtualization, SQL & Backend Data Validation, CI/CD Pipeline Testing & Quality Gates, Release Management / Deployment Readiness, Performance, Load & Reliability Testing, Software Monitoring / Event Management / Operational Validation, Incident / Problem Management / RCA, Defect Management, Defect Prevention & Detection, Shift-Left / Shift-Right Testing, Agile / Secure SDLC Practices, DevOps / DevSecOps Practices, TDD / BDD, Architecture & Technical Specifications Review, Testability Analysis, Work Planning / Estimation / Prioritization, Stakeholder Communication / Cross-Functional Collaboration, Mentoring / Technical Guidance, Technical Leadership / Coaching.

Nice To Haves

Professional certifications such as ISTQB, CSTE, CSQA, Certified Agile Tester, AWS, Azure, or equivalent certifications are a plus.
Experience within a banking, financial services, or other regulated industry is preferred.
Knowledge of banking, financial services, audit, regulatory, and risk-control expectations is preferred.
Intermediate Competencies- Software Development / Unit Testing Awareness, Project Management / Requirements Management, Security Testing and Analysis, AI-Assisted Engineering and Testing.

Responsibilities

Elevate Summit quality and release confidence by designing and executing robust manual and automated test strategies for Summit and its complex integrations—ensuring stable, scalable, and defect-resistant releases.
Accelerate delivery through automation and data excellence by strengthening Selenium/Playwright and API automation frameworks while implementing reliable test data creation, masking, and refresh strategies across multi-org Summit environments.
Reduce production risk and defects by validating accounting data, payment flows, end-to-end workflows, integrations, and data integrity using SQL and API testing, while proactively identifying issues early in the Agile lifecycle.
Strengthen QA maturity and team capability by mentoring junior QA engineers, driving best practices in quality engineering, and continuously improving QA processes, standards, and reporting through Azure DevOps.
Lead the Quality Engineering strategy cross-team and end to end, Test Management for all test engineering approaches (Functional, Regression, SIT, E2E, UAT,Perfornance/Load, Test Data, Test Environment), test automation architecture, Exploratory and continuous testing practices across agile product teams, ensuring quality is built into every stage of the SDLC.
Architect, Design, develop, and maintain scalable Test plans and automated test frameworks and reusable quality engineering solutions supporting functional, API, integration, end-to-end, performance, and non-functional testing.
Define and implement quality engineering strategies and best practices across agile teams, including system architecture review, test pyramid alignment, risk-based automation, test data strategy, environment readiness, traceability, and release quality criteria.
Partner with Product, Engineering, Architecture, Security, Infrastructure, and Operations teams to drive shared ownership of quality, defect prevention, testability, non-functional requirements and production readiness.
Build, Integrate and maintain automated tests using strong coding practices, quality gates, reusable libraries, page/object models, service-level test patterns, test data utilities, and CI/CD-ready execution models to enable rapid, reliable, and secure software delivery.
Support DevSecOps transformation by embedding security and quality controls into the SDLC.
Collaborate with developers, architects, product owners, business analysts, security, infrastructure, operations, and risk/compliance stakeholders to validate requirements, acceptance criteria, design quality, and production readiness.
Review user stories, acceptance criteria, architecture designs, API contracts, data flows, and technical specifications to identify test scenarios, risks, improve testability, and prevent defects earlier in the lifecycle.
Establish, Measure/Monitor and communicate quality metrics such as automation coverage, escaped defects, defect trends, test effectiveness, pipeline quality gate results, deployment readiness, and DORA-aligned delivery outcomes.
Lead root-cause analysis and continuous improvement initiatives, driving systemic solutions that reduce risk, improve reliability, and strengthen engineering outcomes.
Support audit readiness and regulatory expectations by ensuring quality processes produce traceable evidence, controlled approvals, policy-aligned gates, and measurable risk reduction.
Mentor, coach, provide supervisory support and technical leadership to Quality Engineers, SDETs, and other engineering team members while supporting talent development, performance, prioritization, and delivery execution.
Champion & Promote modern engineering capabilities including AI-assisted testing, GitHub Copilot adoption, reusable automation assets, human-in-the-loop quality controls and enterprise quality engineering transformation initiatives.