Senior QA Engineer

Senior Automation Quality Engineer

Location : Remote / Hybrid (South Africa)

Employment Type : Full-Time Permanent

Reports to : QA Lead

About the Role

We are looking for an experienced Senior Automation Engineer with strong expertise in Playwright and JavaScript / TypeScript. This position involves designing automation frameworks from the ground up, embedding testing earlier in the development lifecycle, and ensuring high-quality releases by working closely with product, development, and operations teams. You will also take on a mentorship role, guiding QA engineers and developers in best practices for test automation.

Key Responsibilities

Define and maintain an automation strategy aligned with release goals and service levels.

Design, develop, and scale automation frameworks using Playwright (JavaScript / TypeScript).

Create and execute end-to-end, regression, functional, and integration tests.

Integrate automated tests into CI / CD pipelines (e.g. GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps, Jenkins).

Build quality dashboards and implement reporting tools (e.g. Allure, Playwright HTML) with trend analysis.

Perform API testing using tools such as Postman or Rest Assured.

Establish test data strategies and ensure environment parity.

Promote shift-left testing by embedding quality earlier in the development process.

Provide mentoring, lead code reviews, and promote automation-first practices.

Conduct defect triage, root cause analysis, and recommend preventive measures.

Qualifications & Experience

10+ years in QA, with 4+ years focused on test automation.

Advanced knowledge of Playwright and TypeScript. Experience with Selenium WebDriver, Java, C#, or Python is beneficial.

Strong background in CI / CD pipelines, Git workflows, and version contro

Familiarity with containerised execution (e.g. Docker) and headless testing environments.

Practical knowledge of web technologies (HTTP, CORS, cookies, storage).

Skilled in test doubles, mocks, service virtualisation, and data management strategies.

ISTQB certification advantageous but not essential.

Core Competencies

Strong analytical and troubleshooting ability.

Proven track record of building scalable automation frameworks.

Excellent communication and documentation skills.

Ability to thrive in a fast-paced Agile environment.

Experience mentoring or leading QA initiatives.

Familiarity with Agile practices and collaboration tools like Jira and Confluence.

Collaboration & Teamwork

• Work closely with engineers, product managers, and DevOps to ensure quality is built in from the start.
• Participate in Agile ceremonies including sprint planning, retrospectives, and story refinement.
• Share quality metrics and risks with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Champion a culture of automation and quality across teams.