Team Lead, Quality Assurance

Team Lead, Quality Assurance at Forward Financing

Forward Financing is a financial technology company based in Boston, Massachusetts with team members throughout the United States, Dominican Republic, and Canada. The company is on a mission to unlock the capital that fuels small businesses across America. Recognized as a Best Place to Work by Built In Boston and certified as a Great Place To Work®, Forward is investing in its employees, technology, and customer experience – with long-term success in mind every step of the way.

About The Role

At Forward, we're building a world-class fintech platform to empower small businesses. Our engineering team isn't just a support function, we're a core driver of the business. We use data from dozens of third-party vendors to fuel our AI/ML initiatives and create a more sophisticated financial ecosystem. We need a seasoned technical leader to own our architectural vision and execution, setting the technical foundation for our next phase of growth.

We're seeking an experienced Team Lead, Quality Assurance to establish and scale our quality assurance practice from the ground up. This is a unique opportunity to shape QA strategy, implement modern automation frameworks using AI-powered tools, and build a culture of quality in a fast-paced fintech environment. You'll be instrumental in transforming our manual testing processes into a comprehensive automation suite while ensuring the reliability and security our customers depend on.

What You'll Do

• Establish QA best practices, processes, and standards from scratch, designing a comprehensive test management suite covering smoke, regression, integration, and end-to-end testing.
• Evaluate and implement AI-based QA automation tools, building robust automated test suites using modern frameworks (Playwright strongly preferred) that run on developer machines, within CI/CD pipelines, and for full releases.
• Leverage your lending/fintech experience to understand complex financial workflows, compliance requirements, and edge cases—collaborating with engineering teams to dive deep into code and identify critical test scenarios.
• Own release quality by establishing Go/No-Go criteria, conducting risk assessments, and providing data-driven recommendations to leadership through transparent quality metrics and reporting.
• Mentor the QA Engineer and UAT team, fostering a culture of quality ownership and shift-left testing practices across all engineering teams.

What You'll Need

• 5+ years in QA engineering with at least 3 years in a lead role, plus deep experience in lending, fintech, or financial services with understanding of compliance and risk.
• Proven track record building QA practices from the ground up with expert-level proficiency in test automation (Playwright preferred) and AI-powered testing tools.
• Strong technical skills: ability to read code (Python, Golang, Ruby, TypeScript/React), understanding of software architecture, and experience with CI/CD, Git, and cloud infrastructure (AWS preferred).
• Leadership capabilities: establishing quality metrics programs, leading cross-functional collaboration, making critical release decisions, and influencing change across the organization.
• Fintech domain knowledge: lending workflows, regulatory compliance (KYC, AML, data privacy), financial transaction testing, and security testing for sensitive data.
• Experience with test management platforms (TestRail, Zephyr, qTest, or similar), API testing frameworks (Postman, RestAssured, etc.), and data validation strategies preferred.
• Background in performance and load testing for high-volume transaction systems is a plus.
• Experience mentoring QA engineers and building teams highly valued.

Compensation & Total Rewards

Annual Targeted Salary: $145,000– $160,000 USD

Annual Target Bonus: 12%

At Forward Financing, we're committed to fair and transparent compensation. We believe in providing a compensation package that recognizes your skills, experience, and the unique value you bring to our team. We take a market-based approach to pay, regularly reviewing benchmark data to ensure our compensation remains competitive, equitable, and aligned with our performance-driven culture.

Final offers are determined by a variety of factors, including the candidate's qualifications, relevant experience, specific skills, and internal equity. This approach ensures that our compensation is competitive and equitable. Your recruiter will provide specific details on the expected base and variable earnings as it pertains to this specific role.

Additionally, we offer a comprehensive total rewards package, including but not limited to: medical, dental, vision, commuter benefits, a flexible time-off policy, paid parental leave, 401k match for US employees, wellness reimbursement, volunteering days, annual professional development budget, and charitable donation match.

Forward is proud to be a remote-first company, keeping workplace flexibility a top priority for our employees. As a business, we are focused on impact; we are more concerned with your contributions to the success of the company than where you get your work done. To help facilitate in-person collaboration, employees are welcome to work from one of our premiere office locations.

When we aren’t collaborating to drive business and support our customers, we’re finding virtual and in-person ways to get to know our colleagues, celebrate team wins, and have fun together!

Forward Financing Core Values

• Drive the Mission - We believe in financial opportunity for underserved small businesses. We say “yes” when others say “no.”
• Keep It Real - We value direct communication, candid feedback, and authenticity. We are an open book.
• Act with Kindness - We create an environment where caring is cool and helping is the norm. We do the right thing.
• Shoot for Extraordinary - We are inspired by innovative thinking and continuous improvement. We never settle for yesterday’s best.

About Us

Forward Financing is a fintech company based in Boston, Massachusetts with team members throughout the United States, Dominican Republic, and Canada. The company is on a mission to unlock the capital that fuels small businesses across America. Whether facing challenges accessing traditional financing or simply needing a convenient, flexible solution, Forward is committed to funding more of the millions of small businesses nationwide. By simplifying the requirements, streamlining the process, and using advanced proprietary technology, Forward is often able to deliver approvals within hours and funds that same day – giving more businesses the financial opportunity they need to thrive. Plus, with their dedicated teams and award-winning service, customers get personalized support when they need it most.

Since 2012, Forward has expanded access to capital by providing over $4.5 billion in funding to more than 87,000 small businesses. The company is A+ rated by the Better Business Bureau with an Excellent / 4.6 stars rating on Trustpilot.com. Recognized as a Best Place to Work by Built In Boston and certified as a Great Place To Work®, Forward is dedicated to empowering both its team and the customers they serve, helping them succeed and thrive.

US Equal Opportunity Employment Information

Forward Financing is proud to be an equal opportunity employer, and is committed to fostering a fair and inclusive culture built on a foundation of high performance and exceptional customer experience. With a laser focus on employee impact, we’re able to reduce biases and ensure the right people are in the right jobs to contribute to our mission. The varied perspectives of our people fuel innovation and make us a stronger team. By embracing what makes each of us unique, we create a supportive environment where people feel valued, accepted, and empowered to thrive.

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Key skills/competency

• QA Strategy
• Test Automation
• AI-powered Testing
• Fintech Domain Knowledge
• Playwright
• CI/CD
• Risk Assessment
• Quality Metrics
• Leadership
• Mentoring