Engineering Manager, Director (Chicago)

Role

Director-level Engineering Manager based in Chicago responsible for leading development and QA engineering practices for multiple agile squads. The role focuses on building AI-driven, reusable test automation frameworks, integrating test execution and reporting into CI/CD pipelines, implementing BDD practices, and operating in an SDET capacity to automate testing early and efficiently.

Key Responsibilities

• Own development and QA engineering practices for more than one agile squad.
• Automate testing scenarios for each story in the sprint and mentor junior engineers in test automation and agentic AI methodologies.
• Design and develop efficient, flexible, and reusable automation frameworks using AI-driven approaches.
• Integrate code and test case execution and reporting within CI/CD pipelines in line with DevOps strategy.
• Collaborate with business analysts, developers, and users to build and refine test strategies and ensure system integrity.
• Implement BDD practices and frameworks to improve acceptance criteria and test automation.
• Operate in an SDET capacity to automate early and ensure comprehensive test coverage.

Requirements

• Strong understanding of LLMs and hands-on experience with mainstream coding assistants (e.g., GitHub Copilot, claude code, Amazon Q).
• Proficient in Python and Java; React.js experience is advantageous.
• 10+ years of experience in development and automation testing with hands-on experience in Playwright/Python and Selenium/Java.
• 6+ years integrating automated testing with DevOps tools (Github actions/Bamboo).
• 4+ years of API testing experience using RestAssured and OpenAPI-related toolsets.
• Experience building reusable test components to validate AI-generated outputs for business logic, factual accuracy, and explainability is a plus.
• Experience leveraging code assistants (Agentic AI Plugins) to accelerate test case creation, code suggestions, and documentation.
• Proficient with performance testing tools (JMeter, K6, Neoload, LoadRunner).
• Skilled in writing SQL/NoSQL queries for data verification.
• Solid understanding of BDD concepts, acceptance criteria, and testing methodologies.
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, communication skills, and the ability to deliver results in complex environments.

Preferred / “What Would Make You Stand Out”

• Python testing code and use of Python frameworks such as Pandas, Numpy, Requests.
• Exposure to code quality metrics and shift-left principles.
• Experience testing container resiliency (Docker/Kubernetes).
• Experience designing large end-to-end performance scenarios and adding performance validation to CI pipelines.
• Exposure to the financial industry and data platforms (data warehouses, data lakes).

Location & Compensation

• Hybrid role based in Chicago, IL (2 days a week in office required).
• For Chicago roles, expected base pay is $160,000 to $180,000 per year.