Quality Assurance Engineer II

Job Title: Quality Assurance Engineer II

Role Summary

We are looking for a QE Engineer to join one of our product squads at Pearson. This is a hands-on role that combines manual and automated testing across web and API layers. You will work closely with developers, product managers, and designers to ensure features are tested thoroughly, bugs are communicated clearly, and quality is maintained throughout delivery.

This role suits someone with 3-4 years of QE or testing experience who can operate independently across manual and automated testing, make confident scoping decisions, and contribute to the team’s automation strategy. You will own quality for the features you work on, with a senior QE engineer or lead available for guidance on complex cross-team or architectural decisions.

Key Responsibilities

Test Strategy & Execution

• Independently scope test coverage for assigned features - deriving scenarios from the story, Figma designs, acceptance criteria, and integration dependencies without needing to be directed

• Make deliberate decisions about what to test, what to skip, and why - document the rationale, not just the outcome

• Identify integration touch points and cross-service dependencies that affect test coverage, and raise them before development completes

• Raise testability concerns during story refinement or design review - not after testing has begun

• Communicate testing status, risks, and coverage gaps clearly to developers, PMs, and the wider team

Automation

• Own UI automation for features you test - write, run, and maintain Playwright tests for critical user journeys from scratch, not just modifying existing ones

• Build and maintain API automation test suites - covering happy path, negative path, auth scenarios, response body assertions, and error handling

• Create dynamic test data via API calls rather than relying on hardcoded values; understand the impact of shared or stale test data on suite reliability

• Debug automation failures systematically - isolate root cause from logs, distinguish product bugs from script issues, and fix rather than work around

• Proactively identify and address flaky tests - investigate root cause and raise a ticket or fix rather than silently re-running

• Push MRs with clean, reviewable automation code; monitor your own pipeline results and resolve failures independently

AI-Assisted Testing

• Own test coverage for AI-assisted features as part of your sprint delivery - validate outputs for accuracy, consistency, business correctness, and edge-case behaviour

• Use AI coding and testing tools (e.g. Cursor, Copilot) to accelerate test case drafting and automation scripting; independently validate every output and explain your reasoning

Defect Management & Quality Ownership

• Log bugs with clear, structured descriptions: steps to reproduce, expected vs actual behaviour, screenshots or recordings, severity, priority, and assignee

• Hold your position on disputed bugs - present evidence and re-demonstrate before escalating; do not silently close a valid defect under pressure

• Investigate production bugs that fall in your feature area: identify the coverage gap, close it with a regression test, and communicate what changed

• Contribute to release readiness assessments for features you own - provide a clear view of what is tested, what is not, and what risk remains

Collaboration & Communication

• Engage directly with product and PM on priority and severity - do not always route through a senior QE

• Add value in sprint planning and refinement - flag stories that are vague, untestable, or missing integration context

• Participate in retrospectives and name quality-related improvements, not just delivery observations

• Use AI-assisted tools to accelerate test case drafting and automation scripting; independently validate every output and be able to explain why it is correct or incorrect

Must-Have Skills & Experience

• 3-4 years of professional QE or software testing experience

• Test strategy: independently scopes test coverage from story, designs, and AC; makes deliberate skip decisions with documented rationale; identifies integration touch points without prompting

• Playwright (required): hands-on experience building, running, and maintaining UI automation suites in Playwright; writes new tests independently, not just extending existing ones

• API automation: writes and maintains API automation tests independently - covers auth scenarios, negative paths, response body assertions, and error handling; not just manual API testing

• Test data: creates test data dynamically via API calls; understands the risks of hardcoded or shared data and knows how to isolate state between tests

• CI/CD pipeline: monitors own pipeline results after pushing; reads failure logs, identifies root cause, and resolves independently without waiting for someone else to investigate

• Bug reporting & ownership: writes clear, structured bug reports; holds position on disputed defects with evidence; adds regression tests after production bugs in owned areas

• AI tool use: uses AI coding and testing tools effectively; independently validates output and can explain why it is correct, incorrect, or needs modification

Nice to Have

• Experience with API contract testing (e.g. Pact or equivalent) to catch breaking changes early

• Backend or database validation experience - SQL queries, data integrity checks, or state verification

• Exposure to performance or load testing concepts, even if not regularly practised

• Experience testing agentic AI or multi-step AI workflows

• Working understanding of LLM outputs - how to evaluate responses for correctness, consistency, and bias

• Experience with BDD or Gherkin-style test writing

• Degree or qualification in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field