Staff Software Test Engineer

Job Description

Company Description

Visa is a world leader in payments technology, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories, dedicated to uplifting everyone, everywhere by being the best way to pay and be paid.

At Visa, you’ll have the opportunity to create impact at scale — tackling meaningful challenges, growing your skills and seeing your contributions impact lives around the world. Join Visa and do work that matters — to you, to your community, and to the world.

Progress starts with you.

Job Description

Role Overview

We are seeking a Staff Software Test Engineer who operates as a QA Technical Lead for backend systems. This role is fully focused on API and microservices testing and carries end‑to‑end ownership of backend quality across multiple teams and services.

At the Staff level, the engineer is expected to independently identify problems, define solutions, and drive execution without depending heavily on managers for technical direction. The role works closely with backend engineering, architecture, platform, and DevOps teams to ensure enterprise‑grade reliability, scalability, and test automation maturity.

This is a hands‑on leadership role involving test automation development, framework design, mentoring, and influencing quality strategy across the organization.

Summary

This role is intended for a Staff Software Test Engineer who functions as a QA Technical Lead, owning backend quality across teams and platforms. It is suited for an engineer who thrives on autonomy, cross‑team collaboration, and solving complex distributed system challenges while driving enterprise‑scale test automation excellence.

Core Responsibilities :

Quality Ownership & Technical Leadership

• Own backend quality outcomes across multiple teams, services, or platforms.
• Identify quality risks early and proactively define mitigation strategies.
• Make independent technical decisions related to test architecture, tooling, and automation strategy.
• Act as the go‑to quality expert for backend and API testing initiatives.
• Drive alignment on quality standards without requiring managerial escalation.

Backend API Test Automation

• Design, build, and evolve enterprise‑scale API automation frameworks using Java and RestAssured.
• Ensure comprehensive automated coverage for REST APIs, microservices interactions, and failure scenarios.
• Continuously improve automation stability, maintainability, and execution performance.

Microservices and Contract Testing Leadership

• Lead microservices testing strategy across distributed systems.
• Implement and govern PACT‑based contract testing across service boundaries.
• Work cross‑team to define, review, and enforce consumer‑driven contracts.
• Reduce integration defects and production incidents caused by incompatible service changes.
• CI/CD and Enterprise Enablement
• Embed API automation into Jenkins‑based CI/CD pipelines.
• Drive consistent automation adoption across teams.
• Improve pipeline feedback loops, test reliability, and reporting standards.
• Collaborate with DevOps and Platform teams on enterprise testing enablement.

Failure Analysis and System Debugging

• Independently lead API failure investigations and root cause analysis.
• Debug complex issues involving distributed transactions, inter‑service communication, network failures, and data inconsistencies.
• Use logs, metrics, and distributed tracing to diagnose failures in large‑scale systems.
• Provide clear, actionable recommendations to engineering teams.

Cross‑Team Collaboration and Influence

• Work across multiple teams without formal authority.
• Participate in architecture and design reviews from a quality and testability perspective.
• Influence engineering decisions to improve system reliability and observability.
• Align teams on common testing standards and best practices.

Mentorship and Team Development

• Mentor junior and senior QA engineers on backend testing strategies, automation best practices, and debugging techniques.
• Review automation code and provide technical guidance.
• Raise the overall quality engineering maturity of the organization

Staff‑Level Expectations

• Independently solves complex technical and quality problems.
• Does not rely on managers for day‑to‑day technical clarity.
• Drives solutions across teams through influence and technical expertise.
• Balances hands‑on execution with strategic thinking.
• Acts as a multiplier by enabling and mentoring others.
• Thinks beyond sprint‑level delivery and focuses on long‑term system quality.

This is a hybrid position. Expectation of days in the office will be confirmed by your Hiring Manager.

Qualifications

Basic Qualifications:

5+ years of relevant work experience with a Bachelor’s Degree or at least 2 years of work experience with an Advanced degree (e.g. Masters, MBA, JD, MD) or 0 years of work experience with a PhD, OR 8+ years of relevant work experience.

Preferred Qualifications:

5+ years of relevant work experience with a Bachelor’s Degree or at least 2 years of work experience with an Advanced degree (e.g. Masters, MBA, JD, MD) or 0 years of work experience with a PhD, OR 8+ years of relevant work experience.

Strong expertise in API Test Automation.

Advanced Java programming for automation frameworks.

Hands‑on experience with RestAssured for REST API testing.

Strong understanding of microservices and distributed systems testing.

Experience with Postman for API exploration and validation.

Hands‑on experience with PACT contract testing.

CI/CD integration using Jenkins.

Advanced API failure debugging and root cause analysis.

Strong understanding of enterprise backend architectures.

Good‑to‑Have Skills

AWS cloud knowledge, Spring Boot knowledge

Additional Information

Visa is an EEO Employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or protected veteran status. Visa will also consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with EEOC guidelines and applicable local law.