Test Automation Engineer (Contract)

540 is seeking a Test Automation Engineer to support the DoW in building a next-generation Air Force aircraft maintenance application powered by Angular, Apigee, Kubernetes, and Google Cloud. Test Engineers on this team design and implement automated tests to ensure the platform performs reliably as it supports Air Force maintenance operations. You’ll work closely with engineers, architects, and product stakeholders to validate system integrations, improve test coverage, and ensure the platform operates reliably across distributed systems and services.

This role is offered as a contract engagement and is ideal for engineers who value flexibility, autonomy, and high-impact work. While there may be an opportunity to convert to full-time in the future, conversion is not guaranteed and is dependent on program needs.

540 is a forward-thinking company that the government turns to in order to #getshitdone. We don’t just talk about innovation – we deliver it. We break down barriers, build impactful technology, and solve mission-critical problems.

• Own and manage development-level testing process and outcomes across the platform
• Design, develop, and maintain automated tests to validate functionality across APIs, microservices, and user interfaces
• Develop and execute integration, functional, and regression tests for distributed systems 
• Build and maintain automated API tests for RESTful services and service integrations
• Design and execute test suites that leverage network emulation to simulate real-world flight-line conditions (latency, packet loss, offline scenarios) 
• Develop automated validations for client-side persistence, ensuring unsynced data survives refreshes, crashes, and device restarts within browser storage
• Partner closely with engineers to validate microservice interactions and platform integrations
• Participate in manual testing of user stories and features to validate requirements and expected behavior
• Define and improve test strategies, test coverage, and automation frameworks
• Integrate automated tests into CI/CD pipelines to enable reliable and repeatable deployments
• Investigate and troubleshoot defects, working with engineering teams to reproduce and resolve issues
• Create and maintain clear testing documentation, including test cases and validation strategies
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure quality standards are maintained throughout development

• 3+ years of experience with programming languages such as Python, JavaScript, Java, or similar
• 2+ years of experience developing automated tests and technical test documentation
• Experience building or maintaining automated test frameworks using tools such as PyTest, JUnit, Playwright, Cypress, or similar 
• Experience designing and executing integration and API-level tests
• Proficiency with network request interception (e.g., Playwright route or Cypress intercept) to simulate backend failures and validate frontend behavior
• Experience performing manual testing of user stories and application features
• Experience working in Agile development environments
• Ability to quickly learn new technologies and become proficient in unfamiliar domains
• Strong attention to detail and ability to identify discrepancies between system behavior and requirements
• Ability to work independently while collaborating effectively within a team
• Strong sense of ownership with the ability to drive tasks to completion

• Experience with performance testing for PWAs (e.g., Lighthouse, storage quota management)
• Familiarity with eventual consistency models in distributed systems
• Experience validating client-side encryption (e.g., Web Crypto API)
• Familiarity with RESTful API design and service integrations
• Experience with OpenAPI (Swagger) specifications
• Experience with API gateways and API management platforms, such as Google Apigee
• Experience working with CI/CD pipelines and automated testing environments
• Familiarity with non-RESTful data interfaces (SOAP, WebSockets, GraphQL, etc.)
• Understanding of core cloud architecture principles and experience with AWS or Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
• Experience supporting U.S. Federal Government programs, particularly DoW environments

540's policy is to provide equal employment opportunity to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.