Software Engineer

Digital Waffle; Bristol; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

A cutting-edge technology company is looking for an Automation Engineer specialized in advanced anti-bot and captcha handling. The successful candidate will build high scale crawlers, design browser automation that adapts to protective systems like Cloudflare, and ensure compliance with legal frameworks. Candidates should have strong experience with Python, Node.js, or Go, and an expert understanding of automation frameworks. This role is a great opportunity for someone who enjoys solving complex technical puzzles and driving innovative automation solutions.

Qualifications

• Strong experience with Python, Node.js, or Go.
• Expert level understanding of browser automation frameworks such as Playwright or Puppeteer.
• Demonstrable experience working with anti bot environments including WAFs, behavioural scoring, and dynamic challenges.

Responsibilities

• Building and maintaining high scale crawlers and automation scripts for complex, protected environments.
• Designing browser automation that can adapt to anti bot systems.
• Integrating captcha solving services while respecting legal and ethical guidelines.
• Implementing fingerprinting and session handling to improve automation stability.

Skills

Python

Node.js

Go

Browser automation frameworks

Analytical mindset

Technical ownership

Job description

Automation Engineer (Advanced Anti Bot and Captcha Handling)

We are looking for an Automation Engineer with deep experience working around complex anti bot environments. This includes understanding how platforms like Cloudflare, DataDome, Akamai, Perimeter, Imperva, reCAPTCHA, and other captcha systems classify and challenge automated traffic. The focus is on building resilient, compliant automation tools that can operate reliably at scale despite these protective layers. This role suits an engineer who enjoys technical puzzles, understands how anti bot systems work internally, and can design automation workflows that remain stable, efficient, and legally compliant.

Responsibilities

• Building and maintaining high scale crawlers and automation scripts for complex, protected environments.
• Designing browser automation that can adapt to anti bot systems such as Cloudflare, DataDome, Akamai, Perimeter, Imperva, and others.
• Integrating captcha solving services where appropriate while respecting all legal and ethical guidelines.
• Implementing fingerprinting, session handling, and behavioural simulation to improve automation stability.
• Building systems that operate reliably under rate limits, behavioural analysis, and risk scoring models.
• Monitoring bot detection feedback and refining approaches to improve performance and resilience.
• Working with product and engineering teams to refine automation strategy as protection mechanisms change.

Qualifications

• Strong experience with Python, Node.js, or Go.
• Expert level understanding of browser automation frameworks such as Playwright or Puppeteer.
• Demonstrable experience working with anti bot environments including WAFs, behavioural scoring, and dynamic challenges.
• Understanding of captchas, fingerprinting, traffic shaping, session management, and proxy infrastructure.
• Experience designing scalable, distributed automation systems.
• A creative, analytical mindset and strong technical ownership.

Preferred Skills

• Experience designing scalable, distributed automation systems.
• A creative, analytical mindset and strong technical ownership.