Automation Quality Assurance Engineer - Permanent

Role Purpose To design, implement, and scale comprehensive automated test suites that ensure our complex SaaS platform meets the highest standards of quality, reliability, performance, and security. Operating as part of a UK-based, remote-first team, this role embeds test automation directly at the centre of our development lifecycle—shifting quality control left into our CI/CD pipelines, driving continuous improvement, and leveraging modern AI-assisted workflows. Role Responsibilities Automated Framework Development: Design, build, and maintain scalable automated test suites across frontend web applications, backend APIs, and multi-tenant databases. CI/CD & 'Shift-Left' Integration: Integrate automated regression, integration, and end-to-end tests into CI/CD deployment pipelines (e.g., GitHub Actions) to catch defects early in the development lifecycle. Performance & Load Testing: Plan and execute performance, load, and stress testing strategies to ensure application stability under peak usage. Agile Collaboration: Work closely with product management and full-stack developers in planning, pairing, code reviews, and retro sessions to translate user stories and acceptance criteria into clear automated test scenarios. AI Tool Integration: Utilize AI/LLM developer tools to accelerate test case generation, synthesize mock test data, maintain test scripts, and optimize QA efficiency. Documentation & Technical Standards: Maintain clear, technical test documentation, code comments, and user-facing release notes, knowing when self-documenting code suffices and when explicit documentation is required. Key Deliverables Comprehensive Test Coverage: Deliver and maintain broad, reliable automated UI and API test coverage for all core SaaS features and microservices. Pipeline Test Gateways: Establish automated quality gates within CI/CD pipelines that prevent regressions from reaching staging and production environments. Performance Benchmarks: Maintain regularly updated load and performance benchmarks for critical platform workflows using modern load-testing tools. Defect Reduction & Metrics: Proactively identify edge cases, reduce post-release bug counts, and shorten release cycle times through early automation feedback. Experience 3+ years in a QA role or similar in a professional environment Working in an agile development cycle Proven experience ‘shifting testing left’ by integrating automated tests into CI/CD pipelines and making test automation a core part of the development workflow Knowledge of performance testing tools (e.g., JMeter, k6, Locust) and load testing strategies Knowledge of utilising AI/LLM tooling Skills and Competencies Technical Skills Test Automation Frameworks: 4+ years of experience building and maintaining automated test frameworks using tools such as Playwright, Cypress, Capybara, or Selenium. Programming Proficiency: Strong coding skills in languages used for test automation (Ruby, JavaScript/TypeScript, or Python). API & Database Validation: Hands-on experience with API testing tools/frameworks and writing SQL queries (e.g., PostgreSQL) to validate test data state. CI/CD Pipelines: Proven hands-on experience embedding automated test suites into CI/CD pipelines (e.g., GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, CircleCI, Jenkins). Performance & Load Testing: Practical knowledge of performance testing tools and load testing strategies (e.g., k6, Locust, JMeter). AI/LLM Testing Tools: Practical experience using AI/LLM tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude) to assist with test script generation, data generation, and refactoring. Architecture & Patterns: Understanding of scalable test design patterns, Page Object Models (POM), and test data management strategies. Desirable: Experience testing media/video formats and asset processing pipelines. Soft Skills Asynchronous Communication: Clear, concise written communication for writing detailed bug reports, documenting technical processes, and communicating in a remote team. Ownership & Self-Organization: High autonomy with the confidence to take full ownership of QA initiatives, manage time budgets effectively, and ask for clarity when needed. Collaborative & Feedback-Oriented: A constructive, collaborative approach to peer PR reviews, pairing, and agile planning sessions. Quality Advocacy: A proactive mindset focused on continuous improvement, passionate about advocating for quality standards across the whole engineering organisation. Application Instructions Applicants must submit a CV alongside a short cover note detailing a recent technical challenge solved, experience with AI/LLM tools in their development workflow, and their experience working in remote teams. Note: This job description is intended to provide a general overview of the responsibilities and qualifications of the role. It is not an exhaustive list and duties may be subject to change. Who We Are At Snicket Labs we pride ourselves on being people-focused. We know that people show up as their best selves when they have a sense of purpose, and are trusted to do what needs to be done. We know that life extends beyond work, and that sustainable working practices look different for everyone. We champion a work life blend that works for you. We are fully remote, and acknowledge the fun stuff that comes with that…caring responsibilities, boiler repairs, healthcare appointments…everything. So we are flexible. Snicket Labs is a team effort, and everyone brings something different to the table, that’s our strength. Great teamwork is about trust, and being respectful to one another. We do not tolerate any hate speech, aggression, cruelty, bullying or discrimination. We communicate professionally and respectfully, regardless of the topic, and we respect the right of each of us to hold our own beliefs and opinions. Right to work Please note our staff must have the right to work in the UK. This applies to both Permanent staff and Contractors due to the nature of our business and contractual obligations. Compensation Package Salary Up to £65,000 per year Holiday 25 days per year, plus bank holidays (and we close between Christmas and New Year which is gifted on top of annual leave) Remote work & hours Snicket Labs is a fully remote company. Our team is spread through the UK and abroad. We meet up occasionally for meetings and socials, but your day-to-day will be from home. Our normal working hours are 9am to 6pm, with core hours of 10am to 5pm. However, within core hours people often have things they need to take care of (such as the school run) and we’re flexible to this; all we need is a heads-up in Slack that you’re going to be away and for how long, simple. Equipment A MacBook Pro/Air, monitor, keyboard, mouse. If you require any special equipment for any health reason we can provide it and do our best to ensure your working environment is as comfortable as possible. Training budget We value learning and we offer a £1,000 per year training budget, with set reading and training days. You can agree with your manager how you’d like this to be used and we do expect you to use it. Additional days are available if speaking at an event where you represent Snicket Labs. Pension Snicket Labs operates a company pension scheme through SmartPension. This constitutes an employer contribution of 3% of your annual salary and an employee contribution of 5%. The employee contribution is collected through our salary sacrifice scheme, and therefore is not subject to National Insurance. Team members can choose to opt out of the salary sacrifice scheme or the entire pension scheme. Maternity & Paternity Our maternity and paternity policy offers much more than the statutory and shows our commitment to equality and care for our team. We really hope you’ll give it a look to get a sense of who we are; but in short it gives much more pay for maternity leave, while also giving similar rights to paternity, adoption and surrogate parents. Share options We have reserved a pool of employee share options, managed using a recognised EMI share scheme provider. We will tell you the exact number of options and what that is as a percentage of the total company before you join. Private Medical Insurance We offer private medical insurance to all of our team, and further cover for family members/dependents can be added onto the policy via our salary sacrifice team. Life Assurance We offer Life Assurance at 3x your salary to all of our team, with no extra/hidden costs. Mintago We manage most of our perks and benefits via the Mintago platform. This includes further options of salary sacrifice such as the Cycle to Work scheme, a childcare scheme, retail discounts, a pension pot finder and free access to a variety of Financial Advisors. EAP (Employee Assistance Programme) We have an EAP service available to all employees with 24/7 access to a GP helpline, personalised counselling, legal and financial advisors. This is available to all of our team, at all times. EDI Statement As an equal opportunities employer, Snicket Labs is committed to the equal treatment of all current and prospective employees and does not condone discrimination on the basis of age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, gender identity, or marriage and civil partnership. We aspire to have a diverse and inclusive workplace and strongly encourage suitably qualified applicants from a wide range of backgrounds to apply and join Snicket Labs.