Lead Automation Developer - Vice President

Job description

We are seeking a highly skilled Lead Automation Developer for a fully hands-on, programmatic engineering role dedicated to architecting, refactoring, and maintaining scalable, distributed test automation frameworks for complex, multi-tier User Interfaces (UI) and decoupled server-side microservices. This engineering-centric position requires treating test suites as first-class software products, applying rigorous object-oriented design patterns (such as Page Object Model, Singleton, and Factory patterns) and SOLID design principles to eliminate manual verification bottlenecks and minimize technical debt.

Operating within a high-velocity Agile Scrum environment, you will collaborate closely as full-stack automation application developers and with product owners to implement shift-left testing methodologies, designing testability directly into the system architecture from the earliest stages of the software development lifecycle (SDLC). A core focus of this role is the integration of advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) utilities to enable self-healing element locators, accelerate programmatic script generation, and perform predictive analytics on test execution telemetry.

Ultimately, you will bridge the gap between development and operations by engineering highly parallelized, deterministic automation pipelines that facilitate continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) with zero-downtime delivery.

Responsibilities

Framework Architecture & Design: Architect, implement, and scale robust, object-oriented automation frameworks for UI and Server-side components, prioritizing highly reusable Selenium-based architectures (e.g., Page Object Model, Page Factory, and BDD-Cucumber).

Hands-On Programmatic Engineering

Write clean, maintainable, and production-grade code to develop complex test automation artifacts, including custom libraries, utility functions, and dynamic test scenarios.

Shift-Left Collaboration

Collaborate with cross-functional engineering teams during early-stage sprint planning and grooming to identify automation requirements, define technical acceptance criteria, and establish robust testability hooks within the application code.

Methodology Implementation

Implement and advocate for Behavior Driven Development (BDD) and Test Driven Development (TDD) methodologies, translating Gherkin feature files into executable step definitions.

Server-Side Validation

Develop and execute automated validation suites for server-side components, including RESTful APIs, microservices, and database layers using SQL and NoSQL queries.

AI Tool Integration

Explore, evaluate, and integrate cutting-edge AI tools and machine learning utilities to enable self-healing test scripts, automate visual regression, and optimize test coverage.

Defect & Execution Analysis

Analyze automated execution failures, debug complex script or environment issues, and work closely with development teams to resolve defects rapidly.

Recommended Qualifications

8-12 years of relevant experience in software development.

Programming Languages

Advanced, hands-on programming proficiency in core languages including Java , Python , and JavaScript/TypeScript , with a deep understanding of object-oriented programming (OOP) principles, data structures, and algorithms.

Development Tools & IDEs

Extensive experience utilizing modern Integrated Development Environments (IDEs), specifically IntelliJ IDEA , for writing, debugging, and refactoring clean, high-quality automation code.

AI-Assisted Development

Hands-on experience leveraging AI coding assistants, specifically GitHub Copilot , to accelerate script generation, refactor legacy code, and optimize test automation workflows.

Professional Experience

Proven professional experience in a hands-on software development or automation engineering role, with deep expertise in Selenium WebDriver and associated frameworks.

CI/CD Pipeline Integration

Hands-on experience configuring, maintaining, and optimizing continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipelines (e.g., Jenkins, GitLab CI, GitHub Actions, Tekton) to trigger automated test suites.

Containerization & Orchestration

Experience orchestrating automated regression runs within containerized environments using Docker and Kubernetes via pipeline-as-code configurations.

Version Control

Strong familiarity with version control systems (Git), branching strategies, and pull request workflows within an enterprise environment.

Core Competencies

Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and technical communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex architectural concepts to diverse stakeholders.

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical hands-on software development experience. Master’s degree preferred This job description provides a high-level review of the types of work performed. Other job-related duties may be assigned as required. ------------------------------------------------------ Job Family Group: Technology ------------------------------------------------------ Job

Family: Applications Development ------------------------------------------------------ Time Type: Full time ------------------------------------------------------ Primary Location Full Time Salary Range: $120,800.00 - $170,800.00 ------------------------------------------------------ Most Relevant Skills Please see the requirements listed above. ------------------------------------------------------ Other Relevant Skills For complementary skills, please see above and/or contact the recruiter. ------------------------------------------------------ Automated Processing and AI We use automated processing, including artificial intelligence, for our legitimate business interests (or our reasonable and appropriate business purposes) to identify and align the candidate's skills and abilities with a specific job opening.

Additionally, if you so choose, or consent, we can match your skills and abilities to other suitable roles at Citi. Importantly, all our hiring processes and decisions, including determining your suitability for a role, are conducted, checked, and decided by individuals. Our automated processing and AI do not involve relying on automatic or autonomous decision-making. Please refer to any

Jurisdictional Considerations, with specific provisions for your country (where relevant) for further details. ------------------------------------------------------ This job opening is for an existing job vacancy. ------------------------------------------------------ Citi is an equal opportunity employer, and qualified candidates will receive consideration without regard to their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other characteristic protected by law.

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