Senior QA Automation Engineer – AI-Driven Testing & Playwright | Contract | Houston, TX
Senior QA Automation Engineer – AI-Driven Testing & Playwright
Location: Houston, TX
Work Arrangement: Onsite – Day 1
Job Type: Contract-to-Hire (W2 / 1099) Only
Experience: Approximately 10 - 15 Years Max
Job Summary
We are seeking a highly skilled Senior QA Automation Engineer with expertise in AI-driven testing, Playwright, API automation, and mobile testing. The ideal candidate will combine strong functional and technical QA capabilities with practical experience leveraging AI to improve test coverage, automation efficiency, and software quality.
Candidates must have hands-on automation experience, retail or e-commerce domain knowledge, and the ability to provide technical guidance and coordinate QA delivery across teams.
Key Responsibilities
1. Functional and Manual Testing
Analyze business requirements, user stories, acceptance criteria, and workflows to develop comprehensive test strategies.
Design and execute functional, integration, regression, and end-to-end test cases.
Identify, document, track, and validate defects throughout the software development lifecycle.
Validate retail and e-commerce workflows, including online shopping, checkout, order processing, sales, and store operations.
2. Test Automation
Develop, maintain, and enhance scalable automation frameworks using Playwright.
Build reusable automation scripts and regression suites for web applications.
Perform API automation using REST Assured or equivalent tools.
Execute backend and database validation using SQL.
Integrate automated test execution into CI/CD pipelines using Jenkins or similar tools.
3. AI-Driven Test Automation
Leverage AI tools to generate test scenarios and test cases from requirements, user stories, and acceptance criteria.
Use AI-assisted tools for automation script generation, code enhancement, and test maintenance.
Apply self-healing automation, intelligent locator identification, and AI-assisted failure analysis where applicable.
Validate AI-generated test cases and scripts for accuracy, reliability, and business alignment.
Explore opportunities to integrate AI capabilities into existing automation frameworks and CI/CD pipelines.
Improve test coverage, reduce repetitive manual effort, and accelerate regression testing through intelligent automation.
4. Mobile Automation Testing
Develop and execute automated tests for Android and iOS applications.
Validate mobile application functionality, integration, and end-to-end business workflows.
Troubleshoot mobile automation failures and collaborate with development teams to resolve defects.
5. Technical Leadership and Team Coordination
Provide technical guidance, review test deliverables, and coordinate QA activities across teams.
Support team planning, execution tracking, defect triage, and quality reporting.
Coordinate effectively with onshore/offshore teams, developers, business stakeholders, and support teams.
Identify delivery risks, resolve blockers, and drive continuous improvement in testing practices.
6. Quality Delivery and Stakeholder Communication
Communicate testing progress, risks, defects, and release readiness to stakeholders.
Manage testing priorities and ensure timely completion of QA deliverables.
Maintain quality metrics, automation coverage, and regression results.
Take ownership of testing outcomes in a fast-paced delivery environment.
Required Qualifications
Approximately 10 years of professional QA and software testing experience.
Strong hands-on experience with Playwright-based test automation.
Practical experience with AI-assisted testing, intelligent test generation, or AI-enabled automation workflows.
Strong knowledge of functional, integration, regression, and end-to-end testing.
Experience with API automation using REST Assured or equivalent tools.
Proficiency in SQL and backend data validation.
Experience integrating automated tests into CI/CD pipelines using Jenkins or similar tools.
Hands-on mobile automation experience covering both Android and iOS.
Retail or e-commerce domain experience, including online shopping, sales, order processing, and store operations.
At least five years of QA experience with team-handling or coordination experience involving a team of five or more.
Strong analytical, troubleshooting, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
Preferred Qualifications
Experience with AI-powered testing tools, self-healing automation, and intelligent failure analysis.
Experience with AI-assisted automation script development and test maintenance.
Knowledge of Appium or other mobile automation frameworks.
UiPath experience is a plus.
Experience improving automation coverage, reducing regression execution time, and enhancing release quality.
Work Arrangement
This position requires onsite work in Houston, Texas, beginning on Day 1. Candidates should be able to commit to the onsite arrangement and be interested in a contract-to-hire opportunity.
