About Gradera
Gradera defines a new category of enterprise transformation called Software-Orchestrated Services™ - where software orchestrates human expertise, digital workers, and enterprise systems to deliver governed outcomes at scale. As an AI Native Services firm, we help enterprises redesign how work gets done across operations, product, engineering, customer experience, data, and enterprise workflows to move beyond fragmented AI pilots and disconnected automation toward measurable business outcomes.
Role Overview
We are seeking a hands-on, collaborative Lead SDET (Software Development Engineer in Test) to drive the UI automation strategy, framework architecture, and continuous improvement of our frontend quality practices. As Lead UI SDET, you will provide technical leadership and guidance to the UI test automation team, ensuring robust, maintainable, and effective Playwright-based test suites for our modern web applications. This is a cross-functional leadership role focused on UI quality, maintainability, and efficiency.
Our core UI test automation stack includes:
Playwright (primary UI automation framework)
TypeScript (primary language for test development)
Jest (for unit testing and test utilities)
Docker and Kubernetes (for containerized test environments)
GitHub Actions (for CI/CD)
Karate (for E2E API Testing)
Key Responsibilities
Provide technical leadership, mentorship, and guidance to the UI SDET/QA engineering team
Lead the design, implementation, and maintenance of Playwright-based UI automation frameworks
Architect and enforce the use of the Page Object Model (POM) and data-driven testing paradigms for UI automation
Design and own comprehensive test plans in partnership with Product Owners to align testing strategies and automation scripts with BDD delivery practices
Ensure UI test suites are maintainable, reliable, efficient, and scalable
Drive adoption of best practices for reducing flakiness, increasing speed, and ensuring meaningful assertions in UI tests
Establish and maintain robust regression testing processes to ensure ongoing UI quality
Implement feedback loops from test results and production issues to continuously improve test coverage and effectiveness
Drive the evolution and refactoring of UI test suites to adapt to product changes, reduce technical debt, and maximize long-term value
Champion a culture of quality, rapid feedback, and continuous improvement throughout the SDLC
Drive a TDD (Test-Driven Development) culture across the UI engineering team, including promoting learning and adoption of test automation by all engineers
Collaborate closely with product, development, UX, and DevOps teams to deliver integrated, high-quality solutions
Lead the adoption of modern UI testing tools, frameworks, and best practices
Drive root cause analysis and continuous improvement for UI defects and quality issues
Ensure engineering rigor, code quality, and effective documentation in all UI test assets
Facilitate clear communication, knowledge sharing, and effective documentation within the team
Support team growth through coaching, feedback, and skills development
Core Qualities & Skills
Proven experience leading UI SDET or QA engineering teams and delivering complex UI automation projects
Deep expertise in Playwright and the Page Object Model for UI automation
Experience with data-driven testing approaches for UI, including test data creation and test data management, with knowledge of BDD frameworks and practices
Demonstrated ability to deliver maintainable, reliable, and efficient UI test suites
Strong understanding of explicit waits, robust locator strategies, and atomic test design
Experience with test reporting and analytics for UI automation
Experience with risk-based testing and exploratory testing for UI
Strong programming and scripting skills in TypeScript
Experience with CI/CD pipelines and integrating UI automated tests into the SDLC
Strong collaboration and alignment skills across disciplines
Willingness to learn, share knowledge, and adapt to evolving technologies
System design skills and awareness of technical debt and tradeoffs in UI test automation
Excellent communication, documentation, and stakeholder management abilities
Comfort with ambiguity, discovery, and rapid change
Commitment to engineering excellence, security, and responsible practices
Preferred Qualifications
6+ years of hands-on UI SDET, QA, or software engineering experience, with 2+ years in a technical leadership role
Track record of architecting and delivering scalable, reliable UI automation systems
Experience with modern development and testing practices (CI/CD, automated testing, code reviews)
Demonstrated ability to mentor and grow engineers
Experience working in cross-functional, agile teams
Highly Desirable
Experience testing non-deterministic systems, AI/ML outputs, or GenAI-powered UI features
Experience using AI to accelerate the SDLC, UI test automation, and quality analysis
Experience with test strategies for non-deterministic, probabilistic, or data-driven UI systems
Experience with containerization (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes) for UI test environments
Familiarity with the Test Pyramid and balancing UI, integration, and unit tests
Experience thriving in fast-paced, ambiguous environments and balancing rapid delivery with technical excellence
Experience leading or working with distributed, multidisciplinary teams
Success Metrics
UI test coverage, reliability, and effectiveness
Defect detection rate and time to resolution for UI issues
UI automation stability and maintainability
Team delivery velocity and quality
Technical debt reduction and architectural alignment in UI test automation
Team growth, engagement, and retention
Stakeholder satisfaction and cross-team collaboration