What this role is actually about

We're hiring a QA Lead to own quality across the applications, systems, and IT services we deliver - and to build the practice that makes quality repeatable rather than heroic. You'll develop and manage the QA processes, lead the testing effort, and work across departments to make sure what ships actually meets the requirements and quality benchmarks it was held to.

This is a hands-on leadership role. You'll lead, mentor, and grow a team of QA engineers, analysts, and testers while staying credible in the work yourself - close enough to the test plans and the defects to know whether the process is working or just producing paperwork.

The environment is real and the stakes are real. Much of what you validate supports airline operations, where a missed defect isn't an inconvenience, it's a disruption someone feels. That means we need someone who is rigorous without being rigid, who can say clearly when something isn't ready, and who treats every escaped defect as a question about the process rather than a search for someone to blame.

You'll partner closely with development, operations, and business stakeholders - which means you'll need to be as comfortable defining success criteria with a business owner as you are reviewing an automation suite. And you'll help define what good looks like for this function, not just maintain the status quo.

What you will do

• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of QA engineers, analysts, and testers, and coordinate resources across projects so delivery timelines and quality standards don't trade off against each other
• Develop, implement, and refine the QA strategy, processes, and methodologies that support continuous improvement of our solutions
• Partner with developers and business stakeholders to establish QA objectives, testing scope, and success criteria - before the testing starts, not after
• Oversee the creation of comprehensive test plans, test cases, and test scripts so every system is thoroughly validated
• Manage the end-to-end QA lifecycle, from requirements analysis through post-deployment validation, and own what QA hands to Support - validated release, test evidence, and a performance and security baseline
• Define and track KPIs for software quality and performance, and report status and quality metrics to senior management and stakeholders in language each audience can use
• Work closely with development, operations, and business teams to keep QA objectives aligned, and facilitate the cross-functional conversations that surface quality problems early
• Evaluate new testing tools, technologies, and processes to make the QA function more effective, not just busier
• Promote a culture of continuous improvement where feedback actually shows up in the next project

The kind of person who does well here

Technical skills matter and we'll get to those. But the people who thrive at H&K share some things that don't show up on a resume.

They're honest before they're impressive. When they don't know something, they say so and go find out. When something went wrong on their watch, they own it and explain what they learned. They're not trying to manage perception - they're trying to solve the problem.

They're curious about the parts they don't know yet. This environment spans test automation, APIs, data pipelines, cloud platforms, and airline operations all at once. Nobody walks in knowing all of it. The people who grow fastest here are the ones who find that interesting rather than overwhelming.

They're comfortable moving before the picture is complete. We build solutions that work now and evolve over time. That means making good decisions with incomplete information, adjusting course without losing momentum, and being energized by change rather than threatened by it.

They make the people around them better. This is a team sport. We're looking for someone who leads a QA team not just by knowing more but by helping others know more too - and who makes development and business partners better at their part of quality as well.

They care about the work, not just the output. There's a difference between passing a test suite and actually knowing the system is sound. We want someone who knows the difference and consistently chooses the harder, more honest path.

Required qualifications

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related field.

A minimum of 5 years in software testing and QA, including at least 2 years in a leadership or managerial role.

Proven experience with both manual and automated testing tools - Selenium, Postman, ReadyAPI, or equivalents.

Experience testing complex business applications inside a technical development environment, including UI, mobile app, and/or API testing.

Comfort adapting as priorities, systems, and environments change.

Technical experience (significant experience required):

• Cloud computing (AWS, Microsoft Azure) and DevOps practices
• Database management and testing, including relational databases (MySQL, SQL Server, Oracle)
• ETL processes and testing of data pipelines
• Automated testing tools - Postman, Selenium, JUnit, TestNG, Appium
• Performance testing with tools such as LoadRunner or JMeter, to prove high availability and reliability in a 24/7 airline environment
• Security testing, particularly in a highly regulated industry like aviation

Preferred qualifications

Experience in an airline information systems environment is a real advantage - but we'd rather hire someone genuinely curious about the domain than someone who has simply been near it.

Any of the following are a plus:

• Relevant certifications - ISTQB, Six Sigma, or Agile/Scrum
• Bilingual (Spanish)
• Azure DevOps

Location

This role is based in Houston and works on a hybrid schedule. You'll be onsite near the Galleria at least two days a week, with additional onsite days as the work requires - including a monthly team meeting that typically brings the full team together for a third day. We're not counting days for the sake of it, but presence matters here and we're transparent about that upfront.