QA Automation - Plano, TX

We are seeking a highly experienced QA Automation Engineer with 10+ years of experience to lead automated testing efforts for our microservices ecosystem. This role requires hands-on expertise in testing service contracts, Level 2/Level 3 APIs, and the ability to apply Domain-Driven Design (DDD) principles within the testing strategy. You will collaborate with product managers, architects, and developers to ensure our microservices are reliable, scalable, and meet both functional and non-functional requirements. 

Key Responsibilities 

Automation Framework Development 

Design, develop, and maintain comprehensive test automation frameworks for microservices, focusing on integration, contract, and end-to-end testing. 

Ensure tests are reliable, repeatable, and easily maintainable across multiple services and deployment pipelines. 

API and Service Contract Testing 

Collaborate with architects and developers to validate service contracts, ensuring that services adhere to agreed-upon schemas, versioning standards, and performance benchmarks. 

Implement and maintain API test suites (Level 2 and Level 3) using tools such as Postman, REST Assured, Karate, or similar. 

Perform contract testing (e.g., Pact) to ensure compatibility and integration quality across the microservices landscape. 

DDD-Aligned Test Scenarios 

Understand and apply Domain-Driven Design concepts in test scenario creation. 

Work with business analysts and domain experts to translate bounded contexts and ubiquitous language into testable requirements and acceptance criteria. 

Continuous Integration / Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) 

Integrate automated tests into CI/CD pipelines (e.g., Jenkins, GitLab CI, Azure DevOps) to ensure rapid and reliable feedback on code changes. 

Monitor and optimize pipeline performance, identifying bottlenecks and proposing improvements. 

Quality Metrics and Observability 

Define, track, and report on critical quality metrics (e.g., test coverage, pass/fail rates, defect density). 

Collaborate with DevOps and SRE teams to integrate testing with monitoring and logging solutions for better test observability and quicker root-cause analysis. 

Performance and Reliability Testing 

Develop and execute performance/load/stress tests to ensure microservices meet SLAs and can scale effectively under heavy load. 

Investigate and address reliability issues, working closely with development teams to identify root causes and recommend fixes. 

Collaboration and Mentorship 

Mentor junior QA engineers on best practices in automated testing, DDD, and API testing. 

Facilitate knowledge sharing sessions to improve the overall testing capabilities across teams. 

Risk Identification and Mitigation 

Proactively identify testing gaps or potential risk areas in the microservices architecture (e.g., overlapping data models, insufficient test coverage in boundary cases). 

Collaborate with product managers and technical leads to prioritize testing efforts and mitigate project risks early. 

Qualifications 

Education & Experience 

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Systems, or related field (or equivalent work experience). 

10+ years of QA/testing experience, including 5+ years specifically in test automation for microservices or complex distributed systems. 

Technical Expertise 

Proven track record in microservices testing: integration, contract (Pact or equivalent), and end-to-end testing. 

In-depth knowledge of Level 2/Level 3 API design and relevant testing methodologies. 

Experience applying Domain-Driven Design principles to testing strategies and test cases. 

Proficiency with automation tools/frameworks (e.g., Java-based frameworks, Python-based frameworks, Selenium/Cypress for UI, REST Assured, Postman, QTest, etc.). 

Familiarity with cloud-native environments (AWS, Azure, GCP) and container orchestration (Kubernetes). 

CI/CD and DevOps Familiarity 

Hands-on experience with CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, GitLab CI, Azure DevOps, etc.) and version control systems (Git). 

Basic knowledge of infrastructure as code (Terraform, Ansible) and configuration management is a plus. 

Testing Mindset & Best Practices 

Strong understanding of SDLC and various testing levels (unit, integration, system, acceptance, performance). 

Expertise in Agile/Scrum methodologies, ability to align testing with iterative development cycles. 

Soft Skills 

Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, to collaborate effectively across technical and non-technical teams. 

Strong analytical thinking, with an eye for detail in identifying test cases and spotting potential edge cases. 

Ability to mentor and coach junior team members, fostering a culture of continuous improvement. 

Bonus Skills 

Experience with BDD tools (e.g., Cucumber, SpecFlow) for bridging business requirements and test cases. 

Knowledge of performance testing tools (e.g., JMeter, Gatling, Talos,K6). 

Familiarity with security testing or chaos engineering is a plus.

Compensation, Benefits and Duration

Minimum Compensation: USD 42,000
Maximum Compensation: USD 147,000
Compensation is based on actual experience and qualifications of the candidate. The above is a reasonable and a good faith estimate for the role.
Medical, vision, and dental benefits, 401k retirement plan, variable pay/incentives, paid time off, and paid holidays are available for full-time employees.
This position is available for independent contractors
No applications will be considered if received more than 120 days after the date of this post