Quality Assurance Automation Architect

MagicOrange is a globally recognized leader in the IT Financial Management Software market, as acknowledged by Gartner. With customers and a strong presence on four continents, we are a Software as a Service (SaaS) provider in a high growth phase. Our mission is to empower individuals and organizations, making them more valuable through our innovative software solutions.

Location: Durban – Kwa-Zulu Natal

Position Summary:

The QA Automation Architect plays a critical role in driving both the strategic direction and hands-on implementation of test automation across MagicOrange's platform.

This role combines deep technical expertise with the ability to influence engineering excellence, modernize our QA practice, improve release quality, and scale automation capabilities—including leveraging new AI-powered testing platforms.

The successful candidate will design, evolve, and champion best-in-class automation approaches while remaining actively involved in building and maintaining automated tests and frameworks.

Key Responsibilities:

Strategic Quality & Automation Leadership

• Define and evolve the automation strategy across UI, API, integration, performance, and accessibility testing.
• Evaluate and select modern automation frameworks, tools, and technologies—including AI-based testing—while ensuring compatibility with existing systems (e.g., Robot Framework, JMeter, Axe).
• Establish scalable patterns, coding standards, and quality gates that enable developers/testers to confidently contribute automated tests.
• Lead initiatives to reduce production defects and support incidents through quality analytics, root-cause analysis, and improved test coverage.
• Drive a shift-left testing culture, partnering closely with Engineering to embed testing earlier in the SDLC.

Designing & Developing Automated Tests

• Build, maintain, and refactor robust automated tests for functional, integration, regression, and non-functional quality attributes.
• Implement modular, reusable, and maintainable test automation architectures.
• Utilize existing tools where appropriate while championing modernization and expansion into new frameworks (e.g., Playwright, Cypress, Selenium, API testing frameworks, etc.).
• Incorporate accessibility, performance, and security testing into automated suites when possible.
• Work with the Manual QA Lead to elevate product quality by transitioning key testing areas to automation, shortening regression cycles, and ensuring each release meets or exceeds quality expectations.

AI-Assisted & Intelligent Test Automation

• Use MagicOrange's AI testing platforms (e.g., LambdaTest + KaneAI) to rapidly generate, validate, and optimize UI automation.
• Introduce additional/replacement tooling as guided by the developed strategy.
• Establish governance for AI-generated tests: review processes, stability checks, maintenance guidelines.

Test Data & Environment Management

• Define strategies for managing static and dynamic test data.
• Collaborate with DevOps and Engineering to ensure stable, consistent environments for automated test execution.
• Automate environment setup, teardown, and data seeding where practical.

CI/CD, Quality Gates & Pipelines

• Integrate automated tests into CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps).
• Work with DevOps to optimize pipeline performance to ensure fast, reliable feedback loops.
• Implement quality gates and automated reporting to support release readiness.

Documentation & Test Design

• Contribute to and maintain the overarching test strategy, automation blueprints, and architecture documentation. This will help the driving of scaling the Test Automation function.
• Define and review test scenarios, test case design, and automation coverage for new and existing features.

Collaboration & Cross-Functional Influence

• Work closely with QA Analysts, Developers, Product Owners, Architects, and DevOps to ensure high-quality delivery.
• Mentor and coach team members in automation practices and modern testing techniques.
• Participate in technical reviews, sprint ceremonies, and product discussions as a quality advocate.

Reporting, Analytics & Quality Metrics

• Provide clear reporting and analytics on automation stability, flakiness, defect trends, and coverage.
• Build or integrate dashboards (e.g., Allure, custom reporting) that improve visibility across Engineering and Product.
• Contribute meaningful insights into release planning, go/no-go decisions, and long-term quality improvements.

Previous Experience 

• Minimum 5 years of hands-on software test automation or software development experience (senior-level experience strongly preferred).
• Experience building, maintaining, and scaling automation frameworks.
• Exposure to performance testing, accessibility testing, and non-functional testing beneficial but not required.

Skills and Requirements 

Essential Skills

• Strong experience with automation testing across UI and API layers.
• Ability to evaluate, design, and implement test automation frameworks using modern tools (open to any language: Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, Java, C#, etc.).
• Working knowledge of one or more automation frameworks (e.g., Robot Framework, Playwright, Cypress, Selenium, REST-assured, etc.).
• Strong understanding of CI/CD principles.
• Excellent communication, collaboration, and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Strong problem-solving skills and attention to detail.
• Solid understanding of Agile Scrum methodology, testing processes, and QA best practices.
• Understanding of SQL and ability to work with technical requirements and software architecture.

Desirable Skills 

• Experience with financial/accounting systems.
• Experience with Microsoft development and testing stacks.
• Experience with cloud-native testing, containerized test environments, or infrastructure-as-code.
• Familiarity with AI-assisted testing or test automation driven by machine learning.

Qualifications:

• Matric
• Relevant Bachelor's degree or Diploma (e.g., BSc Computer Science)
• QA/Software Testing certifications advantageous (e.g., ISTQB)

What we offer:

• Strong entrepreneurial spirit. The ability to make an impact and see the rewards of your efforts.
• Ongoing training on the latest technologies to aid automation for accountants.
• Be part of a high growth industry and product.
• A challenging career in an innovative company.
• Opportunity to influence, working in an open climate, close to decision makers at large blue-chip enterprise with the possibility to make a difference.
• A competitive remuneration package, with flexible pension options.

Join us at MagicOrange and help shape the future of IT Financial Management and FinOps Software by ensuring our customers achieve the highest levels of satisfaction and success.

MagicOrange is an equal opportunity employer, committed to promoting diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We value and appreciate the diverse contributions and perspectives of all our employees.