Lead Quality Engineer - Retail Systems

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced Retail Systems Quality Engineer to ensure the quality, reliability, and scalability of the core retail store systems that power our in-store and omnichannel experiences. This role will own quality strategy, test automation, system validation, and operational readiness across store-facing applications, including Point of Sale (POS), Order Fulfillment, Inventory Management, and Store Operations platforms. The successful candidate will partner closely with Engineering, Product, Retail Operations, ERP teams, and third-party vendors to ensure solutions are thoroughly validated and production-ready prior to release. International store expansion initiatives will be a critical focus area, requiring validation of localization, taxation, compliance, and country-specific retail workflows. This individual will drive quality throughout the software development lifecycle while ensuring a seamless experience for store associates and customers.

Responsibilities

• Retail Systems Quality Engineering
  • Define and execute comprehensive quality strategies for retail store systems, including POS, OMNI fulfillment, inventory receiving, and store operations applications.
  • Develop and maintain test plans, test cases, and validation frameworks covering:
    • Functional testing
    • Integration testing
    • End-to-end testing
    • Regression testing
    • User acceptance testing (UAT)
    • Performance and reliability testing
  • Validate critical omnichannel workflows including:
    • Ship-from-store
    • Buy Online Pickup In Store (BOPIS)
    • Split shipments
    • Cancellations
    • Returns and exchanges
    • Inventory receiving and transfers
  • Partner with product and engineering teams to establish quality standards and acceptance criteria.
• Retail Platform & Integration Testing
  • Validate integrations between retail platforms, including:
    • Shopify
    • ERP systems
    • OMS platforms
    • Loyalty platforms
    • Payment providers
    • Third-party retail technologies
  • Ensure accurate data synchronization across inventory, order, customer, and financial systems.
  • Test event-driven integrations and distributed workflows across multiple systems.
  • Verify end-to-end business processes from customer purchase through fulfillment and financial reconciliation.
• Test Automation & Quality Frameworks
  • Build and maintain scalable automated testing frameworks for retail applications and services.
  • Develop automated:
    • API tests
    • UI tests
    • Integration tests
    • Data validation tests
    • Regression suites
  • Integrate automated testing into CI/CD pipelines to support continuous validation and deployment.
  • Establish reusable testing patterns and best practices across teams.
• International Expansion & Localization Validation
  • Support international store launches by validating:
    • Country-specific business processes
    • Localization requirements
    • Taxation rules
    • Currency handling
    • Regulatory compliance
    • Language and regional configurations
  • Execute testing plans for new market rollouts and store openings.
  • Partner with business stakeholders to ensure operational readiness for international deployments.
• Store Operations & User Experience Validation
  • Validate retail systems in real-world store environments.
  • Ensure store applications function reliably with:
    • POS hardware
    • Barcode scanners
    • Receipt printers
    • Payment terminals
    • Mobile devices
  • Test application performance during connectivity issues, offline scenarios, and network disruptions.
  • Work closely with store teams to identify operational challenges and verify usability of store-facing applications.
• Reliability, Monitoring & Production Support
  • Develop quality metrics and dashboards to monitor:
    • Defect trends
    • Release quality
    • Test coverage
    • Production incidents
    • System reliability
  • Validate monitoring, alerting, and observability solutions using platforms such as Splunk and New Relic.
  • Participate in production support, issue triage, root cause analysis, and incident investigations.
  • Ensure successful execution during peak retail events, promotions, holiday seasons, and major store launches.
• Data Quality & Reconciliation
  • Validate data accuracy across:
    • Inventory systems
    • Order management platforms
    • Financial systems
    • Customer and loyalty platforms
  • Develop automated reconciliation processes to identify discrepancies and ensure data integrity.
  • Verify transactional accuracy across store and digital channels.
  • Support auditability, compliance, and reporting requirements.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration
  • Partner with Engineering, Product, Retail Operations, and Business teams throughout the development lifecycle.
  • Participate in requirements reviews, sprint planning, release readiness assessments, and defect prioritization.
  • Advocate for quality engineering best practices across the organization.
  • Mentor QA and junior engineering team members on testing strategies and automation techniques.

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience in Quality Engineering, Software QA, Test Automation, or Retail Systems Validation.
• Strong experience testing retail store systems and omnichannel platforms.
• Experience supporting POS, Order Management, Inventory, Fulfillment, or Store Operations applications.
• Strong understanding of retail business processes and store operations.
• Hands-on experience with test automation frameworks and CI/CD integration.
• Strong SQL skills for data validation and reconciliation testing.
• Experience testing APIs, integrations, and distributed systems.
• Knowledge of software quality methodologies and SDLC best practices.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Shopify and retail commerce platforms.
• Experience validating ERP, OMS, WMS, and loyalty system integrations.
• Knowledge of event-driven architectures and messaging systems such as Kafka.
• Experience with cloud-based applications and AWS environments.
• Familiarity with Docker, Kubernetes, and Infrastructure-as-Code validation.
• Experience with monitoring and observability tools including Splunk and New Relic.
• Experience supporting global retail organizations and international deployments.
• Understanding of retail payment processing, taxation, settlement, and compliance requirements.

Skills

• Test Automation Frameworks
• API Testing
• UI Testing
• SQL & Data Validation
• Programming Languages: Java, Python, or NodeJS
• CI/CD Pipelines
• Version Control: GitHub
• Event-Driven Systems: Kafka
• Cloud Services: AWS
• Containerization & Orchestration: Docker & Kubernetes
• Monitoring & Observability: Splunk & New Relic
• Retail Systems Integration Testing

Key Competencies

• Deep understanding of retail operations and omnichannel commerce.
• Strong attention to detail and commitment to system quality.
• Excellent troubleshooting and root cause analysis skills.
• Ability to balance technical excellence with real-world retail operational needs.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management abilities.
• Ownership mindset with accountability for quality, reliability, and business outcomes.
• Comfortable operating in fast-paced retail environments where store uptime and customer experience are critical.

Benefits

• Supplemental benefits including medical, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance plans.
• Employee Stock Purchase Program (ESPP).
• 401K program with company match after 12 months of tenure.
• Health Savings Account (HSA) on the HDHP plan.
• SupportLinc Employee Assistance Program (EAP) with up to 8 free counseling sessions.
• Corporate discount savings program and other discounts.
• On-demand training program and access to certification prep, technical and leadership courses/books/seminars after 6+ months of tenure.
• Certification discounts and association perks (e.g., CompTIA, IIBA).
• Dedicated customer service team for benefits and resources, including a certified Career Coach.