QA Automation Engineer

Bytes Software Services; Leatherhead; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Bytes Software Services is seeking a QA Automation Engineer in Leatherhead to embed quality across the software lifecycle. You will design, develop and maintain automated UI/API tests using Playwright, while contributing strong manual testing expertise where required.

In collaboration with Developers, Product Owners and Business Analysts, you will improve automation coverage, drive testing standards, and support fast, reliable software releases in an Agile environment.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of commercial software testing in Agile environments.
• Hands-on experience with Playwright and TypeScript.
• Experience building automation frameworks using Page Object Model (POM).
• Strong manual testing across web apps, APIs and backend.
• REST API testing with Postman or similar.
• SQL for data validation.
• GitHub or other Git-based version control.
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines and continuous testing.
• Knowledge of SDLC/STLC methodologies.
• Excellent communication and problem-solving skills.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop and maintain automated UI and API test suites using Playwright and modern automation frameworks.
• Build scalable and maintainable automation solutions using Page Object Model (POM) principles.
• Perform exploratory, functional, integration, regression and end-to-end testing across web applications, APIs and backend services.
• Conduct API testing using tools such as Postman and Playwright to ensure reliability and data integrity.
• Integrate automated tests into CI/CD pipelines to support continuous testing and rapid feedback loops.
• Collaborate with Developers, Product Owners and Business Analysts to identify quality risks early in the development lifecycle.
• Investigate, document and retest defects, working closely with development teams to ensure timely resolution.
• Help drive a quality-first culture while contributing to continuous improvement initiatives across testing processes and tooling.
• Participate actively in Agile ceremonies, including sprint planning, refinement, reviews and retrospectives.
• Support the growth of our automation capability and increase confidence in software releases.

Skills

5+ years testing experience

Playwright

TypeScript

Manual testing

REST API testing

SQL data validation

CI/CD pipelines

GitHub

SDLC/STLC

Agile

Tools

Postman

GitHub Actions

Jenkins

Azure DevOps

Job description

As businesses continue to accelerate digital transformation, delivering high-quality software at speed has become more important than ever. Modern development teams need robust testing strategies that ensure reliability, scalability, and confidence throughout the software development lifecycle.

This role is about much more than finding defects. It's about embedding quality into every stage of development, driving automation excellence, and helping shape the future of quality assurance within Bytes. If you're passionate about test automation, continuous improvement, and delivering exceptional software experiences, this is an opportunity to make a real impact.

Mission

We're looking for an experienced QA Automation Engineer to help grow and mature our software testing capability. You'll play a key role in designing, developing, and maintaining automated testing solutions using Playwright, while also contributing strong manual testing expertise where required.

Working closely with Developers, Product Owners, Business Analysts and DevOps teams, you'll help ensure quality remains at the heart of everything we deliver. This is an opportunity to influence testing standards, improve automation coverage, and support the delivery of high-quality software within a collaborative Agile environment.

What You'll Deliver

• Design, develop and maintain automated UI and API test suites using Playwright and modern automation frameworks.
• Build scalable and maintainable automation solutions using Page Object Model (POM) principles.
• Perform exploratory, functional, integration, regression and end-to-end testing across web applications, APIs and backend services.
• Conduct API testing using tools such as Postman and Playwright to ensure reliability and data integrity.
• Integrate automated tests into CI/CD pipelines to support continuous testing and rapid feedback loops.
• Collaborate with Developers, Product Owners and Business Analysts to identify quality risks early in the development lifecycle.
• Investigate, document and retest defects, working closely with development teams to ensure timely resolution.
• Help drive a quality-first culture while contributing to continuous improvement initiatives across testing processes and tooling.
• Participate actively in Agile ceremonies, including sprint planning, refinement, reviews and retrospectives.
• Support the growth of our automation capability and increase confidence in software releases.

• Minimum 5 years' commercial software testing experience within Agile environments.
• Strong hands-on experience with Playwright and TypeScript.
• Experience creating and maintaining automation frameworks using Page Object Model (POM) principles.
• Strong manual testing experience across web applications, APIs and backend systems.
• Experience with REST API testing using Postman or similar tools.
• Working knowledge of SQL for data validation and investigation.
• Experience using GitHub or other Git-based version control systems.
• Experience working with CI/CD pipelines and continuous testing practices.
• Good understanding of SDLC and STLC methodologies.
• Excellent communication, analytical and problem-solving skills.

• Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, Jenkins or similar CI/CD tooling.
• Experience testing cloud-hosted applications and services.
• Exposure to BDD frameworks such as Cucumber.
• Performance and load testing experience using JMeter, k6 or similar tools.
• API automation and mocking/stubbing experience.

Why Bytes?

At Bytes, you'll join a highly collaborative technology team where quality and innovation are at the centre of everything we do.

This role offers the opportunity to influence testing standards, shape automation frameworks, and work with modern technologies and delivery practices. You'll be part of a business that encourages continuous learning, ownership, and professional development while giving you the chance to work on meaningful projects that have a real impact.