Credit Technology, Senior QA Automation Engineer – Chicago
The Team
Morningstar DBRS is a Nationally Recognized Statistical Ratings Organization (NRSRO) that has earned a reputation for innovation and excellence in the financial market. This group aims to increase market transparency and provides the highest quality ratings through securities research, monitoring services, data, and technology solutions. We are seeking a highly motivated individual to join our Credit Technology group as a Senior QA Automation Engineer in Chicago.
Technology drives our business. Our team is made up of talented software engineers, infrastructure engineers, leaders and UX professionals. We care about technology as a craft and a differentiator.
The Role
The Senior QA Automation Engineer will work closely with cross functional teams, Development teams, and other development teams to ensure a timely and high-quality delivery. Will have to coordinate and work with the members in a global team. We are looking for an individual who can apply discipline, create solid software products, and be accountable for deliverables.
Responsibilities
- Define and establish the automation strategy, framework, and testing processes.
- Understand complex application architecture and design effective automation test frameworks.
- Build end-to-end web QA automation with Python for the back end, using GitHub Copilot where appropriate.
- Help establish AI standards and practices to support faster and more reliable adoption across the QA group.
- Analyze requirements, design test scenarios, and develop automation test cases.
- Own QA requirements and provide testing guidance to the broader technology team.
- Contribute as an individual contributor while also leading key QA initiatives.
- Lead and coordinate application enhancement and TechOps testing activities with technology and business teams.
- Participate actively in team ceremonies, including stand-ups, planning sessions, and retrospectives.
- Communicate regular project updates, including completed work, work in progress, next steps, risks, quality metrics, KPIs, and costs.
Requirements
- 5+ years of experience in Quality Assurance and Testing, including 3+ years of hands-on automation experience.
- Strong understanding of test frameworks, Selenium WebDriver, test management tools, bug-tracking tools such as ALM, TestRail, and Jira, and Agile methodologies.
- Proven experience in automated testing of financial applications and web portals.
- Expertise in UI automation using Selenium WebDriver and automation framework development.
- Understanding of retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), vector databases, and MCP development.
- Experience with Python, SQL/NoSQL databases, and AWS.
- Hands-on experience using GitHub Copilot as an AI assistant during software development.
- Proficiency in Java and JavaScript.
- Expertise in API testing, both manual and automated, using Rest Assured and ReadyAPI.
- Exposure to performance testing and security testing too
- Self-driven with a practical, professional approach to QA standards, procedures, and issue resolution.
- Ability to write use cases from product requirements, execute them, and report defects in a bug-tracking system.
- Demonstrated ability to lead, contribute independently, and help build a robust and flexible automation framework.
- Passion for mentoring and helping the QA community build automation skills.
- Current hands-on experience designing, building, and scaling cross-functional automation frameworks across back-end integration, database, and UI layers.
- Experience integrating test automation into CI/CD pipelines and supporting SDLC automation, including cloud-based test execution and reporting through tools such as ALM and Jira.
- Ability to improve quality and processes through automation strategy and technology selection based on architecture and process assessments.
- Strong SQL skills, including writing and understanding queries and stored procedures.
If you receive and accept an offer from us, we require that personal and any related investments be disclosed confidentially to our Compliance team. These investments will be reviewed to ensure they meet Code of Ethics requirements. If any conflicts of interest are identified, then you will be required to liquidate those holdings immediately. In addition, dependent on your department and location of work certain employee accounts must be held with an approved broker (for example all, U.S. employee accounts). If this applies and your account(s) are not with an approved broker, you will be required to move your holdings to an approved broker.
Compensation and Benefits
At Morningstar we believe people are at their best when they are at their healthiest. That’s why we champion your wellness through a wide range of programs that support all stages of your personal and professional life. Here are some examples of the offerings we provide:
Financial Health
100% 401k match up to 6% of salary
Stock Ownership Potential
Company provided life insurance - 1x salary + commission
Physical Health
Comprehensive health benefits (medical/dental/vision) including potential premium discounts and company-provided HSA contributions (up to $500-$2,000 annually) for specific plans and coverages
Additional medical Wellness Incentives - up to $300-$600 annual
Company-provided long- and short-term disability insurance
Emotional Health
Trust-Based Time Off
6-week Paid Sabbatical Program
6-Week Paid Family Caregiving Leave
Competitive 8-24 Week Paid Parental Leave
Adoption Assistance
Leadership Coaching & Formal Mentorship Opportunities
Annual Flex Stipend - $1000 annually to cover personal education & well-being expenses
Tuition Reimbursement
Social Health
Charitable Matching Gifts program
Dollars for Doers volunteer program
Paid volunteering days
15+ Employee Resource & Affinity Groups
Total Cash Compensation Range
$95,275.00-139,741.66Inclusive of annual base salary and target incentive
Morningstar's hybrid work environment gives you the opportunity to collaborate in-person each week as we've found that we're at our best when we're purposely together on a regular basis. In most of our locations, our hybrid work model is four days in-office each week. A range of other benefits are also available to enhance flexibility as needs change. No matter where you are, you'll have tools and resources to engage meaningfully with your global colleagues.
R06_DBRSInc DBRS, Inc. - US Legal EntitySkills Required
- 5+ years of experience in Quality Assurance and Testing, including 3+ years of hands-on automation experience.
- Strong understanding of test frameworks, Selenium WebDriver, test management tools, and bug-tracking tools (ALM, TestRail, Jira).
- Proven experience in automated testing of financial applications and web portals.
- Expertise in UI automation using Selenium WebDriver and automation framework development.
- Understanding of retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), vector databases, and MCP development.
- Experience with Python, SQL/NoSQL databases, and AWS.
- Hands-on experience using GitHub Copilot as an AI assistant during software development.
- Proficiency in Java and JavaScript.
- Expertise in API testing, manual and automated, using Rest Assured and ReadyAPI.
- Exposure to performance testing and security testing.
- Ability to write use cases from product requirements, execute them, and report defects in a bug-tracking system.
- Experience designing, building, and scaling cross-functional automation frameworks across back-end integration, database, and UI layers.
- Experience integrating test automation into CI/CD pipelines and supporting SDLC automation, including cloud-based test execution and reporting.
- Strong SQL skills, including writing and understanding queries and stored procedures.
- Familiarity with Agile methodologies and participation in team ceremonies.
What the Team is Saying
Morningstar Compensation & Benefits Highlights
-
Leave & Time Off Breadth — Time-off policies include flexible PTO and a paid sabbatical every four years, often highlighted as a standout perk. Feedback suggests this structure supports strong work–life balance and meaningful breaks.
-
Parental & Family Support — Policies advertise a global minimum of 16 weeks for primary caregivers, up to 8 weeks for secondary caregivers, and at least six weeks of paid caregiving leave. These offerings signal above-average support for family and caregiving needs.
-
Retirement Support — Retirement programs feature employer 401(k) contributions/matching, with some postings citing a 75% match on up to 7% of pay. Feedback suggests these offerings are a strong pillar of the package.
Morningstar Insights
What We Do
We are a global investment research and financial data company with 40-plus offices across North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. Our products and services are used daily by individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers, retirement plan providers, and institutional investors. We provide data, research, and analysis across managed investment products, publicly listed companies, private capital markets, debt securities, and real-time global market data. The financial system can have real barriers—hidden information, friction that can slow decisions, and forces that can limit transparency and access. We work to remove them, bringing independent research, connected data, and investor-first tools to a system that needs more clarity. The people doing this work span research, technology, design, product, sales, and functional areas. We build many of our products in-house, so the work can connect directly to the tools investors use to make real financial decisions.
Why Work With Us
Morningstar’s missing is to empower investor success. We can only do that if our people feel empowered. That means finding people who think independently, bring a wide range of backgrounds with analytical rigor and genuine intellectual curiosity to the work.
Gallery
Morningstar Teams
Morningstar Offices
Hybrid Workspace
Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
Across most of our offices globally, employees work four days a week in the office and one day from home. We recognize that life doesn't always fit a fixed schedule and offer programs that can help provided increased workplace flexibility.
