This is a 6-month contract position for a Senior QA Lead based in Mesa, Arizona. You will own end-to-end quality across applications, lead QA strategy, guide automation and manual testing efforts, and mentor a team of QA engineers. This role requires a seasoned leader with deep hands-on automation expertise, strong communication skills, and the ability to design scalable test frameworks while driving continuous improvement across the SDLC. Responsibilities Lead the QA team and serve as the primary owner of total product quality. Define, implement, and maintain automation frameworks for UI, API, and integration testing. Oversee and perform manual testing for complex functional, regression, and exploratory scenarios. Review pull requests (PRs), provide technical guidance, and mentor junior and mid-level QA engineers. Collaborate closely with developers, product owners, and DevOps teams to ensure high-quality releases. Drive test strategy, test planning, and risk-based testing approaches across multiple projects. Ensure full coverage across API, Web, Security, Batch, Performance, Integration, and Database testing. Implement CI/CD integrated automation pipelines and ensure test reliability and scalability. Utilize AI-assisted coding tools (Copilot, Claude, etc.) to accelerate automation development. Establish QA best practices, documentation standards, and continuous improvement processes. Qualifications Required 12+ years of total QA experience 8+ years in automation testing 5+ years in QA leadership or team lead roles Proven experience owning quality across enterprise-level applications Expertise with Selenium and Playwright Proficiency in C#, Java, and/or TypeScript Experience with CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps, Jenkins, or equivalent) Hands-on experience with AI code generation tools (Copilot, Claude, or similar) Testing expertise in the following areas: API Testing Web Application Testing Security Testing Batch System Testing Performance Testing Integration Testing Database Testing (SQL proficiency required) Strong communication and stakeholder management skills Ability to lead and mentor QA engineers Skilled in problem-solving, test design, and root cause analysis Experience reviewing PRs and guiding automation best practices Ability to manage multiple priorities and deliver high-quality results under deadlines Preferred Experience with Azure cloud platforms (AWS or other cloud experience is also acceptable)