Senior QA Engineer

About the Role
We are looking for a Senior QA Engineer to own quality at the company end-to-end. This is a solo QA role — there is no existing process to inherit, no team to hand work to, and no one to define the framework for you. You will build the testing discipline from the ground up, working directly with product and engineering to ensure we ship with confidence. If you are the type of engineer who creates structure rather than waiting for it, and who finds the edge cases others miss, this role is for you.

Key Responsibilities

Test Strategy & Automation

• Design and implement an automated testing strategy from scratch covering frontend (React/TypeScript) and backend (FastAPI/Python) across the platform.
• Build and maintain end-to-end test suites using Playwright or equivalent; write API-level tests against FastAPI endpoints.
• Integrate automated tests into the CI/CD pipeline so regressions are caught before they reach production.

Coverage & Domain Ownership

• Own test coverage across core domain areas including property listings, search, offer and negotiation workflows, payments (Stripe), user authentication, and admin tooling.
• Perform exploratory and manual testing on new features before release, thinking well beyond the happy path.
• Work closely with the full-stack developer to catch issues early in the development cycle, not just at the end.

Process & Documentation

• Define and document QA processes, test plans, bug reporting standards, regression cycles, and release checklists — building these from scratch where none currently exist.
• Track and manage defects clearly, prioritize by impact, and communicate quality risk to the team without noise.

Tech Stack

Frontend

• React 19, TypeScript, Vite — tested with Playwright or Cypress

Backend

• Python 3.11+, FastAPI, Pydantic v2 — tested with Pytest

Database

• PostgreSQL (RDS); AWS: S3, SES, SQS

CI/CD

• GitHub Actions or equivalent

Payments

• Stripe (checkout, webhooks)

Auth

• JWT-based REST APIs

Qualifications & Experience

Essential

• 7+ years of QA experience with a strong automation-first mindset — you write code, not just test cases.
• Proven experience building automated test frameworks from scratch, not maintaining someone else's.
• Solid Playwright or Cypress skills for end-to-end testing; Pytest or equivalent for backend API testing.
• Comfortable in environments without defined QA processes — you create structure, you do not wait for it.
• Ability to read and understand application code in Python and TypeScript well enough to write meaningful tests and identify risk areas.
• Strong understanding of CI/CD pipelines and how to integrate automated tests into a delivery workflow.
• Sharp analytical thinking — you find the edge cases, state transitions, and failure modes that others miss.
• Clear written English and the ability to communicate defects and quality risk concisely to a technical team.

Preferred

• Experience in fintech, asset transaction-based platforms, or marketplace platforms.
• Familiarity with payment flows, compliance requirements, and high-value transactional UX.
• Performance testing experience using k6, Locust, or similar tools for API load and stress testing.
• Security testing awareness: OWASP basics, auth boundary testing, and input validation.
• Stripe payment testing experience including test mode, webhook simulation, and checkout edge cases.
• Experience working in a small, early-stage team where quality ownership sits with one person.

Who You Are

Automation-First
You reach for code before manual processes and build test frameworks that scale with the product.

Builder Mentality
You are energized by creating structure from nothing and take pride in the quality discipline you establish.

Analytically Sharp
You think in edge cases, failure modes, and state transitions — and you find the issues others walk past.

Collaborative
You work closely with developers and product from the start of a feature, not just the end.

Clear Communicator
You can articulate quality risk and defect priority clearly to a technical team without creating noise.

Ownership-Driven
You own quality across the whole platform and do not wait to be told where to look or what to fix.

What We Offer

• Competitive salary depending on experience.
• Equity participation in a high-growth, venture-backed platform.
• Full ownership of the QA function and the opportunity to build it from the ground up.
• Direct collaboration with the founder, CTO, and engineering team.
• A fast-moving environment where your work has immediate, visible impact.
• Clear career progression path as the engineering team scales.