Quality Assurance Architect

At PNC, our people are our greatest differentiator and competitive advantage in the markets we serve. We are all united in delivering the best experience for our customers. We work together each day to foster an inclusive workplace culture where all of our employees feel respected, valued and have an opportunity to contribute to the company's success. As a Quality Assurance Architect within PNC's C&IB organization, you will be based in Dallas, TX or Pittsburgh, PA or Atlanta, GA.

Role Summary

The Lead Quality Engineer is a senior SDET-focused individual contributor responsible for driving scalable, automation-first validation strategies across teams, systems, and complex integrations. This role operates at both hands-on and strategic levels, influencing engineering practices, improving testability, and establishing reusable quality patterns that enable faster delivery with stronger reliability.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and drive test strategy across complex systems, services, and integrations.
• Lead automation design, framework improvement, and reusable pattern creation.
• Align validation to architecture, dependencies, change impact, and risk.
• Drive CI/CD-aligned quality practices and pipeline-level validation.
• Partner with engineers to improve testability, observability, and design quality.
• Mentor junior engineers and guide teams on scalable testing practices.
• Analyze defect and execution trends to drive systemic improvement.

Reporting Line & Scope

This role typically reports to a QE Manager, Senior Manager, or domain engineering leader and operates across teams, systems, and major change initiatives. The scope includes strategy, automation architecture, integration validation, and quality pattern adoption across delivery teams.

Success Measures

Improved release predictability and reduced defect leakage across supported areas. Increased reuse of automation frameworks, patterns, and validation assets. Reduced execution bottlenecks caused by test design, environment, or automation limitations. Measurable improvement in engineering quality outcomes and delivery confidence.

Qualifications

Typically, 812 years of experience in Quality Engineering, SDET, or Software Engineering. Strong experience designing automation frameworks and scalable validation strategies. Deep understanding of CI/CD, distributed systems, service integration, and non-functional quality considerations. Proven ability to influence technical direction and improve engineering practices. Strong collaboration, mentoring, and cross-team leadership capability.

Preferred Skills

Automation, Competitive Advantages, Customer Solutions, Design, Enterprise Architecture Framework, Machine Learning (ML), Risk Assessments, Selenium, Technical Knowledge

Competencies

Accuracy and Attention to Detail, Analytical Thinking, Emerging Technologies, Influencing, IT Architecture, Process Management, Software Development Life Cycle, Software Product Design/Architecture, Software Quality Assurance And Testing

Work Experience

Roles at this level typically require a university / college degree, with 5+ years of industry-relevant experience. Specific certifications are often required. In lieu of a degree, a comparable combination of education, job specific certification(s), and experience (including military service) may be considered.

Education

Bachelors

Certifications

No Required Certification(s)

Licenses

No Required License(s)