Agentic AI QA Engineering Manager (Director QA Automation & AI)

Locations: New York, NY | Charlotte, NC | Chicago, IL | Charlotte, NC | Atlanta, GA (Hybrid 3 days onsite)
Salary: $180K $200K base + 20% bonus
Employment: Full-Time
Sponsorship: Not available (No C2C / No Visa Sponsorship)

Overview

We are seeking a hands-on QA Engineering Manager to lead the transformation of Quality Engineering through automation and AI-driven (agentic/LLM-based) testing .

This role will focus on modernizing an existing QA function , increasing automation maturity, and introducing AI-assisted test generation, execution, and optimization within an Agile environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead modernization of QA by shifting from manual testing to automation-first and AI-assisted testing models
• Design and implement automated test frameworks for web, mobile, and API applications
• Develop and scale LLM/agent-based testing approaches (test generation, self-healing, intelligent prioritization)
• Integrate automated and AI-driven testing into CI/CD pipelines
• Evaluate current QA processes and drive improvements in efficiency, coverage, and reliability
• Partner with engineering, product, and business teams to align testing with user journeys and business outcomes
• Manage and mentor QA team members while remaining hands-on with automation and scripting

Required Qualifications

• 7 10+ years of experience in QA Engineering / Test Automation
• Prior experience leading or managing QA teams in large-scale Agile environments
• Strong hands-on experience with test automation (Selenium, Playwright, Cypress, or similar)
• Experience writing and maintaining automation scripts (Java, Python, or similar)
• Exposure to AI/LLM-based testing, test generation, or automation enhancements
• Experience testing web, mobile, and API-based applications
• Strong understanding of CI/CD integration for automated testing
• Experience in financial services or regulated environments is a plus
• Strong understanding of risk, controls, and enterprise QA standards

Nice to Have

• Experience with agentic AI concepts (multi-agent systems, self-healing tests, human-in-the-loop validation)
• Familiarity with modern AI/automation tooling for QA
• Experience improving or building QA functions from low to high automation maturity

What You ll Be Doing in the First 6 Months

• Assess current QA and automation maturity
• Increase automation coverage and improve testing efficiency
• Introduce and scale AI-assisted testing capabilities
• Establish a more engineering-driven QA approach

Additional Notes

• This is an internal hiring process (no client interview)
• Candidates must be able to work onsite 3 days/week in one of the listed locations
• This role requires a hands-on engineering leader , not a process-only QA manager