Quality Architect (Atlanta)

TRC’s client, a construction industry leader headquartered in the Buckhead area, has a direct-hire opportunity for a Quality Assurance Architect. This is a critical, strategic hire that will lead the company’s transformation from manual testing to a fully modernized, automated quality engineering function.
The QA Architect will design the automation strategy, develop the roadmap, implement frameworks and tools, and provide leadership across the engineering, product, and QA teams. This role is ideal for someone who has successfully guided organizations through large-scale digital modernization and is ready to build automation from the ground up.
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Key Responsibilities
Quality Architecture & Strategy
• Define and lead the enterprise QA strategy and automation roadmap.
• Evaluate existing manual testing processes and architect modern automated solutions.
• Own the test automation framework, tooling selection, standards, and governance.
• Drive shift-left testing practices and embed quality earlier in the SDLC.
Automation Design & Implementation
• Build scalable automation frameworks for UI, API, regression, integration, and performance testing.
• Implement and maintain automated test suites integrated into CI/CD pipelines.
• Identify automation opportunities to accelerate delivery, reduce defects, and enhance reliability.
• Develop reusable components and coding standards to support long-term automation growth.
Leadership & Team Development
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to QA, automation engineers, and manual testers.
• Establish QA best practices, documentation standards, and operational processes.
• Partner with Engineering leadership to elevate quality mindsets and continuous improvement.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
• Work closely with Engineering, Product, and DevOps teams to ensure testability and quality throughout the lifecycle.
• Communicate quality metrics, automation progress, and release readiness to stakeholders.
• Champion a proactive, automation-first culture across the organization.
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Must-Have Qualifications
• Experience leading QA strategy through a large-scale digital transformation or modernization initiative.
• 8+ years in QA/Software Testing with 3+ years in a QA Architect, Automation Architect, or similar technical leadership role.
• Proven success transitioning organizations from manual testing to automated testing at scale.
• Strong hands-on expertise with automation tools/frameworks (Selenium, Playwright, Cypress, Appium, etc.).
• Proficiency in automation-oriented programming languages (Java, Python, JavaScript, or similar).
• Experience integrating automation into CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab, Azure DevOps).
• Strong understanding of test strategy, QA architecture, and scalable automation design.
• Experience with API testing (Postman, RestAssured) and performance testing (JMeter, k6).
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to influence across technical teams.