Lead Automation Engineer

Capital on Tap; Porto; Hybrid; EUR 65,000 - 75,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Private Healthcare through AdvanceCare

Anniversary Rewards (€280, €570, €860,

Paid Car Parking

36 days holiday (incl. public holidays

Annual Learning and Wellbeing Budget

6 free therapy sessions per year

Free drinks and snacks in offices

Job summary

Capital on Tap is seeking a Lead Automation Engineer in Porto to champion quality across mission teams. You will define testing strategies, lead automation efforts across API, UI, and mobile, and drive a Shift-Left approach from product refinement through deployment.

The role demands 5+ years in QA Automation, proficiency in C# or JavaScript/TypeScript, and fintech testing experience. Hybrid work with 2 days in the office and competitive salary.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in QA Automation/SDET roles within Agile teams.
• Proficiency in modern automation languages (C# or JavaScript/TypeScript).
• Experience testing fintech systems (card issuing, transactions or risk).
• Hands-on automation with UI and API testing tools (Playwright, Cypress, REST Assured).
• Cloud & CI/CD familiarity (Azure, Git) and automated testing in deployments.

Responsibilities

• Define and own comprehensive testing strategy for domains (payments, onboarding) with QA Team Lead.
• Lead automation efforts; design, develop, and maintain automated tests (API, UI, Mobile).
• Drive Shift-Left mindset with Product Owners and Developers from refinement stage.
• Manage automation targets and use data-driven insights to predict high-risk areas.

Skills

QA Automation/SDET leadership

C#

JavaScript/TypeScript

Fintech testing

UI automation (Playwright/Cypress)

API testing

Azure

Git & CI/CD

Leadership influence

Tools

Playwright

Cypress

REST Assured

OWASP ZAP

Job description

Capital on Tap started because small businesses were underserved. Big banks were slow, their products weren’t fit for purpose, and small business owners often couldn’t access what they needed. We set out to fix that. Today we are a financial platform that offers a best‑in‑class business credit card, SME‑focused spend management platform, a savings product that hit £1 billion in funds within its first year, and a growing suite of tools and products that make running a small business easier.

Location: Porto Matosinhos | 2 Days in the Office | Salary: €65 000 – €75 000

Quality Engineering at Capital on Tap

Quality Engineering is embedded across our mission teams, partnering with Engineering, Product, and UX to champion quality at every stage of the software lifecycle. We build quality in from the start – not bolt it on at the end.

Lead Automation Engineer

The Lead Automation Engineer is a critical, hands‑on role embedded within a mission team. Reporting functionally to your mission team’s Lead, you will be the quality champion for your specific feature set, leveraging standardised automation tooling to maximise test coverage, accelerate delivery velocity, and maintain the highest quality standards for our products.

What You’ll Be Doing

Mission Team Quality Ownership & Strategy

• Define and own the comprehensive testing strategy for your domain (e.g., payments, banking, onboarding), ensuring end‑to‑end quality and compliance in partnership with the QA Team Lead.
• Act as the primary contributor for automation; design, develop, and maintain robust automated tests (API, UI, Mobile).
• Champion a "Shift‑Left" mindset, working with Product Owners and Developers from the refinement stage to ensure quality is engineered in from the start.
• Directly manage the mission team’s automation targets and use data‑driven insights (MTTD/MTTR, defect escape rates) to predict high‑risk areas.

Technical Leadership & Tooling Adoption

• Serve as the mission team’s expert on central automation frameworks, driving consistent adoption of CI/CD processes and quality gates.
• Identify team‑specific gaps and collaborate with the central Tooling Team to develop custom helpers or data generators that enhance the core framework.
• Ensure automated test suites are fully integrated into CI/CD pipelines to enable rapid, reliable deployment and a "fail fast" mechanism.
• Coordinate complex technical testing, including microservices, security (OWASP ZAP), and performance testing.

Collaboration, Coaching & AI Innovation

• Coach and upskill developers and junior QA engineers on automation best practices and test design patterns.
• Champion the use of AI tools (Claude, GitHub Copilot) for complex tasks like architecture exploration, incident investigation, and test generation.
• Leverage component testing, service virtualization, and contract testing to reduce dependencies and enable independent team testing.
• Define test data strategies and environment requirements to support both automated and exploratory testing.

Our Values & Culture

• Just Pilot: We never settle for "good enough". We pilot new ideas fast, ask questions to figure it out, and scale quickly.
• Why Not Today? Fast is as slow as we go – speed and simplicity gives us a competitive advantage.
• Be a Buddy: We tap in from day one to help the team, we do the right thing even if it’s hard.
• Owners and Dates: We don’t chase people. If you own a task and agree to a date, the expectation is that it gets done.
• Feedback: We want our employees to flourish, so we regularly provide direct and constructive feedback.

We’re Looking For

• Experience: 5+ years in QA Automation/SDET roles with proven success leading quality within an Agile team.
• Programming: Strong proficiency in modern languages essential for automation, specifically C# or JavaScript/TypeScript.
• Fintech Expertise: Experience testing complex financial systems (card issuing, transaction processing, or credit risk).
• Automation Mastery: Hands‑on experience with tools for UI (Playwright, Cypress) and API (REST Assured, other API testing frameworks).
• Cloud & CI/CD: Familiarity with Azure, Git, and integrating automated testing into deployment workflows.
• Leadership: Ability to influence without authority, encouraging developers and POs to prioritise automation and quality.

Even if you don’t have all of the necessary skills, we still encourage you to apply.

Interview Process

• First stage: 30‑minute intro, CV review, and values with Talent Partner.
• Second stage: 45‑minute "Tech Chat" with Team Manager.
• Final stage: 60‑minute Code Pairing + 30‑minute Stakeholder Interview with Engineering & Product.

Diversity & Inclusion

We welcome, consider and encourage applications from anyone who shares our commitment to inclusivity. Join us in creating a space where authenticity thrives, and everyone can do their best work.

Great Work Deserves Great Perks

• Private Healthcare through AdvanceCare.
• Anniversary Rewards (€280, €570, €860, 4‑week fully paid sabbatical).
• Paid Car Parking.
• 36 days holiday (inclusive of public holidays with public holidays carried over if they fall on a weekend).
• Annual Learning and Wellbeing Budget.
• 6 free therapy sessions per year.
• Free drinks and snacks in our offices.

Other Info

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Apply

If you’d like to progress your career within our fast growing, profitable fintech then click apply and we will aim to get back to you within 3 working days (during busy periods this could take up to 5 working days).