Position OverviewZelis is seeking a hands-on Technical QA Leader to lead and develop a global team of SDETs and product testers while modernizing quality engineering through AI, automation, and strong product partnership.
The ideal candidate combines deep engineering expertise with a passion for using AI to improve how teams build and test software. They will design and maintain AI-enabled workflows-including Copilot skills, agents, prompts, and MCP integrations with tools such as Jira, Zephyr, GitHub, and Playwright-that help developers and QA teams work more effectively. They will also guide the shift-left adoption of test automation, optimize manual testing, build scalable test frameworks and meaningful quality KPIs, and promote reliable release-readiness practices.
This leader will bring strong product and architectural understanding, compliance awareness, and experience with test-data management, including appropriate PHI and PI considerations. They will collaborate with stakeholders on product and technical roadmaps, balance delivery speed with quality, build trust with internal and external partners, and mentor talent to create high-performing teams.
The role also leads quality strategy for AWS migration initiatives and data-load validation, evolving QA practices to support broader architectural change. Experience transforming legacy testing into modern, scalable, and efficient quality engineering practices is highly desirable.
The role's typical time allocation is approximately 60% for building and enabling agentic AI automation workflows for test scenarios, 30% for Release readiness and Operational activities, and 10% people leadership. The balance may shift based on release needs and team priorities.
What You'll Do: Technical Quality Engineering - Design, build, and maintain scalable test automation frameworks that align with application architecture and support reliable regression coverage.
- Develop AI-enabled workflows, including Copilot skills, agents, prompts, and MCP integrations used by developers and QA teams.
- Identify high-value automation opportunities and improve test coverage throughout the software delivery lifecycle.
- Partner with Development, Product, and QA teams to embed quality practices early and coach developers in product and automated testing.
- Develop integration and end-to-end test strategies for complex systems, including test scenarios and data-generation approaches.
- Contribute to performance testing strategy and coverage.
- Define meaningful quality KPIs and communicate trends, risks, and release readiness to technical and executive audiences.
- Ensure test environments and test-data practices meet security and compliance requirements, including appropriate PHI and PI safeguards.
Leadership and Team Development - Lead, mentor, and coach SDETs and product testers across global teams, as applicable to the role assignment.
- Build team capability through clear technical direction, transferable skills, and practical upskilling paths.
- Foster accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement across Quality Engineering and Development.
- Build trust with internal and external stakeholders and collaborate on product and technical roadmaps.
- Balance delivery speed and quality, raise risks early, and support predictable release-readiness decisions.
People Management, When Applicable - Hire, onboard, develop, and performance-manage QA team members.
- Oversee day-to-day quality operations for assigned teams.
- Identify process or delivery inefficiencies and implement improvements.
- Address personnel matters in accordance with company policies.
What You'll Bring to Zelis: - 12+ years of experience in QA, Software Testing, or Quality Engineering.
- 2+ years experience leading SDETs or Quality Engineering teams.
- Demonstrated success in modernizing test practices during application or architectural transformation.
- Strong hands-on experience in software quality engineering, test automation, and framework development.
- Experience with .NET technologies, GitHub, CI/CD, and cloud or DevOps platforms.
- Demonstrated use of AI-assisted engineering tools, such as GitHub Copilot, to improve software testing and delivery.
- Experience building or maintaining AI agent workflows, including skills, agents, prompts, and MCP integrations. Familiarity with Jira, Zephyr, GitHub, and Playwright are valuable.
- Experience with performance testing and related tools.
- Experience with test lifecycle management tools such as Jira, Confluence, and Zephyr Scale.
- Knowledge of secure test-data management, including PHI and PI considerations; experience using synthetic test data is a plus.
- Ability to understand complex systems and integrations and develop practical integration and end-to-end test strategies.
- Strong communication, coaching, collaboration, and problem-solving skills.
Please note at this time we are unable to proceed with candidates who require visa sponsorship now or in the future.Location and Workplace FlexibilityZelis is headquartered in the U.S., with multiple locations across the country and in Hyderabad, India. Check out our locations to learn more about our offices. All employee work locations are based on the needs of the position and are determined by the Leadership team. In-office work and activities vary based on work and team objectives in accordance with Company policies.
While location expectations vary by role, candidates within approximately 50 miles of a U.S. office are generally preferred to support collaboration when needed. Our hybrid approach is flexible, and in-office presence is guided by team and business needs rather than a fixed weekly schedule.
Base Salary Range$127,000.00 - $160,550.00
At Zelis we are committed to providing fair and equitable compensation packages. The base salary range allows us to make an offer that considers multiple individualized factors, including experience, education, qualifications, as well as job-related and industry-related knowledge and skills, etc. Base pay is just one part of our Total Rewards package, which may also include discretionary bonus plans, commissions, or other incentives depending on the role.
Zelis' full-time associates are eligible for a highly competitive benefits package as well, which demonstrates our commitment to our employees' health, well-being, and financial protection. The US-based benefits include a 401k plan with employer match, flexible paid time off, holidays, parental leaves, life and disability insurance, and health benefits including medical, dental, vision, and prescription drug coverage.
