Analyst, QA Analyst

Panera LLC; St. Louis (MO); Hybrid; USD 86,000 - 103,000; Full time

Job summary

Panera LLC in St. Louis, MO is seeking a QA Test Automation Engineer to drive automated quality validation across Panera's customer-facing digital experiences, including Web, Mobile, Kiosk, and Catering platforms.

You will design and maintain scalable automation frameworks using Playwright and Appium, integrate tests into CI/CD, and leverage AI-assisted tools to generate and refine test cases while collaborating with engineers in an Agile environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Software Engineering, or related field
• 3+ years of experience in software quality engineering or test automation
• Hands-on experience designing, developing, and maintaining automated tests with Playwright and Appium
• Strong proficiency in JavaScript and/or TypeScript, HTML, CSS, browser dev tools, and API testing
• Experience building or extending reusable automation frameworks
• Experience integrating automated tests into CI/CD pipelines and using Git-based source control
• Demonstrated experience using AI-assisted tools to generate test cases and automate tests
• Ability to validate AI-generated outputs for correctness and alignment to requirements

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, execute, and maintain scalable automated test frameworks and test suites for Web and Mobile applications
• Develop automated regression, smoke, integration, end-to-end, and functional testing solutions using Playwright for Web and Appium for iOS and Android
• Create reusable automation components and test assets to improve testing efficiency and maintainability
• Use AI-assisted tools to generate test scenarios, test cases, data, scripts, and validation logic
• Apply AI to maintain and optimize existing automation, repair brittle tests, and improve suite reliability
• Review AI-generated test cases for accuracy, completeness, maintainability, and alignment to requirements
• Participate in requirements reviews, design sessions, backlog refinement, and sprint planning
• Collaborate with software engineers to shift-left testing and strengthen defect prevention
• Integrate automated tests into CI/CD pipelines and support reliable automated quality gates
• Analyze automation results, troubleshoot failures, and coordinate root-cause resolution
• Develop metrics and reporting for automation coverage, reliability, and AI productivity gains
• Support cross-browser, responsive design, accessibility, visual, and API validation as part of end-to-end testing
• Stay current on emerging automation frameworks and AI testing capabilities

Skills

Playwright

Appium

JavaScript/TypeScript

CI/CD

AI-assisted tools

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science/IT/Software Eng

Tools

Git-based source control

BrowserStack

Sauce Labs

Job description

Analyst, QA Analyst Job Purpose

Panera Bread is seeking a QA Test Automation Engineer to drive automated quality validation across Panera's customer-facing digital experiences, including Web, Mobile, Kiosk, and Catering platforms.

Location: St. Louis, MO (hybrid)

Duties & Responsibilities

• Design, develop, execute, and maintain scalable automated test frameworks and test suites for Web and Mobile applications
• Develop automated regression, smoke, integration, end-to-end, and functional testing solutions using Playwright for Web and Appium for iOS and Android
• Create reusable automation components and test assets that improve testing efficiency, consistency, and maintainability while reducing manual regression effort
• Use AI-assisted tools to generate test scenarios, test cases, test data, automated test scripts, and validation logic from requirements, user stories, acceptance criteria, designs, and production incidents
• Apply AI to maintain and optimize existing automation, including repairing brittle tests, updating selectors, identifying redundant tests, recommending coverage improvements, and improving suite reliability
• Review AI-generated test cases and automated tests for accuracy, completeness, maintainability, security, and alignment to business requirements before implementation
• Participate in requirements reviews, technical design sessions, backlog refinement, and sprint planning to identify quality risks and automation opportunities early
• Collaborate with software engineers to implement shift-left testing practices and strengthen defect prevention
• Integrate automated tests into CI/CD pipelines and support reliable automated quality gates for build, deployment, and release processes
• Analyze automation results, troubleshoot failures, distinguish application defects from test issues, and partner with development teams on root-cause resolution
• Develop metrics and reporting for automation coverage, execution reliability, defect detection, maintenance effort, and AI-enabled productivity gains
• Support cross-browser, responsive design, mobile device, accessibility, visual, and API validation as part of end-to-end customer journey testing
• Stay current on emerging automation frameworks, AI testing capabilities, and quality engineering practices, and recommend practical adoption opportunities
• Contribute to the Quality Engineering automation roadmap and the organization's automation-first, quality-built-in vision

Key Performance Indicators

• Growth of front-end automation coverage across supported digital platforms and critical customer journeys
• Reduction in manual regression testing effort and cycle time
• Automation execution reliability, maintainability, and test suite stability
• Percentage of defects identified before production release and effectiveness of automated quality gates
• Speed of automation delivery for new features and platform enhancements
• Adoption and measurable productivity improvement from AI-assisted test design, automation generation, and maintenance
• Improvement in release confidence, software quality, and customer experience

Qualifications (Education & Experience)

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Software Engineering, or a related field; equivalent experience will be considered
• 3+ years of experience in software quality engineering, test automation, or software development
• Hands-on experience designing, developing, and maintaining automated tests with Playwright and Appium
• Strong proficiency in JavaScript and/or TypeScript, HTML, CSS, browser developer tools, and API testing
• Experience building or extending reusable automation frameworks and applying sound software engineering practices to test code
• Experience integrating automated tests into CI/CD pipelines and using Git-based source control
• Demonstrated experience using AI-assisted tools to generate test cases and automated tests and to maintain, troubleshoot, and optimize existing automation
• Ability to validate AI-generated outputs for correctness, coverage, maintainability, and alignment to requirements
• Experience working within Agile product delivery teams
• Strong analytical, debugging, troubleshooting, root-cause analysis, and communication skills
• Experience with AI-assisted engineering tools such as GitHub Copilot, Gemini, Claude Code, ChatGPT, Cursor, or comparable technologies preferred
• Experience with BrowserStack, Sauce Labs, or comparable browser and mobile device farms preferred
• Experience supporting eCommerce or other high-volume, customer-facing digital platforms preferred
• Experience with accessibility testing, visual testing, performance validation, and API or contract testing preferred

Working Conditions

Primary location: St. Louis Support Center / Hybrid

Hybrid work model as defined by company policy

While performing this job, the incumbent is regularly required to stand, sit, talk, hear & use hands and fingers to operate keyboards

No Equal Opportunity Employer: Disabled/Veterans

Competitive Pay $86,033 - $103,239 annually The actual pay offered will be determined by multiple factors, including but not limited to the candidate’s relevant experience, job-related knowledge, skills, and geographical location. Individual compensation decisions are dependent upon the facts and circumstances of each position and candidate.

Saint Louis Support Center

With more than 2,000 Panera LLC and independent franchise bakery-cafes in the Panera Bread family, and more locations opening all the time, it’s no wonder our company has been an excellent source of career and personal growth opportunities for more than 25 years.

In neighborhoods across the U.S. and Canada, customers enjoy flavorful, handcrafted meals centered around freshly baked artisan bread.

To us, that means serving food like we serve our own families – free of any of the items on our ‘No No’ List.

Along the way, we also like to give back to our community. We enjoy working together, shoulder to shoulder with our customers, to confront a serious problem plaguing communities across this country – Hunger. Through our Panera Cares community cafes, we offer a dignified dining experience in an uplifting environment.

In addition, we support our communities through day-end donations at our bakery-cafe locations and partner with local non-profit organizations.

It’s this warmth that you’ll find when you join Panera Bread. From our competitive compensation and benefits packages to our unique cultural values, we’re confident you’ll find us a rewarding and fun place to work.