Subject Matter Expert

Description :

This role requires in-person interviews in "Bagmane Constellation Business Park ", Bangalore. only, so we encourage you to review the details thoroughly and ensure it aligns with your experience before investing your valuable time as we truly value our candidate time and ours.

Strictly work from office Bagmane Constellation, Bangalore and strictly in-person interview

Role Summary :

As an Subject Matter Expert of API and Web Test Automation Engineer at Publicis Sapient, you'll be part of a cross-functional Agile team delivering enterprise-scale, high-performance digital commerce platforms for one of our Tier-1 global retail clients. You will architect and drive end-to-end automation strategy across UI and API layers to ensure rapid, high-quality releases at scale.

This role demands deep technical expertise in Java-based automation frameworks, API testing, and continuous integration, along with a strong understanding of retail domain workflows like cart management, pricing, promotions, and order orchestration.

Key Responsibilities :

Framework Architecture & Development :

- Design and implement scalable, maintainable, and CI-ready test automation frameworks for Web UI and API testing using Java, Selenium, Playwright, and Rest Assured.

- Build custom utilities, reusable components, and service layer abstractions to support automation of complex business flows.

- Establish and maintain Page Object Models (POM), API helper layers, and test data management utilities for robust framework design.

- Ensure frameworks align with Publicis Sapient engineering standards and client-specific DevOps environments.

API Automation & Validation :

- Automate REST and GraphQL APIs for retail backend systems (e.g., product catalog, order, pricing, and checkout services).

- Validate response payloads, headers, schemas, and business rules with Rest Assured and JSON Schema validators.

- Build chained API workflows to simulate real-world retail flows (add-to-cart payment order confirmation).

- Integrate API regression suites into CI/CD pipelines, ensuring automated execution post each deployment.

- Create mock/stub servers for unavailable services using WireMock or similar tools.

Web/UI Automation :

- Develop comprehensive UI test suites using Selenium or Playwright, focusing on core retail journeys search, product detail, cart, checkout, and account management.

- Implement cross-browser and responsive testing across multiple devices and environments.

- Ensure synchronization, smart waits, and dynamic element handling for stable and fast execution.

- Integrate web automation with cloud grids (BrowserStack, Sauce Labs) for distributed testing.

Test Strategy & Quality Engineering :

- Partner with Product Owners, Developers, and QE Leads to define automation strategy, coverage goals, and risk-based prioritization.

- Identify high-value regression candidates for automation during sprint planning.

- Contribute to QE strategy documentation, ensuring alignment with retail clients release cadence and business KPIs.

- Support shift-left testing by designing API contract and component-level validations early in development.

CI/CD Integration & Reporting :

- Configure Jenkins, GitLab, or Azure DevOps pipelines to automate test execution on code commits and deployments.

- Integrate automation with reporting tools (Allure, Extent, or custom dashboards) to publish quality metrics in real time.

- Collaborate with DevOps teams to enable parallel execution in Dockerized test environments.

- Provide continuous visibility into release quality through daily execution dashboards and defect trends.

Debugging, Root Cause Analysis & Quality Governance :

- Perform detailed analysis of failed builds and flaky tests, ensuring quick resolution and minimal false negatives.

- Partner with developers to debug issues at API, service, and integration layers.

- Track and triage defects in JIRA, maintaining transparency and traceability.

- Drive automation code reviews, ensuring adherence to clean coding, SOLID principles, and Publicis Sapients best practices.

Collaboration, Mentoring & Stakeholder Communication :

- Collaborate closely with multi-geo agile teams, including developers, business analysts, and solution architects.

- Mentor junior engineers on framework design, coding best practices, and testing mindset.

- Act as the automation SME (Subject Matter Expert) representing QE during sprint ceremonies, client demos, and retrospectives.

- Communicate quality metrics, automation progress, and readiness reports to engineering and client leadership.

Continuous Improvement & Innovation :

- Continuously evolve the automation ecosystem with new tools and approaches (Playwright, TestContainers, Karate, Pact).

- Integrate contract testing and service virtualization to support microservices-based retail architecture.

- Contribute to Publicis Sapients global QE guilds, sharing innovation and best practices across accounts.

- Explore AI-based testing tools (Testim, Applitools) to enhance validation accuracy and speed.

Key Deliverables :

- Unified, maintainable API + Web automation framework aligned with enterprise DevOps pipelines.

- High automation coverage (80%) of critical user journeys and backend services.

- Reliable, CI-integrated regression and smoke test suites for each release.

- Detailed, actionable automation reports and dashboards for stakeholders.

- Documented framework usage guide and mentoring support for internal QE teams.

Preferred Skills & Experience :

- Min 35 years of exhaustive experience in Test Automation (minimum 3+ years in API automation).

- Expertise in Java, Selenium, Rest Assured, TestNG/JUnit, Maven/Gradle, and Git.

- Experience in Playwright/Cypress and BDD frameworks (Cucumber) preferred.

- Exposure to microservices architecture, CI/CD pipelines, and cloud test environments.

- Familiarity with retail/e-commerce domain workflows highly desirable.

- Strong analytical skills, problem-solving mindset, and ability to lead technically within a Scrum setup.

---