Java Automation Architect

Key Responsibilities
Define and implement the overall test automation strategy and architecture for frontend, backend, API, and end-to-end testing.
Design and develop scalable, maintainable, and reusable Java-based automation frameworks.
Provide technical leadership and architectural guidance to automation teams.
Develop robust UI automation solutions using Selenium WebDriver.
Design and implement API automation frameworks using Rest Assured and Java.
Automate REST/HTTP APIs including validation of:
Request/response payloads
Status codes
Headers
Authentication/authorization
JSON/XML schemas
Business rules
Develop automation for backend services, database validations, microservices, and distributed applications.
Integrate frontend, API, backend, and database automation for comprehensive end-to-end test coverage.
Establish automation framework standards, coding guidelines, design patterns, and best practices.
Implement reusable utilities for logging, reporting, test data management, configuration management, and exception handling.
Integrate automation suites with CI/CD pipelines and enable continuous testing.
Analyze automation results, identify failures, and improve framework stability and execution efficiency.
Identify opportunities to optimize automation coverage and reduce manual testing effort.
Evaluate and introduce appropriate automation tools and technologies based on project requirements.
Mentor and guide senior automation engineers and provide technical reviews.
Collaborate with developers, architects, QA engineers, DevOps, product teams, and other stakeholders.
Drive continuous improvement initiatives around automation quality, scalability, execution time, and maintainability.

Mandatory Technical Skills
Programming
Strong hands-on experience in Core Java / Java 8+
Strong understanding of OOP, Collections, Exception Handling, Multithreading, Streams, and Java design patterns.
Experience with Maven/Gradle and Git.
UI / Frontend Automation
Strong expertise in Selenium WebDriver
Experience automating web applications across multiple browsers.
Strong understanding of XPath, CSS selectors, synchronization, waits, page object/model patterns, and browser capabilities.
Experience with Page Object Model / Page Factory and other automation design patterns.
Exposure to modern frontend technologies such as React, Angular, JavaScript/TypeScript is desirable.

API Automation
Strong hands-on experience with Rest Assured
Experience in REST API automation and validation.
Strong understanding of HTTP methods, status codes, headers, authentication, JSON/XML, and API contracts.
Experience with tools such as Postman/Swagger/OpenAPI.
Experience with API mocking/service virtualization is desirable.

Backend / Database
Experience in backend/service-level automation.
Strong SQL knowledge and experience with database validation.
Experience testing microservices and distributed systems.
Understanding of messaging/event-driven systems such as Kafka or RabbitMQ is an advantage.

Automation Framework
Proven experience designing automation frameworks from scratch.
Experience with Hybrid / Data-driven / Keyword-driven / BDD frameworks.
Strong knowledge of TestNG/JUnit/Cucumber.
Experience implementing parallel execution, cross-browser execution, test data management, configuration management, and reusable components.
Experience with automation reporting tools such as Extent Reports, Allure, or similar.
CI/CD & DevOps
Experience integrating automation with Jenkins / GitLab CI / Azure DevOps or equivalent.
Good understanding of CI/CD pipelines and continuous testing.
Experience with Docker/containerized test execution is desirable.
Cloud testing experience with AWS/Azure/GCP is an advantage.
Preferred / Good-to-Have Skills
Experience with Selenium Grid / cloud browser platforms.
Knowledge of Playwright or Cypress.
Experience with performance/load testing tools such as JMeter is an advantage.
Experience with security/API testing concepts.
Experience with Docker/Kubernetes.
Knowledge of microservices architecture.
Experience with AI-assisted test automation or script generation is a plus.
Experience working in Agile/Scrum and SAFe environments.

Architecture & Leadership Expectations
Ability to translate business and technical requirements into an effective automation architecture.
Define the automation pyramid and determine the right balance between UI, API, service, and unit-level automation.
Establish framework scalability and maintainability standards.
Conduct technical design and code reviews.
Define automation KPIs such as automation coverage, execution time, stability, and defect detection.
Identify and eliminate flaky tests and improve automation reliability.
Lead automation modernization and framework migration initiatives.
Provide technical mentorship and conduct knowledge-sharing sessions.