Senior Test Automation Engineer

Spatial Front•Suitland, MD

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

Spatial Front, Inc. (SFI), a two-time USA Today Top Workplaces awardee and Washington Top Workplaces honoree, is seeking a highly skilled and experienced Senior Test Automation Engineer to join our dynamic development team supporting our client in Suitland, MD. SFI is responsible for providing full life cycle software development / DevOps for a federal agency. This role will lead the design, development, and implementation of robust automated testing frameworks and drive strategic quality initiatives across the software development lifecycle. As a senior member of the team, you will collaborate closely with developers, product managers, and business analysts from project inception, championing Test-Driven Development (TDD) practices and ensuring quality is embedded into every phase of development. The ideal candidate brings deep expertise in Java, hands-on experience with Selenium and/or Katalon Studio, and a strong track record of integrating automated testing into GitLab CI/CD pipelines.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related field (or equivalent experience)
Minimum 7+ years in software quality assurance
At least 4+ years focused on automation testing
Strong experience with Selenium and/or Katalon Studio
Proficiency in Java with strong object-oriented programming (OOP) principles
Hands-on experience with GitLab, including branching strategies and CI/CD pipeline configuration
Proven experience in Test-Driven Development (TDD) using frameworks such as JUnit
Experience testing RESTful and SOAP APIs using tools like Postman, Katalon, or RestAssured
Solid SQL knowledge for data validation and test setup
Strong analytical and troubleshooting abilities
Experience working in Agile/Scrum environments
Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to translate technical concepts for non-technical stakeholders

Nice To Haves

Experience with cloud-based testing platforms (e.g., Sauce Labs, BrowserStack)
Familiarity with additional programming languages such as Python, JavaScript, or TypeScript
QA certifications (e.g., ISTQB Advanced Level Test Automation Engineer)

Responsibilities

Design, build, and maintain scalable, reusable automated testing frameworks using Java, Selenium, and Katalon Studio.
Partner with development teams to promote and implement Test-Driven Development (TDD), ensuring testability is built into system design.
Integrate automated test suites into GitLab CI/CD pipelines to support nightly builds and continuous smoke/regression testing.
Translate manual test cases, user stories, and acceptance criteria into efficient and reliable automated test scripts.
Identify, document, and track defects; collaborate with developers to troubleshoot issues and validate fixes.
Develop clear, metrics-driven reports and dashboards to communicate product quality and release readiness to stakeholders.