Senior SDET / QA Automation Engineer

Job Description

Eccalon is seeking a Senior SDET / QA Automation Engineer to build and own the automated testing strategy across our web applications and backend services supporting DoD, Intelligence, and enterprise programs. You will design and maintain robust test frameworks, integrate quality gates into CI/CD pipelines, and ensure the reliability of systems operating in regulated, compliance-driven environments. This is a hands-on senior role with broad visibility across the full engineering stack - working directly with software engineers, DevOps, and product teams to shift quality left and keep mission-critical software shipping with confidence.

Responsibilities

Test Automation & Framework Development

Design, build, and maintain end-to-end UI automation frameworks using Playwright and/or Cypress across multiple web applications (e.g., lynxconnect.io, eccalon.com).

Develop and maintain API and backend test suites using Postman collections and REST Assured; validate authentication flows, data integrity, and service contracts.

Write clean, maintainable test code in Python and/or JavaScript/TypeScript; enforce consistent standards through code reviews and shared libraries.

Build reusable test utilities, fixtures, and data factories that reduce test setup overhead and improve suite reliability.

CI/CD Integration & Quality Gates

Integrate automated test suites into CI/CD pipelines (GitLab CI/CD) to enforce quality gates on every pull request and deployment.

Configure and maintain synthetic monitoring scripts (e.g., Playwright-based uptime checks) for production applications; triage and resolve false positives.

Define and track test coverage metrics, pass rates, and flakiness trends; report quality signals to engineering leadership.

API & Backend Testing

Validate REST APIs against specifications; test authentication and authorization flows including OAuth2, SAML, OIDC, and JIT provisioning patterns.

Develop data-driven test scenarios against AWS-hosted services (RDS/PostgreSQL, DynamoDB, Cognito) and Azure-backed platforms (GCC High).

Collaborate with backend engineers to identify testability gaps in service design and recommend interface contracts that support automation.

Cross-functional Collaboration & Quality Strategy

Partner with DevOps, software engineering, and IT teams to embed testing earlier in the development lifecycle; contribute to definition-of-done criteria.

Serve as the quality subject matter expert on the team - mentoring engineers on test best practices, automation patterns, and tooling selection.

Maintain test documentation, test plans, and traceability matrices that satisfy compliance audit and ATO evidence requirements.

Evaluate and recommend improvements to the overall QA toolchain and processes as applications and team scale.

Required Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field - or equivalent practical experience.

5+ years of experience in software development engineering in test (SDET), QA automation, or a related discipline.

Hands-on proficiency with Playwright and/or Cypress for end-to-end UI test automation.

Strong API testing skills using Postman (including collections, environments, and Newman for CI execution) and/or REST Assured.

Solid programming skills in JavaScript/TypeScript and/or Python; ability to write production-quality test code, not just record-and-replay scripts.

Experience integrating test automation into CI/CD pipelines (GitLab CI/CD, or Jenkins).

Familiarity with AWS services (Cognito, RDS, DynamoDB, CloudWatch) and how they factor into end-to-end test design.

Experience testing authentication and authorization flows (OAuth2, SAML, OIDC, MFA).

Strong understanding of HTTP, REST, JSON, and web application architecture.

Ability to work independently, prioritize across multiple projects, and communicate quality risk clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience with synthetic monitoring and uptime automation (e.g., Playwright-based health checks, Pingdom scripting).

Familiarity with NIST 800-171, CMMC, or FedRAMP testing and traceability requirements.

Experience testing applications hosted on Azure GCC High or AWS GovCloud environments.

Background in performance or load testing (k6, JMeter, or Locust).

Experience with accessibility testing (WCAG 2.1, 508 compliance) and security-focused test cases (OWASP Top 10 validation).

ISTQB certification or equivalent QA/testing credential.