Lead Automation Engineer

📍 Porto Matosinhos | 🏢 2 Days in the Office | €65,000 - €75,000

Quality Engineering is embedded across our mission teams, partnering with Engineering, Product, and UX to champion quality at every stage of the software lifecycle. We build quality in from the start - not bolt it on at the end.

The Lead Automation Engineer is a critical, hands-on role embedded within a Mission team. Reporting functionally to your mission team’s Lead, you will be the quality champion for your specific feature set. You will leverage standardised automation tooling to maximise test coverage, accelerate delivery velocity, and maintain the highest quality standards for our products.

What You'll Be Doing 🗃️

Mission Team Quality Ownership & Strategy

• Define and own the comprehensive testing strategy for your domain (e.g., payments, banking, onboarding), ensuring end-to-end quality and compliance in partnership with the QA Team Lead.
• Act as the primary contributor for automation; design, develop, and maintain robust automated tests (API, UI, Mobile).
• Champion a "Shift-Left" mindset, working with Product Owners and Developers from the refinement stage to ensure quality is engineered in from the start.
• Directly manage the mission team’s automation targets and use data-driven insights (MTTD/MTTR, defect escape rates) to predict high-risk areas.

Technical Leadership & Tooling Adoption 🧰

• Serve as the mission team's expert on central automation frameworks, driving consistent adoption of CI/CD processes and quality gates.
• Identify team-specific gaps and collaborate with the central Tooling Team to develop custom helpers or data generators that enhance the core framework.
• Ensure automated test suites are fully integrated into CI/CD pipelines to enable rapid, reliable deployment and a "fail fast" mechanism.
• Coordinate complex technical testing, including microservices, security (OWASP ZAP), and performance testing.

Collaboration, Coaching & AI Innovation 🤖

• Coach and upskill developers and junior QA engineers on automation best practices and test design patterns.
• Champion the use of AI tools (Claude, GitHub Copilot) for complex tasks like architecture exploration, incident investigation, and test generation.
• Leverage component testing, service virtualization, and contract testing to reduce dependencies and enable independent team testing.
• Define test data strategies and environment requirements to support both automated and exploratory testing.

Our Values & Culture 🌞

• Just Pilot: We never settle for “good enough”. We pilot new ideas fast, ask questions to figure it out, and scale quickly.
• Why Not Today? Fast is as slow as we go - speed and simplicity gives us a competitive advantage.
• Be a Buddy: We tap in from day one to help the team, we do the right thing even if it’s hard.
• Owners and Dates: We don’t chase people. If you own a task and agree to a date, the expectation is that it gets done.
• Feedback: We want our employees to flourish, so we regularly provide direct and constructive feedback.

We’re Looking For 🔎

• Experience: 5+ years in QA Automation/SDET roles with proven success leading quality within an Agile team.
• Programming: Strong proficiency in modern languages essential for automation, specifically C# or JavaScript/TypeScript.
• Fintech Expertise: Experience testing complex financial systems (card issuing, transaction processing, or credit risk).
• Automation Mastery: Hands-on experience with tools for UI (Playwright, Cypress) and API (REST Assured, Other API testing frameworks).
• Cloud & CI/CD: Familiarity with Azure, Git, and integrating automated testing into deployment workflows.
• Leadership: Ability to influence without authority, encouraging developers and POs to prioritise automation and quality.

Even if you don’t have all of the necessary skills, we still encourage you to apply.

Interview Process 🤝 

• First stage: 30-minute intro, CV review, and values with Talent Partner
• Second stage: 45-minute “Tech Chat” with Team Manager
• Final stage: 60-minute Code Pairing + 30-minute Stakeholder Interview with Engineering & Product

Diversity & Inclusion 🌈
We welcome, consider and encourage applications from anyone who shares our commitment to inclusivity. Join us in creating a space where authenticity thrives, and everyone can do their best work.

Great Work Deserves Great Perks

Check out our benefits:

🏥 Private Healthcare through AdvanceCare
🎁 Anniversary Rewards (€280, €570, €860, 4-week fully paid sabbatical)
🚘 Paid Car Parking
🏖️ 36 days holiday (inclusive of public holidays with public holidays carried over if they fall on a weekend)
📖 Annual Learning and Wellbeing Budget
💬 6 free therapy sessions per year
🍫 Free drinks and snacks in our offices