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Automation Engineering Manager Jobs in Virginia (NOW HIRING)

Bowhead

Lead Automation Engineer

Arlington, VA

$117K - $154K/yr

Responsibilities Automation Engineering & Leadership: Serve as the lead technical engineer for the ... Manage and provision cloud infrastructure on AWS using Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools ...

Raptor Power Systems

Be Seen First

Engineering Manager - Production Engineering

Northern Virginia, VA · On-site

$140K/yr

Engineering Manager - Production Engineering JOB PURPOSE: The Engineering Manager - Production ... automation, or custom engineered products environment is preferred. * Minimum of 3-5 years of ...

Raptor Power Systems

Be Seen First

Engineering Manager - Production Engineering

Richmond, VA · On-site

$140K/yr

Engineering Manager - Production Engineering JOB PURPOSE: The Engineering Manager - Production ... automation, or custom engineered products environment is preferred. * Minimum of 3-5 years of ...

Moog, Inc.

Automation Engineer

Blacksburg, VA · On-site

$90K - $125K/yr

Engineering Director, Power and Data Division Work Schedule: Onsite - Blacksburg, VA Moog's Power ... Evaluate vendor proposals, oversee FAT/SAT testing, and manage commissioning. * Cross-Functional ...

Moog

Automation Engineer

Blacksburg, VA · On-site

$90K - $125K/yr

Engineering Director, Power and Data Division Work Schedule: Onsite - Blacksburg, VA Moog's Power ... Evaluate vendor proposals, oversee FAT/SAT testing, and manage commissioning. * Cross-Functional ...

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Automation Engineering Manager information

See Virginia salary details

$89.2K

$136.9K

$172K

How much do automation engineering manager jobs pay per year?

As of Jul 21, 2026, the average yearly pay for automation engineering manager in Virginia is $136,868.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $116,500.00 and $158,600.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What does an Automation Engineering Manager do?

An Automation Engineering Manager oversees the design, implementation, and optimization of automated systems in manufacturing or software development. They lead a team of engineers to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance productivity through automation technologies. Responsibilities include project management, system integration, troubleshooting, and ensuring compliance with industry standards. They collaborate with other departments to align automation strategies with company goals. Strong technical expertise, leadership skills, and problem-solving abilities are essential for this role.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive in the Automation Engineering Manager position, and why are they important?

An Automation Engineering Manager should have a strong background in automation technologies, process improvement, project management, and a relevant engineering degree. Familiarity with PLC/SCADA systems, robotics, industrial control systems, and certifications such as PMP or Six Sigma is often required. Excellent leadership, problem-solving, and communication skills help drive team performance and foster cross-functional collaboration. These capabilities are essential for delivering efficient automation solutions, ensuring project success, and guiding multidisciplinary teams in fast-paced environments.

What are some typical challenges faced by Automation Engineering Managers in their day-to-day work?

Automation Engineering Managers often balance multiple projects and deadlines while ensuring high quality and compliance with industry standards. A common challenge is integrating new automation technologies with existing systems, which requires careful planning and troubleshooting. Collaboration with cross-functional teams—including operations, IT, and maintenance—is crucial for aligning technical solutions with business goals. Additionally, staying current with emerging automation trends and training team members on new tools is a key part of the role, helping drive continuous improvement and operational efficiency.

What are popular job titles related to Automation Engineering Manager jobs in Virginia? For Automation Engineering Manager jobs in Virginia, the most frequently searched job titles are:
What job categories do people searching Automation Engineering Manager jobs in Virginia look for? The top searched job categories for Automation Engineering Manager jobs in Virginia are:
What cities in Virginia are hiring for Automation Engineering Manager jobs? Cities in Virginia with the most Automation Engineering Manager job openings:
Automation Engineering Manager jobs near you
Infographic showing various Automation Engineering Manager job openings in Virginia as of July 2026, with employment types broken down into 94% Full Time, 3% Part Time, and 3% Contract. Highlights an 82% Physical, 5% Hybrid, and 13% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $136,868 per year, or $65.8 per hour.
Lead Automation Test Engineer

Lead Automation Test Engineer

Karsun Solutions, LLC

Herndon, VA • On-site

$47.25 - $62.50/hr

Full-time

Posted 7 days ago

Job description

Why Karsun?
Join Karsun Solutions to grow your career with the company transforming possible for the US Government.
At Karsun, collaboration drives our community. We're committed to building an environment where team members from diverse backgrounds can innovate, learn and grow with us. Here at Karsun, the only limit to your potential is the limit of your curiosity.
Join Team Karsun, and Find Your Next!
Summary
We are seeking a Lead Automation Test Engineer who is hands-on, customer-facing, and focused on enabling the QA team to effectively use AI tools to improve testing speed, quality, and efficiency. This role will lead AI adoption across test automation, including test generation, Selenium-to-Playwright migration, regression optimization, failure triage, flaky test analysis, and requirements coverage gap identification.
The ideal candidate has strong automation engineering experience, practical hands-on experience with modern AI testing tools, and the ability to quickly evaluate and adapt new tools to produce measurable customer value. This individual must be able to lead and drive a team of senior automation engineers, establish reusable prompt templates, coach the team, and clearly explain and defend AI tools, framework, and migration decisions while consistently delivering on customer commitments.
What You'll Be Doing:
  • Lead and drive a team of senior automation engineers, assigning, tracking, and following up on tasks to ensure timely, high-quality delivery.
  • Own delivery of customer commitments, working closely with the team to meet agreed timelines even amid ongoing enhancements and periodic production issues, and proactively communicating any deviations to the customer.
  • Lead AI enablement for the QA/testing team by evaluating, piloting, and implementing AI tools that improve productivity and automation quality.
  • Establish reusable prompt templates and AI-assisted workflows for test generation, automation development, Selenium-to-Playwright migration, API testing, failure triage, flaky test analysis, and requirements coverage analysis.
  • Lead modernization of the existing Selenium automation suite, including migration to Playwright using AI-assisted tools and reusable framework patterns.
  • Provide hands-on automation leadership for functional, integration, API, regression, and end-to-end testing.
  • Analyze the current regression suite and implement improvements to reduce flaky tests, long execution cycles, and manual triage effort.
  • Use AI-assisted methods to analyze high-level requirements, user stories, and acceptance criteria to identify automation coverage gaps and guide the team in closing them.
  • Serve as a customer-facing technical lead who can explain, justify, and defend AI tool choices, migration strategy, framework design, and automation recommendations.
  • Quickly produce prototypes, proof-of-concepts, sample migrations, and working automation to demonstrate value to the customer.
  • Coach QA engineers and team members on effective use of AI tools, prompt templates, Playwright, automation standards, and quality engineering practices.
  • Collaborate with developers, product owners, Scrum Masters, DevOps engineers, business stakeholders, and customer representatives in a SAFe Agile environment.
  • Create and maintain concise documentation, including automation standards, AI usage guidance, prompt libraries, migration approach, and tool evaluation summaries.

Required Qualifications:
  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or related field, or equivalent experience.
  • Typically requires 8-10 years of related experience, including at least 5 years of hands-on test automation experience.
  • Demonstrated experience leading and driving automation teams, including task planning, follow-up, and on-time delivery of customer commitments while managing competing priorities such as enhancements and production issues.
  • Hands-on experience with AI-enabled testing tools such as Testim, mabl, Functionize, Applitools, GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, or similar tools.
  • Experience creating prompt libraries, AI usage standards, or repeatable AI-assisted workflows for software testing teams.
  • Experience using AI tools for test generation, automation development, test maintenance, failure analysis, regression analysis, coverage gap analysis, or productivity improvement.
  • Experience evaluating emerging AI/testing tools and recommending practical adoption strategies based on value, scalability, maintainability, security considerations, and customer needs.
  • Experience with automation tools and frameworks such as Selenium WebDriver/Grid, Playwright, Cucumber/Gherkin, JUnit, and TestNG.
  • Experience with API/services testing tools such as Postman and REST Assured.
  • Strong programming experience in one or more languages, preferably Java, JavaScript/TypeScript, or Python.
  • Experience with manual, functional, regression, integration, and end-to-end testing.
  • Experience improving automation efficiency through framework design, test optimization, parallel execution, CI/CD integration, reporting, and test stabilization.
  • Experience with Jira, Confluence, GitHub/Bitbucket, XML, JSON, SQL, and IDEs such as VS Code, IntelliJ, or Eclipse.
  • Strong customer-facing communication skills with the ability to explain technical concepts, justify recommendations, defend
  • AI/tool/framework decisions, and proactively communicate delivery status and deviations.
  • Strong troubleshooting skills with the ability to diagnose flaky tests, automation failures, test data issues, CI/CD issues, and environment-related problems.
  • Experience with Agile/Scrum methodologies; SAFe Agile experience preferred.
  • Must be self-directed, proactive, hands-on, and able to produce results with minimal supervision.
  • Availability during core business hours of 9:00 AM-5:00 PM EST.
  • Ability to obtain and maintain a Public Trust clearance

Preferred Qualifications:
  • Candidates in the Eastern, Central, or Mountain time zones.
  • Experience supporting US federal government contracts.
  • One of the below certifications will be an advantage
    • ISTQB/ISEB/Certified Software Testing credentials: ISTQB Certified Tester (Advanced Level - Test Analyst / Test Manager) or equivalent.
    • Playwright/Selenium automation validation (preferred): vendor/community-recognized automation credential(s) for Playwright or Selenium.
    • Cloud testing & infrastructure - AWS Certified Developer/DevOps Engineer, or equivalent.

Things to Know:
Commitment to Non-Discrimination
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to disability, status as a protected veteran or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, local, or international law.
Salary Range
The proposed salary range for this role is $160,000 to $180,000 USD. The salary range provided is a good faith estimate representative of all experience levels. Karsun considers several factors when extending an offer, including but not limited to, the role, function and associated responsibilities, a candidate's work experience, location, education/training, and key skills.
Third Party Resumes: Karsun does not accept unsolicited resumes through or from search firms or staffing agencies. All unsolicited resumes will be considered the property of Karsun and Karsun will not be obligated to pay a placement fee.
Clearance Information
This position requires the eligibility to obtain a security clearance. The Defense Industrial Security Clearance Office (DISCO), an agency of the Department of Defense, handles and adjudicates the security clearance process. More information about Security Clearances can be found on the US Department of State government website: https://www.state.gov/m/ds/clearances/c10978.htm
Location
To be considered for this role, you must reside in one of the following states: CA, CO, DC, FL, GA, IL, MD, NJ, NY, NC, OH, OK, PA, SC, TX, VA, WV.
Work Authorization
Applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S. We may consider candidates currently in H-1B status who are eligible for transfer.
Statement on AI and Hiring Process
At Karsun, we are committed to a fair and equitable hiring process. We do not use artificial intelligence to make decisions on candidates, scan resumes, or source potential hires. Applicants are reviewed by our talent acquisition team and hiring managers to ensure a thorough evaluation based on skills, experience, and alignment with our company values. Our hiring decisions are made with human judgement, ensuring fairness and transparency throughout the process.

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