Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET I) at Kyosk Digital Services

Role Profile:

• Kyosk is looking for a passionate Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET) to work in the Quality Assurance (QA) team to help in the testing of the solutions developed by the software engineers on the leading edge of innovation in Africa. The successful candidate will be responsible for all aspects of test automation with the goal of achieving at least 95% test automation coverage.
• As an SDET you will join the other Product and Technology professionals who share a passion for leveraging technology to empower informal retailers across the African continent. You’ll work with teams from multiple countries across the organization to create innovative solutions for Kyosk’s customers and internal teams.
• To be successful in this role you will need to be analytical, have high attention to detail, be able to carry out multiple tasks in tandem, support other team members when needed and still be able to deliver despite distractions.

Key Responsibilities:

• Test Automation: Create and maintain a comprehensive set of automated tests at all levels by referring to the technical and product documentation. Configure these automated tests to execute reliability and efficiently in CI/CD environments. Contribute to the following types of automated tests : performance, API and E2E tests using tools such as Playwright, Gatling, Postman. Recognise and automate the routine tasks which can reduce the time for regression testing. Track and communicate test results in a timely, effective, and automated manner.
• Manual Testing: Assist with Manual Testing whenever required. Ensure thorough manual testing is done when tickets are assigned to the QA individual, thus increasing confidence in the releases. Ensure the manual test case suite is up to date and also create manual test cases in JIRA, for all new feature releases.
• Test Coverage: Work towards attaining a minimum 90% test coverage on the service assigned to you. Automated tests should consider both positive and negative test cases, which will make code releases a faster and automated process thus reducing the time for manual automation, and allowing teams to do more exploratory testing. Be aware of new functionalities being added to your respective service and plan to add test cases consecutively. Actively work towards decreasing the testing time.
• Test Stability: Own the test pipeline triage and ensure pipeline failures are triaged promptly. This will ensure developers are not blocked on code merge. Carry out performance tests regularly to identify the systems’ breaking point. Communicate this information to the correct team members promoting a proactive behaviour to problem solution.
• Release Management: Be aware of items being released into production and identify gaps in the automated tests and plan for manual testing by communicating the same to manual test team members.
• Domain Knowledge: Take time to deeply understand the Kyosk architecture by reading the technical and product documentation. This will allow you to quickly identify areas in which the issue has occurred which will reduce the turnaround time for the bug resolution.
• Team Collaboration: Interact closely with other cross functional teams towards the delivery of engineering goals. Be able to identify the effect of code change, and communicate the same to other dependent teams promoting proactive communication.
• Process Adherence: Adhere to agile processes identified by Kyosk. You are encouraged to find better ways of performing the day to day tasks, getting buy-in from team members and eventually updating the Kyosk Engineering SOP’s.

Minimum Requirements & Key Skills:

• 2+ years of writing automated tests by referencing technical and product documentation and have working experience with testing and deployment of software to real production environments;
• You have working experience of a test automation tool and have added the respective tests to a CI/CD pipeline
• Experience working with Agile methodologies, Scrum and demonstrated experience in working in end-to-end software development lifecycles.
• Proficiency with tools of the product and engineering trade such as JIRA, GIT, a CI/CD tool ex GCP, SQL etc.
• Working experience in any of the popular automation tools such as Cucumber, Cypress, Gatling, Postman etc.
• Have working experience in programming concepts such as OOP’s, Flow Control Structures etc

Desired Technical Competencies:

• Experience in expertly troubleshooting production issues leading to a quick turnaround to resolution
• Experience in e-commerce, payments, and/or distribution of FMCG products is a plus
• Certifications in any level of ISTQB is a plus
• Ability to independently plan, execute and deliver on tasks
• Aware of when to seek guidance when blocked ensuring project delivery is not compromised
• Experience in building test automation frameworks is a plus
• Able to understand developers code and create use cases for test automation is a plus

Desired Behavioral Competencies:

• You have experience in handling the pressure of fast-paced environments typical of a tech startup environment where you wear multiple hats and have access to limited resources
• You have a strong desire for continuous improvement
• You can work under pressure, with tight timelines and ambitious deadlines
• You have a passion for digital products
• You can stay motivated through difficult challenges, and occasional long hours
• Your passion is contagious, and you use it to inspire the rest of the team
• You have equal empathy for internal users, and our target market of informal retailers
• You have a strong work ethic and exhibit genuine care for the team and their products, with a willingness to go to any necessary length to ensure their success
• You have integrity: You do what you say you will do and make no excuses.
• You develop a deep understanding and respect for what each team member is responsible for, and trust them to do their job
• Your confidence and experience make you trust your instinct and communicate persuasively.
• You are detail-oriented, process-driven, and organized