Software Development Engineer in Test

Zappi is a fast-growing SaaS platform helping Fortune 500 companies pre-test new ideas and creative content before production. Our services encompass new products, media campaigns, names, logos, packaging or flavours. Zappi enables companies to shelve bad ideas and refine good ones. We bring together top expertise in applied statistics, data science, visualisation, UX and engineering to create a platform that empowers non-expert users to make high-stakes decisions easily and confidently. We are committed to running a profitable business while having a positive impact on the environment and our communities.

How we do it

Our platform provides quick, actionable insights that amplify creative effectiveness and shape winning innovation. We empower creators with the agility and data they need to make informed decisions about the ads and innovation they bring to market.

Through partnerships with some of the world’s biggest brands, we’ve developed technology that allows our customers to see their product innovations and advertising ideas through the eyes of their consumers. This enables them to quickly iterate, optimize, validate and learn - increasing their chances of in-market success.

The Quality Engineering team

Our Quality Engineering team works closely with Engineering, Product, Design and other teams to build quality into the software development lifecycle, rather than treating testing as a final step before release. We combine hands-on testing, automation and exploratory testing to identify risks early and understand how our products behave from the customer's perspective. We focus on the areas where testing adds the most value, using automation to improve coverage and reduce regression risk.

As we continue to evolve, we're also exploring agentic engineering, LLM evaluation and AI-driven testing approaches to improve how we build, test and assess software. We value engineers who are curious, take ownership, challenge assumptions and find practical solutions to complex or ambiguous problems.

You'll join a collaborative team where knowledge sharing, continuous learning and sound engineering judgement matter. There's an opportunity to influence how we approach quality, introduce better ways of working and help deliver reliable products that meet our customers' needs.

Responsibilities

• Design, build and maintain automated test frameworks and suites for APIs, GUI and performance, using Playwright(TS) where appropriate.
• Apply agentic engineering techniques to build and improve testing workflows, including agent-assisted test generation, execution, failure investigation and reporting.
• Develop and run LLM evaluations, test agent-based workflows and investigate failure modes involving reasoning, tool use, multi-step execution and inconsistent outputs.
• Work with engineers and product teams to clarify requirements, identify risks early and build testing into the development process from the outset.
• Test from the customer’s perspective through manual and exploratory testing where it adds value, and automate repeatable checks to improve coverage and reduce regression risk.
• Validate data integrity, test data pipelines and verify data transformations to ensure accuracy and consistency across systems.
• Integrate and maintain automated tests within CI pipelines, analyse results and identify opportunities to improve test coverage and feedback.
• Evaluate new AI and agentic tools, improve testing practices and mentor other QA engineers through collaboration and knowledge sharing.

The successful candidate will be:

• Strong foundations in software quality assurance, test automation and QA methodologies, with a good understanding of the software development lifecycle.
• Hands-on experience with agentic engineering and LLM-powered systems, including building or integrating agents, designing evaluations and assessing system behaviour.
• The ability to work independently, take ownership of quality deliverables and see them through from planning to release.
• Sound technical judgement, with the ability to choose appropriate testing approaches and explain when manual testing or automation is the better option.
• Experience validating data, testing data pipelines and checking data transformations in systems that handle complex datasets.
• A practical, problem-solving mindset, with the ability to identify quality gaps, investigate ambiguous requirements and build effective solutions using conventional and AI-driven approaches.
• Familiarity with AWS, microservices, shared component library and continuous deployment, alongside a willingness to share knowledge and support other engineers.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, including the ability to explain risks, findings and trade-offs to technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Benefits

• Unlimited holidays - we want well rested and motivated teams so encourage people to take plenty of time off.
• One company-paid mental health day of rest every quarter (these are pre-scheduled, so the entire company can take the same days off regularly to reset)
• Thoughtfully designed offices to support both individual work and collaboration without interrupting others
• Private medical healthcare cover
• Medical Aid
• Group risk, life & disability contributions
• Wellbeing benefits such as free yoga and access to trained therapists / counsellors
• Paid 24h secure parking in Cape Town
• Free coffee, lunches and in-office snacks
• Tailored personal development through training allowances, coaching, mentorship and career frameworks

Why join us?

We’ve been recognized as one of the hottest martech companies in 2022 by Business Insider and named Best Place to Work by Quirk’s Media for our engaging and inclusive workplace culture. We’re committed to both people and the planet.

Our belief in inclusion means we’re building an organisation of diverse individuals and helping brands eliminate cultural presumptions in their research. Read our Diversity Manifesto here.

We are a values and behaviours driven business and believe that Trust, Truth, Ownership, Ambition andHumility describe Zappi employees on our best day. This is how we strive to show up for our customers, for each other and for our communities.

Earning B Corp certification assures us we’re on the right track and have structures in place to become the business we want to be.

Our commitment to minimise our impact on the environment means being honest with ourselves and transparent with you-about everything from carbon emissions to tree-planting initiatives. We achieved our goal of becoming Net Zero in 2021!

Zappi Company Culture Highlights

• Winner of Comparably's Award for Best Company for Women 2022
• Winner of Comparably's Award for Best Company Work-Life Balance 2022
• Winner of Comparably's Award for Best Company Compensation 2022
• Winner of Comparably's Award for Best CEO for Women 2022
• Winner of Comparably's Award for Best Company for Diversity 2022
• Winner of Comparably's Award for Best Company Culture 2022
• Winner of Comparably's Award for Best CEO 2022
• Winner of Comparably's Award for Best Happiness 2022
• Winner of Comparably's Award for Best Leadership Teams 2023
• Winner of Comparably's Award for Best CEOs for Diversity 2023
• Winner of Comparably's Award for Best Engineering Teams 2023
• Winner of Comparably's Award for Best Company Outlook 2023
• Winner of Newsweek’s Top 100 Most Loved Workplaces in the UK 2022 & 2023
• Recognised by Fast Company’s Best Workplaces for Innovators 2023
• Recognised as Best Marketing Insights Platform in the MarTech Breakthrough Awards

Equal Opportunity

Zappi is an equal opportunity employer; our diversity is a major strength. We are committed to providing equal opportunities for all individuals, regardless of their race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws.

We believe that a diverse and inclusive workforce fosters innovation, creativity, and success. Our hiring decisions are based solely on merit, qualifications, and abilities, ensuring fairness and equity throughout our recruitment process. We welcome applications from all backgrounds and encourage candidates from underrepresented groups to apply. Join our team and contribute to an inclusive environment where everyone's unique perspectives and talents are valued and respected.