Senior Test Automation Engineer

Senior Test Automation Engineer

Merkle, a dentsu company, powers the experience economy. For more than 35 years, the company has put people at the heart of its approach to digital business transformation. As the only integrated experience consultancy in the world with a heritage in data science and business performance, Merkle delivers holistic, end-to-end experiences that drive growth, engagement, and loyalty. Merkle's expertise has earned recognition as a "Leader" by top industry analyst firms, in categories such as digital transformation and commerce, experience design, engineering and technology integration, digital marketing, data science, CRM and loyalty, and customer data management. With more than 16,000 employees, Merkle operates in 30+ countries throughout the Americas, EMEA, and APAC. For more information, visit www.merkle.com.

Who Are We Looking For?

We are looking for a Senior Test Automation Engineer with deep Test Automation expertise to join the team powering an e-banking platform for a BFSI client. You will own test automation strategy and execution across the iOS and Android mobile apps and the web banking application, ensuring that every release meets the highest standards for quality, security, and reliability expected in the Swiss regulated financial sector.

In this senior role you will act as a quality champion — defining frameworks, mentoring engineers, and collaborating closely with developers, product owners, and security teams to embed quality throughout the entire software delivery lifecycle.

Key Responsibilities:

Test Strategy & Architecture

• Define and own the end-to-end test automation strategy across mobile (iOS & Android) and web e-banking channels
• Design, build, and maintain scalable test frameworks using industry-standard tooling (Appium, Detox, XCUITest, Espresso, Playwright/Cypress)
• Establish test pyramid guidelines — unit, integration, E2E — and drive adoption across squads
• Lead risk-based test planning for regulated financial features (payments, authentication, account management)

Mobile Test Automation (iOS & Android)

• Implement and maintain automated UI and functional test suites for native iOS (Swift/ObjC) and Android (Kotlin) apps
• Integrate mobile test runs into CI/CD pipelines (Bitrise, GitHub Actions, Fastlane)
• Configure and manage device farms (Browserstack, Firebase Test Lab, or on-premise device pools)
• Validate biometric authentication flows, deep links, push notifications, and offline behaviour

Web Test Automation

• Build robust cross-browser E2E and component test suites for the web banking portal (React/Angular)
• Implement accessibility testing (axe-core, WCAG 2.1 AA) and ensure compliance across supported browsers
• Create and maintain API/contract tests (REST & GraphQL) to decouple frontend from backend test cycles

CI/CD & Quality Engineering

• Integrate automated tests into CI pipelines ensuring fast, reliable feedback on every pull request
• Define and monitor quality metrics: test coverage, flakiness rates, defect escape rates, and mean-time-to-detect
• Implement performance and load testing for critical banking transactions using k6 or JMeter
• Champion shift-left testing practices and contribute to developer-written testability

Security & Compliance Testing

• Coordinate with the security team on automated OWASP-aligned security checks embedded in CI
• Validate encryption, certificate pinning, and secure storage on mobile in line with Swiss financial regulations (FINMA guidelines)
• Support audit and compliance activities with test evidence, traceability matrices, and reporting

Requirements:

Must-Haves:

• 3+ years of professional experience in test automation, with at least 2 years in a senior or lead QA role
• Proven hands-on expertise in both mobile (iOS + Android) and web test automation
• Strong programming skills in Python or TypeScript; ability to write clean, maintainable test code
• Experience with CI/CD integration of automated test suites in a real production environment
• Solid understanding of software testing principles: test pyramid, BDD, risk-based testing
• Experience working in agile teams on complex, multi-platform digital products

Strong Plus:

• Background in financial services, banking, or another regulated industry
• Experience with SAFe at scale or multi-team test coordination
• Knowledge of FINMA digital banking guidelines or PSD2/open banking testing requirements
• Hands-on experience with performance and security testing
• ISTQB Advanced Level (Test Analyst or Technical Test Analyst) certification

Languages:

• German: Fluent (B2+) — primary working language of the team and documentation
• English: Business proficient — tooling, frameworks, and international collaboration
• French or Italian: Advantageous for our multilingual (DE/FR/IT/EN) product testing scenarios

Why Choose Dentsu?

Global Reach with Local Expertise: Join a network that spans 145 countries, with over 70,000 talented employees. Collaborate with bright minds worldwide and gain insights from diverse industries and markets.Innovation at Our Core: For over 120 years, we have been pushing boundaries to connect brands with their audiences through cutting-edge technology, creativity, and transformative solutions.Commitment to Impact: We focus on driving meaningful outcomes for our clients and their communities, whether through increasing revenue, influencing behavior change, or fostering positive organizational culture.Collaborative Network: Work alongside six global brands all united in delivering highly integrated and scaled transformation solutions.

These are some of the things we offer:

? 25 days of holidays? 2 volunteer days for charitable activities? Mental Health: Benefit from 3 extra wellness days on top of your vacation days and a Mental Health First Aider and Employee Assistance program to support your well-being?40-hour week & overtime compensation⏰ Flexible working hours model (flextime)? Independent home office management?State-of-the-art, creative office space with ergonomically equipped workstations? Pet friendly offices (Zurich and St. Gallen)? Full access to Dentsu Academy, on-site learning sessions, online language courses? Referral bonus program Workation possibility? Team events: company parties, monthly breakfasts, aperos

Location: Zürich

Brand: Merkle

Time Type: Full time

Contract Type: Permanent