QA Engineer

Harris•Washington, DC

About The Position

We are seeking a Junior Quality Assurance Engineer to join the QA team and grow into automation. The role begins with functional and regression testing, test data preparation, and defect reporting, then builds toward authoring automated tests with support from a senior engineer. The ideal candidate is methodical, curious about how the system works underneath the screen, and interested in building an engineering career in quality rather than only executing scripts. The role covers functional, integration, and regression testing; test data preparation and backend validation; running and extending automated tests; AI-assisted testing; accessibility checks; defect management; and collaboration with delivery teams. Success includes accurate test records with complete evidence, reproducible defect reports, an increasing share of regression testing performed through automation, and independent test data preparation within the first six months.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
At least 1 year of software testing experience, including internship or placement experience.
Exposure to automated testing, whether professional, academic, or self-taught.
Working SQL skills sufficient to query and validate data independently.
Familiarity with at least one automation framework, such as Playwright, Selenium, or Cypress.
Some programming exposure in TypeScript, JavaScript, C#, or Python.
Familiarity with source control or a work tracking tool such as Azure DevOps, Jira, or Aha.
Understanding of Agile and Scrum delivery.
Attention to detail and discipline in recording results accurately.
Willingness to say when something is unclear rather than guess the expected result.
Clear written communication in defect reports and status updates.

Nice To Haves

Exposure to API testing with Postman or similar.
Exposure to accessibility testing or tools such as axe-core, Lighthouse, or NVDA.
Exposure to AI-assisted testing tools.
Experience in payroll, finance, ERP, or public sector software.

Responsibilities

Execute functional, integration, and regression test cases against assigned products and record results with evidence.
Write test cases from requirements and acceptance criteria, not from the application under test.
Maintain the regression suite for an assigned product and flag coverage gaps.
Support release testing and production verification.
Create and maintain test data, including records that trigger validation and error paths.
Use SQL to validate database results when the user interface does not show the full picture.
Reconcile data between systems for conversion and integration work.
Run existing automated suites, triage failures, and report whether the cause is the product or the test.
Author and extend automated tests in the existing framework with support from a senior engineer, progressing toward owning automation for an assigned module.
Use approved AI tools and team prompts to draft test cases and automation, and review every AI-generated artefact against the requirement before use.
Run automated accessibility scans against WCAG 2.1 Level AA and record findings.
Carry out keyboard-only navigation checks and screen reader checks after paired training, and capture evidence for conformance reporting.
Raise defects with reproducible steps, identify the control, document expected and actual behavior, and attach evidence.
Assign severity using agreed definitions and retest fixes against a named build.
Participate in sprint planning, backlog refinement, and defect triage.
Raise questions about requirements early.