Software Engineer

Digital Waffle; Newcastle upon Tyne; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

A tech-focused company in the UK is seeking an Automation Engineer adept at designing automation tools for complex anti bot environments. The ideal candidate possesses strong skills in Python, Node.js, or Go and understands various bot protection systems like Cloudflare and reCAPTCHA. Responsibilities include building high scale crawlers, integrating captcha solutions, and designing stable automation workflows. The role demands a creative mindset to navigate technical challenges and ensure compliance in automation processes.

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.
• Understanding of captchas, fingerprinting, and session management.
• Experience designing scalable automation systems.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain high scale crawlers and automation scripts.
• Design browser automation adapting to anti bot systems.
• Integrate captcha solving services respecting guidelines.
• Implement fingerprinting and session handling.
• Build systems under rate limits and risk scoring models.
• Monitor bot detection feedback and refine approaches.

Skills

Python

Node.js

Go

Browser automation frameworks (Playwright, Puppeteer)

Understanding of anti bot environments

Creative and analytical mindset

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.

Required Skills

• 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.