Software QA Engineer (Manual & Automation)

Sabenza IT & Recruitment; South Africa; On-site; ZAR 360,000 - 720,000; Full time

Job summary

Sabenza IT & Recruitment is seeking a Software QA Engineer who blends strong manual testing with hands-on Playwright automation. You will own quality across functional, regression, integration and end-to-end testing while building automated tests to keep pace with delivery.

You will analyze user stories, design and execute test cases, perform various testing types and log defects. Collaboration with cross-functional teams is essential to ensure release readiness.

Qualifications

• Matric and a relevant tertiary qualification.
• ISTQB Foundation Level Certification is required.
• Minimum 5+ years of software QA/testing experience.
• Minimum 5+ years hands-on test automation experience.
• Strong experience in manual software testing and test planning.

Responsibilities

• Analyse user stories, requirements and acceptance criteria for quality and testability.
• Design, document, maintain and execute test cases aligned to criteria.
• Perform functional, regression, integration and end-to-end testing.
• Identify automation opportunities and develop Playwright tests.
• Log, track, retest and manage defects throughout the lifecycle.
• Maintain traceability between requirements, tests, results and defects.
• Produce test evidence, execution reports and QA summaries.
• Contribute to test planning, strategy, risk and release readiness.
• Collaborate with Developers, PMs, BAs and Designers, etc.
• Identify opportunities to improve QA processes and automation frameworks.

Skills

Manual testing

Test automation

Playwright

Azure DevOps

CI/CD

Agile methodologies

Test planning

Test design

End-to-end testing

Defect tracking

Education

Matric

Bachelor’s degree or relevant tertiary qualification

ISTQB Foundation Level Certification

Tools

Azure DevOps

Playwright

CI/CD pipelines

Job description

Quality that ships. Automation that scales. We’re looking for a detail-oriented Software QA Engineer who combines strong manual testing expertise with hands‑on Playwright automation. You’ll own quality across functional, regression, integration and end‑to‑end testing while building and maintaining automated tests that keep pace with delivery.

What you’ll do

• Analyse user stories, business requirements and acceptance criteria from a quality and testability perspective.
• Design, document, maintain and execute test cases aligned to user stories and acceptance criteria.
• Perform functional, regression, integration, end‑to‑end (E2E), exploratory, smoke and negative testing.
• Identify suitable automation opportunities and develop, maintain and execute automated tests using Playwright.
• Log, track, retest and manage software defects throughout the development lifecycle.
• Maintain traceability between requirements, test cases, test execution results, supporting evidence and defects.
• Produce clear and comprehensive test evidence, execution reports and QA summary reports.
• Contribute to test planning, test strategy development, risk identification and release‑readiness activities.
• Collaborate closely with Developers, Product Managers, Business Analysts, Designers and other stakeholders.
• Continuously identify opportunities to improve QA processes, test coverage, automation frameworks and testing efficiency.
• Adhere to established QA governance, testing standards and release management processes.

Requirements

What you bring

• Matric and a Bachelor’s degree or relevant tertiary qualification
• ISTQB Foundation Level Certification (required)
• Minimum 5+ years of software QA/testing experience
• Minimum 5+ years of hands‑on test automation experience
• Strong experience in manual software testing
• Proven capability in test planning and test‑case design
• Strong experience in functional, regression, integration and end‑to‑end testing
• Experience in defect identification, tracking and root‑cause collaboration
• Experience in test evidence management and documentation
• Hands‑on experience with Playwright‑based test automation
• Experience using Azure DevOps for test management and defect tracking
• Exposure to CI/CD pipelines and modern software delivery practices
• Experience testing AI‑powered applications
• Solid understanding of Agile software development methodologies
• Strong knowledge of QA principles and testing best practices
• Experience with risk‑based testing approaches
• Ability to analyse requirements and translate acceptance criteria into effective test scenarios

Highly desirable

• Experience working on cloud‑based applications
• Experience testing AI/ML‑driven platforms and intelligent applications
• Exposure to test automation within CI/CD environments
• Familiarity with release management and quality governance

If you care about quality as much as delivery, we’d like to hear from you.