Senior QA Automation Lead (Java)

About Citi: Citi, the leading global bank, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments, and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management.

As a bank with a brain and a soul, Citi creates economic value that is systemically responsible and in our clients’ best interests. As a financial institution that touches every region of the world and every sector that shapes your daily life, our Operations & Technology teams are charged with a mission that rivals any large tech company.

Our technology solutions are the foundations of everything we do from keeping the bank safe, managing global resources, and providing the technical tools our workers need to be successful to designing our digital architecture and ensuring our platforms provide a first-class customer experience.

We reimagine client and partner experiences to deliver excellence through secure, reliable, and efficient services. Our commitment to diversity includes a workforce that represents the clients we serve from all walks of life, backgrounds, and origins.

We foster an environment where the best people want to work. We value and demand respect for others, promote individuals based on merit, and ensure opportunities for personal development are widely available to all. Ideal candidates are innovators with well-rounded backgrounds who bring their authentic selves to work and complement our culture of delivering results with pride.

If you are a problem solver who seeks passion in your work, come join us. We’ll enable growth and progress together. The Role: The Senior QA Automation Lead (Java) is a senior-level Test Automation Development engineer supporting Fixed Income Rates eTrading systems within a leading global financial institution.

The position is embedded within a high-performing engineering team operating under a Shift-Left testing philosophy, where quality and automation are integrated from the earliest stages of the software development lifecycle. The Lead will spend the majority of their time hands-on coding, designing, and building scalable automation frameworks and tools from the ground up while also providing strategic direction, technical mentorship, and cross-functional collaboration.

This is an opportunity for a seasoned automation engineer to make a direct impact on a high-priority strategic program by championing innovation, leveraging AI-driven technologies, and advancing the organization's vision of a zero-touch, fully automated QA platform.

Responsibilities Develop and implement a comprehensive test automation strategy for Fixed Income eTrading applications, defining the scope, tools, and methodologies required to ensure top-tier software quality. Architect, build, and maintain robust, scalable, and efficient test automation frameworks aligned with industry best practices and a Shift-Left testing approach.

Author and execute automated test scripts covering functional, regression, integration, and API testing to validate microservices and ensure data integrity. Integrate automated test suites seamlessly into CI/CD pipelines to enable continuous testing and accelerate feedback cycles.

Conduct performance, load, and stress testing to validate system reliability and scalability under production-like conditions. Manage and track defects, collaborating closely with developers to drive timely resolution and ensure comprehensive automated regression coverage.

Design and build proprietary internal tools from scratch to simplify, automate, and accelerate the software testing process. Champion innovative automation initiatives including Generative AI applications — with the goal of creating a zero-touch, fully automated QA platform.

Participate in code reviews, share engineering best practices, and continuously drive improvements in automation processes and tooling. Provide technical guidance and mentorship to junior team members, supporting their professional growth and helping them resolve technical challenges.

Collaborate with stakeholders and the broader engineering team to align development efforts with project objectives and delivery timelines. Qualifications 5+ years' hands-on experience in a QA Automation role with demonstrated progression in scope and technical complexity.

Exceptional proficiency in core Java with a strong, in-depth understanding of Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) concepts. Hands-on experience developing and coding in Java (Rust is a big plus) with the ability to build robust and scalable automation solutions.

Hands-on experience with scripting languages including Python and Shell. Expertise in building and utilizing test automation frameworks based on BDD methodologies (e.g., Cucumber) and TestNG. Experience with backend automation using Java, Rust, and Python for data validation and accuracy checks.

Familiarity with containerization technologies such as Docker and container orchestration services. Practical experience with Generative AI (Gen AI) concepts and their application in product development or quality assurance is a plus. Proven experience in the Financial Services industry, specifically within the Fixed Income eTrading domain is highly preferred.

Familiarity with AI-powered development tools such as GitHub Copilot is a plus. Experience developing BDD-based frameworks in Rust is a plus. Education Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or equivalent relevant experience. Master's degree preferred.

This job description provides a high-level review of the types of work performed. Other job-related duties may be assigned as required. ------------------------------------------------------ Job Family Group: Technology ------------------------------------------------------ Job Family: Applications Development ------------------------------------------------------ Time Type: Full time ------------------------------------------------------ Primary Location Full Time Salary Range: $120,800.00 - $170,800.00 ------------------------------------------------------ Most Relevant Skills Please see the requirements listed above. ------------------------------------------------------ Other Relevant Skills For complementary skills, please see above and/or contact the recruiter. ------------------------------------------------------ Automated Processing and AI We use automated processing, including artificial intelligence, for our legitimate business interests (or our reasonable and appropriate business purposes) to identify and align the candidate's skills and abilities with a specific job opening.

Additionally, if you so choose, or consent, we can match your skills and abilities to other suitable roles at Citi. Importantly, all our hiring processes and decisions, including determining your suitability for a role, are conducted, checked, and decided by individuals.

Our automated processing and AI do not involve relying on automatic or autonomous decision-making. Please refer to any Jurisdictional Considerations, with specific provisions for your country (where relevant) for further details. ------------------------------------------------------ This job opening is for an existing job vacancy. ------------------------------------------------------ Citi is an equal opportunity employer, and qualified candidates will receive consideration without regard to their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other characteristic protected by law.

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