QA Automation Tech Lead

QA Automation Tech Lead / Lead SDET | Playwright, C#/.NET, Java, Python or TS | Global Payments & Banking Company Building Its Own QA Function

• Salary: RON 300,000 - 360,000 gross per year (RON 25,000 - 30,000 gross per month).
• Location: Bucharest, hybrid
• Permanent, full-time role

Our long-standing client, an international payments and banking group, is building its own QA function in Bucharest from scratch and wants a QA Automation Tech Lead in first to shape it. You’ll be the first hire in a team of around nine automation engineers.

You’ll report to the Head of Quality Engineering, with a dotted line to the Bucharest site lead. You’ll line-manage and grow the SDET team, and own the test architecture and automation standards across their US bank and payments programmes. Their automation runs in silos across five to ten internal and external systems, and you’ll design the framework that brings it together while staying hands-on in Playwright. C#/.NET is their preference, but they’re open to strong engineers from Java, Python or TypeScript/JavaScript backgrounds.

Non-Negotiables

• Financial services: payments, SWIFT, banking or FX
• 8+ years in QA/SDET, with at least 2 years leading engineers, including hiring and performance
• Test automation framework design across integrated systems
• Playwright
• C#/.NET (NUnit) preferred. Java, Python or TypeScript/JavaScript also considered.
• SDET background, hands-on coding
• CI/CD: building YAML pipelines in GitHub Actions or Azure DevOps
• API testing: Postman, code-based API suites, contract and schema testing
• SQL for data validation
• Test evidence and traceability in a regulated environment
• MCP (Model Context Protocol): working knowledge, or able to pick it up quickly

What You’ll Work With

• C#/.NET, with some TypeScript
• Kafka, Azure Service Bus and RabbitMQ
• Azure Application Insights, KQL
• Azure, Kubernetes (K8s), Docker
• IaC: Terraform
• Web apps and legacy Windows desktop apps
• GitHub Copilot, Microsoft Foundry
• Azure DevOps, TestRail, Jira

Nice to Haves

• AI in testing: agentic workflows, AI-assisted test generation, LLM evaluation
• Load testing at high transaction volumes: k6, Gatling, JMeter, Artillery, LoadRunner
• Service virtualisation, mocks, stubs
• Payments standards: ISO 20022, SEPA Instant, B2B payments
• Platforms: Temenos, Dynamics 365, SmartTrade, Backbase
• Microsoft Entra ID for test automation: OAuth 2.0 token flows, managed identities
• BDD: Gherkin, SpecFlow, Cucumber
• Working with third-party or nearshore QA partners
• Moving a team from manual testing to automation
• ISTQB Foundation

Why Join / Projects

We’ve worked with this client for several years and placed people across their tech teams. They’re an international business with a strong reputation in payments, and this is one of the more interesting builds we’re recruiting for in Bucharest.

• You’re building the function rather than inheriting one. You’ll set the framework and the standards, hire and develop the team, and help shape the culture of a growing tech hub.
• You’ll design a test pyramid weighted towards fast API, contract and integration checks, with quality built in from discovery through to production verification.
• You’ll create one framework and centre of excellence across both sides of the business, payments and banking, so you see the whole estate rather than one product.
• They’re building a template for agentic engineering across the software lifecycle, with QA as one of its pillars. You’ll help decide where AI fits into testing and set the guardrails for it.

Employee Benefits

• 25 days’ holiday plus Romanian public holidays
• Extra day off in your birthday month
• Private medical cover
• Annual salary review
• Support for training and study
• Long service awards

QA Automation Tech Lead / Lead SDET | Playwright, C#/.NET, Java, Python or TS | Global Payments & Banking Company Building Its Own QA Function