Cross Functional Test Lead - Retail Engineering

Summary

Apple’s IS&T Retail Engineering team is seeking a SDET to own quality across our retail ecosystem — spanning eCommerce backend services, SAP integrations, and cross-functional end-to-end workflows. This is a hands-on technical leadership role: you’ll architect automation frameworks, lead testing strategy across multiple concurrent projects, and drive quality standards organization-wide. You’ll work at the intersection of backend development, test automation, and program coordination — ensuring that features shipping to apple.com/shop and supporting retail systems meet Apple’s bar for reliability, performance, and customer experience.

Minimum Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or equivalent practical experience.
 7+ years of professional experience in software development and test automation.
 5+ years of hands-on development experience in Java, including building applications/tooling with Spring Boot or equivalent frameworks.
 3+ years leading or coordinating cross-functional QA/testing initiatives across global teams.
 Hands-on experience architecting automated testing frameworks for backend APIs (REST Assured, Karate, or similar) and web/mobile UI (Playwright, Selenium, Appium, XCUITest).
 Experience with enterprise integration or SAP workflow automation (e.g., Worksoft, Tosca, or equivalent).
 Solid understanding of the SDLC, STLC, test data management, and CI/CD tools (Git, Jenkins, Docker/Kubernetes).
 Strong written and verbal communication skills; ability to articulate technical risks and strategy to Senior Management and cross-functional partners.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience testing large-scale eCommerce or enterprise retail platforms.
 Secondary scripting skills in Python for test data manipulation, automation scripting, or tooling.
 Experience with cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP, or Azure) for distributed test execution environments.
 Exposure to messaging queues/event-driven architectures (Kafka, RabbitMQ) and microservice validation.
 Familiarity with AI/ML-assisted testing tools and frameworks (GenAI integrations).
 Track record of performance, load, and scalability testing in distributed environments.

Description

Test Architecture & Automation Infrastructure Design, architect, and maintain scalable, modular automated test frameworks (Java-based) for backend services, REST APIs, SAP workflows, and web/mobile applications.
 Build and integrate automation suites into CI/CD pipelines to support continuous deployment across retail platform environments.
 Drive API testing (REST Assured/Karate), UI testing (Playwright/Selenium), mobile testing (Appium/XCUITest), and enterprise SAP automation.
 Define end-to-end test data strategies, mock services, and environment setups for complex integration testing.
 Backend Tooling & Systems Design Design and build custom backend test tooling, test harness applications, and execution infrastructure using Java and Spring Boot.
 Architect solutions for multi-threaded, high-throughput test execution environments to minimize build/test cycle times.
 Work with SQL and NoSQL databases for automated test data validation and system state verification.
 Maintain clean code standards, system design documentation, and framework guides.
 Cross-Functional Leadership & Quality Strategy Lead and coordinate testing efforts across multiple concurrent retail projects with overlapping release schedules.
 Establish organization-wide QA standards, testing guidelines, and automation best practices.
 Coordinate cross-functional onsite and offshore engineering activities.
 Conduct risk assessments, define mitigation strategies, and present quality updates to Senior Management.
 Partner with Product Managers, Developers, and Business Stakeholders to translate complex requirements into robust test strategies.
 Quality Advocacy & Continuous Improvement Advocate for "shift-left" testing practices, testability in software design, and high quality standards across teams.
 Monitor quality metrics, track automation coverage goals, and provide actionable status reports to stakeholders.
 Proactively identify technical bottlenecks, environment risks, and systemic blockers.