Were looking for a Senior Test Automation Engineer (Contract) to join our team in Belfast, United Kingdom in a hybrid working mode. In this role, you will take ownership of the testing strategy for a complex, containerized microservice architecture. You will enhance existing frameworks, extend automation capabilities across integration, performance and CI/CD, and drive best practices to ensure high-quality delivery. Responsibilities • Architect and enhance test frameworks to improve end-to-end testing strategy and integration validation for microservices • Develop robust integration tests within a containerized environment using Docker and Java containers • Build and maintain automated test scripts for frontend systems using TypeScript and Playwright • Develop and maintain backend and API testing solutions for services communicating via mechanisms like SNS queues • Standardize and extend Python-based tools for exploratory and manual testing support • Shape performance testing strategy to identify bottlenecks and optimize system responsiveness • Integrate automated tests into CI/CD pipelines using GitLab and evaluate trade-offs between main development flow and separate pipelines • Drive adoption of automation best practices, design patterns and effective test data management strategies across the team Requirements • Proven experience designing and building automated test solutions for complex, distributed systems • Strong proficiency in Java and/or TypeScript for backend and frontend test automation • Hands-on experience with Playwright for frontend testing • Experience with containerized test environments using Docker • Expertise in CI/CD pipeline integration and strategy, preferably with GitLab • Proficiency with Python for scripting and tooling development • Deep understanding of testing within a microservice architecture, including integration testing patterns and challenges • Ability to articulate and defend technical decisions, including test data strategies, test design patterns and CI/CD trade-offs Nice to have • Experience testing asynchronous systems and message queues such as AWS SNS/SQS • Familiarity with performance testing tools and methodologies • Strong understanding of Agile delivery and DevOps practices