Hiring Senior Test Automation Specialist in Austin

TestCo is a Austin-based technology company founded in 2016, specializing in custom software testing solutions for the fintech, healthcare, and e-commerce sectors. With a team of 250 engineers, project managers, and QA specialists, we support clients across the United States, Europe, and Asia in delivering high-performance, secure, and user-friendly applications. Our internal product suite includes automated testing tools, security audit platforms, and user experience monitoring solutions used by over 120 enterprise clients worldwide. We prioritize quality, transparency, and collaborative work culture, and are currently expanding our engineering quality team to support growing client demand.

We are hiring a Senior Test Automation Specialist to join our hybrid work model team in Austin, Texas. In this role, you will work on both client-facing testing projects and internal product development, collaborating closely with cross-functional teams of developers, product managers, security analysts, and client stakeholders to ensure software meets the highest quality, security, and performance standards before deployment.

Your core responsibilities will include:
1. Design, develop, and maintain automated test scripts using Selenium, Cypress, and Playwright to cover 85% of critical user journeys for client applications, reducing regression test execution time by 30% within the first 6 months of employment.
2. Conduct performance and security audits of web and mobile applications using JMeter, OWASP ZAP, and Postman, identifying and documenting at least 95% of critical vulnerabilities prior to production launch, in compliance with HIPAA and ISO 27001 standards for healthcare and fintech projects.
3. Coordinate functional testing and user acceptance testing (UAT) campaigns with client business teams, ensuring 100% of critical test cases are validated before each deployment, with a post-production defect rate of less than 0.5%.
4. Maintain and optimize continuous testing infrastructure (CI/CD pipelines) using Jenkins, GitLab CI, Docker, and Kubernetes, reducing test pipeline execution time by 25% annually, and guaranteeing 99.9% uptime for test environments.
5. Write and update test process documentation, test case libraries, and audit reports for internal teams and clients, ensuring full traceability and compliance with industry regulations.
6. Train junior development teams on automated testing best practices and software quality standards, hosting monthly workshops and mentoring 5 developers per quarter on implementing unit and integration tests.
7. Conduct technology scouting for new testing tools and industry best practices, testing at least 2 new tools per quarter and proposing actionable improvements to the QA team to increase testing efficiency.

Our work environment is built on agile principles, with 2-week sprints, daily standups, and minimal micro-management. We offer flexible working hours, with 3 days per week in our modern Austin office (equipped with quiet work pods, collaborative spaces, and a full kitchen) and 2 days of remote work per week. Our team culture emphasizes knowledge sharing, peer support, and continuous learning: we host monthly tech talks, sponsor attendance to industry conferences including Selenium Conf, AWS re:Invent, and DevOps Enterprise Summit, and provide access to paid online learning platforms for all employees. We do not expect or encourage after-hours work, and prioritize work-life balance for all team members.

To qualify for this role, you must have:
- A minimum of 3 years of professional experience in software testing, including at least 2 years of hands-on experience with automated testing for web and/or mobile applications.
- Proficiency in automated testing tools including Selenium, Cypress, Playwright, Postman, and JMeter.
- Working knowledge of CI/CD tools including Jenkins, GitLab CI, Docker, and Kubernetes.
- Experience working in agile (Scrum or Kanban) environments, with familiarity with project management tools Jira and Confluence.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to write clear test reports and collaborate effectively with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
- A bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
- ISTQB certification or experience with HIPAA/ISO 27001 compliance is considered a strong plus.

In terms of compensation, this role offers an annual base salary between $85,000 and $110,000 USD, adjusted based on your years of experience and technical expertise. In addition to base pay, you are eligible for an annual performance bonus of 10-15% tied to both team and individual performance metrics. Our benefits package includes 90% coverage of health insurance premiums for employees and dependents, 25 days of paid time off per year plus 10 paid company holidays, a $2,000 annual professional development budget for certifications, conferences, and training courses, a 4% company match on your 401(k) contributions, fully paid parental leave of 12 weeks, and all necessary work equipment including a MacBook Pro, dual monitors, and licenses for all required testing tools.

Career growth opportunities at TestCo are structured and personalized: you will have semi-annual career development reviews with your manager, and can qualify for promotion to Lead Test Automation Engineer, QA Lead, or Technical Project Manager within 2-3 years based on your performance and interests. We also support internal mobility, so you can transition to development, security, or product teams if you wish to explore new domains later in your career.

The hiring process for this role is as follows, with a total timeline of 3 weeks from application to offer:
1. Submit your CV and a link to a portfolio of testing projects (GitHub, personal website, or similar) via our application portal.
2. A 30-minute phone screening with our recruitment manager to discuss your experience, expectations, and fit for the role.
3. A 2-hour at-home technical assessment: you will be asked to design 2 automated test scripts for a sample web application, to be submitted within 48 hours of receiving the assessment.
4. A 1-hour technical interview with the quality engineering team to discuss your technical assessment, past projects, and technical skills.
5. A final 30-minute interview with our Chief Technology Officer to discuss company values, long-term career goals, and any final questions.
You will receive a response within 2 weeks of submitting your application, and within 3 business days after each subsequent interview step. The preferred start date for this role is within 4 weeks of offer acceptance.