QA Automation Engineer

Position Overview:

Anaqua is looking for a QA Automation Engineer to own the quality strategy for our Platform & Microservices team - someone who builds robust, scalable test automation that gives the team confidence to ship fast.

You will design test frameworks from the ground up, automate across UI, API, and service layers, integrate quality gates into CI/CD pipelines, and champion a shift-left culture where defects are caught early and quality is everyone’s responsibility.

You’ll love this job if you like to:

UI & E2E TEST AUTOMATION

• Build and maintain E2E test suites for web applications using Playwright (preferred) or Cypress, leveraging page object models and modern patterns
• Perform cross-browser and responsive testing across desktop and mobile viewports
• Conduct visual regression testing to catch unintended UI changes (Percy, Chromatic, or equivalent)
• Improve test stability by handling dynamic content, waits, retries, and mitigating flaky tests

API & MICROSERVICE TESTING

• Automate testing of RESTful APIs, including request/response validation, schema validation, and authentication flows
• Implement contract testing between microservices to catch breaking changes early (Pact or equivalent)
• Test gRPC services, including protocol buffer validation, streaming endpoints, and error handling
• Validate event-driven architectures by testing message queues, producers/consumers, and async workflows
• Use tools like Postman, REST Assured, or custom HTTP clients for exploratory and automated API testing

TEST FRAMEWORK DESIGN

• Design modular, scalable, and maintainable test automation frameworks from scratch
• Apply data-driven and keyword-driven test design patterns for scalable test coverage
• Manage test data including fixtures, factories, seed data, and environment configurations
• Enable parallel test execution and test sharding to accelerate feedback cycles

PROGRAMMING & SCRIPTING

• Write clean, maintainable test automation code in TypeScript or JavaScript
• Use Python for scripting, data validation, and automation utilities
• Apply clean code principles, including readability, DRY standards, and proper abstractions
• Use Git for version control, branching, and collaborative code reviews

CI/CD & PIPELINE INTEGRATION

• Integrate automated tests into CI/CD pipelines as quality gates (GitLab CI preferred)
• Execute tests in containerized environments using Docker
• Build and monitor test reporting dashboards and analyze trends (pass rates, flakiness, coverage)
• Work across environments including Dev, QA, Staging, Pre-Production, and Production

PERFORMANCE & NON-FUNCTIONAL TESTING

• Conduct load and stress testing for microservices (k6, JMeter, Gatling, or equivalent)
• Analyze performance bottlenecks, memory leaks, and response-time degradation
• Apply basic security testing concepts, including OWASP Top 10 and common vulnerabilities

AI & MODERN TOOLING

• Use AI-assisted tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot, Claude Code) for test generation and maintenance
• Leverage AI for test data generation, defect triaging, and flaky test analysis

SDLC & AGILE

• Participate actively in Agile ceremonies (Scrum, Kanban, or continuous delivery)
• Use Jira for backlog management, sprint planning, and release tracking
• Contribute across the full SDLC, including requirements analysis, test planning, execution, and defect lifecycle
• Ensure quality standards through clear definition of done, acceptance criteria validation, and release readiness

PROFESSIONAL SKILLS & MINDSET

• Champion a shift-left approach by embedding quality throughout the development lifecycle
• Apply strong analytical thinking for requirements understanding, impact analysis, and risk-based prioritization
• Design test scenarios with a customer-first mindset
• Quickly learn new tools, technologies, and domains

What you'll need to be successful:

• 5+ years of experience in QA automation
• Selenium experience for legacy or cross-platform browser automation.
• Database testing - SQL queries for data validation (PostgreSQL / SQL Server).
• Accessibility testing (WCAG compliance, axe-core, or Lighthouse).
• Mobile testing experience (Appium or equivalent).
• Chaos engineering or resilience testing for microservices.
• Experience with test management tools (TestRail, Zephyr, or equivalent).
• Background in brand protection, IP enforcement, or digital investigation domains.
• Experience in enterprise SaaS domains.