IO Datasphere, Inc. has been providing project management, software development and IT staff augmentation services to our clients in the Midwest and throughout the U.S. since 1996. We are an approved vendor on contract to provide software development and IT staff augmentation services for the States of Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin. We also provide these services to businesses, as well as local and county governments, in the Midwest and nationwide.

Our client is looking for a GitLab-Integrated Playwright Test Automation Engineer to design, develop, and maintain automated end-to-end and accessibility test suites for our critical Management applications. This role is central to improving our software quality, accelerating our release cycles, and ensuring compliance. The ideal candidate will have deep expertise in Playwright, extensive experience with GitLab CI/CD, and a strong background in developing robust, scalable test automation frameworks. The position will involve using tools such as Playwright and Axe, along with integration into GitLab and Digital.ai. This role is directly responsible for delivering all specified goals:

• Immediate - Creating the initial eCourts and OVL-authenticated test suites, deploying the Axe-based accessibility suite, and enabling analysts with local test generation tools.
• Mid-term - Automating Digital.ai-based regression tests, integrating test execution into the GitLab deploy pipeline, ensuring test visibility/dashboarding, and formalizing test verification in the pre-release process.
• Long-Term - Maintaining and improving existing test cases, exploring AI-based test generation for expansion, and integrating automated tests for pre-deploy CI pipeline verifications.

Tasks

Test Automation Framework Development and Execution

• Design and Build: Design, develop, and maintain scalable and reliable end-to-end (E2E) automated test suites using Playwright for web applications, including those requiring eCourts-authenticated (e.g., CC eFiling) and OVL-authenticated (e.g., Case Management) access.
• Develop & Maintain: Develop & maintain robust test frameworks using Playwright tailored for end-to-end testing across multiple web browsers and environments.
• Collaborate with development and QA teams for automated test execution strategies.
• Accessibility Testing: Create and deploy an automated accessibility test suite for public sites (e.g., WICourts.gov) utilizing a standard tool like Axe.
• Regression Management: Translate existing manual regression test suites (currently in Digital.ai) into automated regression test suites within the new framework.
• Test Design & Execution: Create detailed test plans and automated scripts based on project requirements. Execute functional, regression, performance, and UI tests leveraging Playwright.
• Quality Assurance Metrics: Monitor automation test results and generate insights. Implement actionable improvements for consistent pipeline and testing enhancements.
• Troubleshooting & Debugging: Diagnose issues, debug test failures, and work closely with product teams to resolve bugs efficiently.
• Maintenance: Continuously improve and update existing test cases and automation scripts to align with new software features and changes, ensuring test stability and relevance.
• Collaboration: Partner with DevOps, Development, and QA teams to ensure testing is an integral part of the software lifecycle. Advocate for test automation best practices.

CI/CD Integration and Tooling

• GitLab Integration: Integrate test suite execution directly into the GitLab deploy pipeline, ensuring automated regression testing runs against every development environment.
• Visibility & Reporting: Implement solutions (e.g., custom dashboards or integration with existing overviews) to ensure clear, immediate visibility of automated test results, highlighting test failures and environment status.
• Process Compliance: Collaborate with software development supervisors to establish a formal process that includes the verification of automated test results as a mandatory step in the pre-release process.

Mentorship and Documentation

• Tooling Setup: Assist analysts (Sam and Lexie) with setting up their local development environments, including Visual Studio and Playwright, enabling them to generate and contribute tests to the central repository.
• Documentation: Create and maintain comprehensive documentation detailing the processes for creating new automated tests, executing them, and viewing/interpreting the test results.
• Innovation: Explore and implement advanced test generation techniques, including Playwright's test generation tools and AI-based test generation, to enhance test coverage and efficiency.

Key Performance Indicators (KPI s):

• Successful deployment of the initial test suites for CC eFiling and Case Management within the first 3 months.
• Integration of automated regression tests into the GitLab pipeline for 100% of target development environments.
• Establishment of a test results dashboard/reporting mechanism that provides real-time status of all tested environments.
• Successful training and enablement of analysts (Sam and Lexie) to contribute to the test repository.

NOTE: Candidates must be CURRENT WI residents. No relocation allowed. This position will work 100% onsite, Mon-Fri 8am-5pm.

Location: Madison, WI (On-site)

Contract: 6+ Months

Skills Required:

• 3+ years - Experience in Software Test Automation or Quality Assurance
• 3+ years - Expert proficiency with using Playwright for UI automation tests
• 5+ years - Experience implementing accessibility testing using tools such as Axe
• 5+ years - Strong practical experience with GitLab CI/CD for integrating and running automated tests in a pipeline
• Solid programming skills in a language compatible with Playwright (e.g., TypeScript or JavaScript) and related programming languages.
• Experience in implementing accessibility testing using tools such as Axe. Familiarity with testing tools like Postman for API Testing.
• Familiarity with authentication complexities and strategies for testing secure, login-protected applications.
• Bachelor s Degree

Skills Desired A plus to have:

• Knowledge of performance, load, or security testing practices
• Experience with advanced reporting and visualization tools for test results
• Experience creating KPI s on Grafana, to visualize test suite s health
• Prior experience with legacy or existing QA tools like Digital.ai for migrating test cases.
• Experience working on applications within the legal, government, or eCourts domain.

*** Rate depends on experience

*** Candidates authorized to work in the US are encouraged to apply. We can accept H1b, , TN, and other valid work visas for IT. However, we cannot accept OPT or CPT visas at this time.

*** Companies submitting candidates should only submit direct W2 employees for this position.

Please submit your resume by using the "URL" below