Test Automation Engineers
matched in minutes with vetted and available expertsHire specialists for Selenium, Cypress, Playwright, API testing, CI/CD pipelines and regression suites. FRATCH uses precise AI matching to connect you with vetted, available freelancers who can strengthen quality engineering from the first sprint.
Meet FRATCH Test Automation Engineers
Ljubomir O.
Last position:
Senior Software Test Engineer at Keil KTM GmbH
Temporary employment
- System black-box integration tests (BBIT, IVVQ): Execution of regression, release, confirmation and conformity tests for safety-critical braking control units in the railway industry
- Software Test Application & Integration: Runtime configuration of software components and libraries, validation of interfaces, configuration dependencies and component interactions
- Test Automation (FEAT Framework): Co-development and further development of an automated test framework for test execution, reporting and result analysis
- Functional Safety (SiL4, FuSi): Ensuring compliance with safety requirements, traceability and coverage as well as conformity with EN50126/28/29
- Test Automation for Communication Components: Configuration and validation of fieldbus (CAN) and Ethernet-based TCMS data communication interfaces (TRDP and CIP)
- Requirements Analysis & Shift-Left (PTC Windchill ALM): Analysis of software and system artifacts to identify gaps, ambiguities and redundancies early in the SDLC
- Test Design & Test Case Development: Derivation of test conditions and coverage strategies and implementation of data-driven test cases (DDT) including reusable test data fixtures
- CI/CD & Automation (Python, PowerShell, Jenkins, SVN): Automation of build, test and HIL deployment processes as well as integration into CI/CD pipelines
- Test Data & Configuration Management (XML): Maintenance and adjustment of XML test vectors and system configurations with automated integration into test environments
- Non-Functional Testing: Execution of performance and load tests to assess stability and system behavior
- Agile Development & Defect Management (JIRA, Confluence): Work in Scrum teams, test coordination, review of test artifacts as well as defect tracking and root-cause analysis
- Error Analysis & Debugging (CANoe, CANalyzer): Analysis of errors and message flows across multiple system levels (application to bus)
- Model-Based Analysis (UML, Enterprise Architect): Specification of SUT/SOW and support for systematic test control
- Process & Test Documentation: Creation of integration and test documentation according to internal quality and certification requirements
Kurt B.
Last position:
Backend / Microservices Developer, DevOps, Test Automation at Fa. RCA, Rail Cargo Austria AG
- Backend / Microservices Developer, DevOps, Test Automation
- ~100 developers, ~10 teams, per team: 1 PO, 1 ScrumMaster, 1UX, 1 Developers, 1 Tester
- .net core 8, 9, C#
- Microservices, Clean-Architecture, MediatR, CQRS
- GraphQL, REST, SDL
- Azure DevOps, CI / CD-pipelines, Azure-Service Bus, Rabbit-MQ, Kafka, Azure App Configuration, Azure KeyVault, Azure Kubernetes AKS
- Splunk, dashboards, custom metrics, Elastic-Search, Kibana (ELK)
- Azure SQL-Databases, Azure Cosmos DB
- Architecture decisions, event governance, COP (Backend, DevOps, FrontEnt, Testautomations)
- AI, Copilot, creating Tests-Template
- Scheduler, Hangfire, Quartz
- Automated Unit- and Integrationtests
- Automated E2E-Tests, Playwright Test-Automation, BDD, Gherkin, Cucumber
- Tracking of shipments
- GIS, GPS data, geofence, geo search, position tracking, asset positions
- Jira, Confluence
- Focus on high performance message oriented architecture (~xx e6 messages / month / service)
- Structured logging, Serilog, OTel, Splunk, ApplicationMonitoring
- Integration of different position - data sources (GPS based data) into AzureDataLake
Yassin B.
Last position:
Senior Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET) at Schweizerweg Gmbh
- Designed and executed automated and manual test cases for REST APIs and UI workflows using Selenide, Selenium, and Postman.
- Developed and maintained Gatling-based performance tests for simulating user load and validating system responsiveness and stability under stress.
- Integrated test suites into CI/CD pipelines with Jenkins, enabling rapid and reliable delivery cycles.
- Employed Splunk, Grafana, and Prometheus to monitor logs, track metrics, and perform in-depth application performance monitoring (APM).
- Utilized Swagger for validating and documenting API contracts and ensuring consistency across environments.
- Created and managed isolated test environments using Docker, enabling reproducible and consistent test execution.
- Collaborated with cross-functional teams using Confluence, Jira, and Bitbucket for agile planning, documentation, and version control.
- Worked in a Java/Spring Boot tech stack, leveraging Maven for project build automation and IntelliJ IDEA for development and debugging.
Key Achievements:
- Built a reusable Selenide-based UI automation framework that reduced test creation time by over 50%.
- Automated end-to-end test scenarios for critical business workflows, increasing test coverage and release confidence.
- Designed a modular Gatling load testing framework, used for continuous performance benchmarking.
- Detected and resolved several critical production performance issues through proactive APM and stress testing.
Aleksei R.
Last position:
QA Engineer at Cybus GmbH
- Led QA and test automation for a distributed industrial IoT and data-integration platform connecting shop-floor systems with enterprise applications.
- Designed and maintained automated API and UI tests using Playwright, TypeScript, and Python, covering REST APIs, authentication, resource management, integrations, permissions, and end-to-end workflows.
- Tested distributed services, data pipelines, messaging infrastructure, containerized applications, and integrations across Kubernetes, OpenShift, Docker, and Docker Compose environments.
- Performed functional, integration, regression, endurance, resilience, load, chaos, and exploratory testing across complex distributed systems.
- Used Chaos Mesh and Toxiproxy for network fault injection, latency, packet loss, and partition scenarios to validate system resilience and failure handling.
- Automated infrastructure provisioning, configuration, and environment setup with Ansible and managed deployments using Kubernetes and Helm.
- Tested integrations with industrial protocols, messaging systems, databases, HTTP/REST APIs, and external enterprise systems using simulators, emulators, and dedicated test environments.
- Worked with MQTT, Kafka, SQL databases, InfluxDB, REST APIs, OAuth 2.0, JWT, LDAP, Active Directory, OpenLDAP, mTLS, TLS, MFA, SSO, and RBAC.
- Investigated and resolved 40+ defects across backend services, integrations, distributed components, and web applications, using AI-assisted analysis with Claude to accelerate debugging, test design, and root-cause investigation.
- Improved deployment reliability through Kubernetes/OpenShift configuration and health-check tuning and monitored distributed systems using Grafana, Prometheus, and Loki.
- Collaborated with developers and product teams on sprint planning, technical refinement, quality strategy, release testing, and continuous improvement.
- Applied AI-assisted and agentic testing approaches to expand automated coverage and identify complex edge cases.
Vladislav F.
Last position:
Senior Test Automation Engineer / Test Manager at Stadt Wien – WUKSEA
- Creation of test scenarios, manual test cases and test data using boundary value analysis and equivalence partitioning
- Execution of functional and non-functional tests (manual with Postman and web application, automated with WebDriver, JUnit and NUnit)
- Setup, automation and maintenance of the Test Automation Framework with Java, Spring Boot, Selenium and Cucumber in IntelliJ (system, regression, smoke, UI and integration tests for web frontend and SOAP API backend interfaces)
- Automation of backend NUnit test cases in Visual Studio
- Test management: development and implementation of the test strategy and test plans, test coordination, quality responsibility and prioritization of risk-based tests, as well as documentation management in Confluence
- Detailed analysis and quality assurance of requirements
- Creation and maintenance of Jenkins pipelines, quality assurance during build & deployment
- Close cooperation with business analysts, developers, testers and test management
- Identification, creation and tracking of errors/defects, as well as careful test documentation
- Reporting of test results and defect reports
- Monitoring of test processes and continuous improvement
- Verification of test data and test results in a PostgreSQL database in pgAdmin
- Support with effort estimates and backlog prioritization
- Analysis and debugging of development code
System environment: Java, JUnit, Spring Boot, Selenium, Cucumber, JavaScript, Jenkins, C#, NUnit, Postman, Bitbucket, Confluence, Jira, xRay, pgAdmin, PostgreSQL, SonarQube, Maven, IntelliJ, Visual Studio, CI/CD, SOAP API interfaces
Andreas H.
Last position:
Test Automation Architect at Banking Bank (name withheld)
- Set up a shift-left DevOps E2E system testing architecture
- Set up "DevOps Shift-left" E2E tests for 240+ applications
- Under NDA
Yannide D.
Last position:
Development Engineer Test Automation at Vorwerk Elektrowerke GmbH & Co. KG
- Project: Thermomix Online Mock
- Manual execution of functional tests
- Implementation of automated end-to-end tests
- Execution of regression tests and analysis of results
- Further development of the QA website server using Express.js, Handlebars and Node.js
- Further development of the test environment
- Technologies: Agile software development Scrum, Robot Framework, Python, JavaScript, Git (GitLab), VS Code, Jira, Confluence, Express.js, Handlebars, Phoenix/Elixir
Wael A.
Last position:
Test Automation Expert at Ebcont Work GmbH
- Automating software tests with Tosca instead of manual tests
- Ensuring system stability through early issue fixing
- Optimizing for faster releases and better software quality
- Technologies: Tosca, API Testing, JIRA, Confluence
Patryk S.
Last position:
Test Manager at HIQT GmbH
- Set up a partnership to support UiPath from migrating new clients to the UiPath tool landscape
- RPA testing
Muhammad Y.
Last position:
SynQ × AutoStore
- Enterprise WMS customisation for Albert Heijn and EDEKA.
- Owned end-to-end test planning, automation, and performance validation for logistics automation software serving high-volume grocery warehouse operations.
Namik D.
Last position:
Test Manager / Test Automation Engineer at Sky Deutschland GmbH
- Implemented and maintained 443 automated test cases with a 99% pass rate (441/443)
- Enabled CI for test automation: automated runs on review/merge, reporting via Xray
- Introduced accessibility and performance checks and established them in reporting
- Served as QA lead in daily operations with stand-ups, Kanban progress tracking, prioritization, and targeted task distribution
- Handled defect triage and stakeholder communication with daily triage, QA status analysis, and actionable recommendations
- Developed and maintained a stable regression suite for CRM/Salesforce flows (UI/E2E and near-API validations)
- Integrated CI/CD using Jenkins pipelines with Groovy (IaC)
- Maintained QA documentation, test conventions, and processes in Confluence, aligned across the team
- Conducted Salesforce Einstein chatbot testing with intent/topic validation and output checks, and used Robot Framework/Python suites for continuous quality monitoring
- Technology stack: Jira, Xray, Confluence, Jenkins, Groovy, Git, Java, Selenium, Playwright, Cucumber, TypeScript, Postman, REST, Salesforce, Google Cloud, Lighthouse, Evinced, Scrum/Kanban, BDD (Gherkin)
Zafer B.
Last position:
Lead Test Automation Engineer at Unknown
- Playwright-based API test automation for the Oracle JD Edwards ERP system
- Development of a TypeScript/Node.js test framework with MSSQL database integration
- End-to-end business process automation for order processing, customer management, etc.
- OpenAI integration for automatic PDF document validation
- Jira/Xray integration for automated test reporting with dashboard
- REST API client development with role-based authentication
- Test data management, dynamic ID validation, and cross-test data sharing mechanisms
Predrag P.
Last position:
Test Developer | Test Automation Engineer at CreditReform
Technologies: Java 25, Selenium, Insomnia, SSO, Gitlab, Jenkins, Docker, Kubernetes, Jira, IntelliJ, Nexus, Oracle, MariaDB, SpringBoot, Grafana, Concept Board, Vue.js, OpenApi, Kotlin. Implementation, maintenance, and enhancement of automated end-to-end regression tests for UI and API interfaces. Appropriate and targeted test automation involving multiple software products, including Java-based Windows applications. Automation of business processes with Selenium, reset jobs, and DB import jobs, as well as creation of test concepts, test case descriptions, and structured defect reporting.
Marcel T.
Last position:
Founder, AI Strategy and Enablement at Engineering Peak Impact
- Design workshop curricula for software engineers and technical leads on AI-enabled engineering and on adopting AI tools effectively.
- Technical talk, 17th TestIstanbul Conference, October 2026: "What If We Tested the Tester?", on how AI amplifies the tester's judgement, blind spots included.
- Built and run the company website and online course platform (WordPress, PHP, JavaScript) with Claude Code and Cursor, plus a Playwright test suite that checks the live site's pages, links and sign-up flow.
- Built Write Check, a Chrome extension backed by a local Node.js service that scores any text box for clarity and AI-sounding phrasing, falling back across Gemini, Kimi, GPT and OpenRouter when a provider fails.
- Built a Python video pipeline that turns my online course into short narrated videos: script, text-to-speech, captions and rendering, with a review gate before each episode.
- Work under a written protocol for AI coding agents (CLAUDE.md): a definition of done written as checks before the work starts, tests that fail before they pass, and independent reviewer agents that check each claim of the coder agents against its source.
- Author of The Maintenance Trap (Level Up newsletter, May 2026), on developer productivity: why high-performing engineers get pulled into maintenance work and how to make the ROI case for fixing it.
Alexander K.
Last position:
Software Tester at Buhl Tax Service GmbH
- AI-assisted creation of test cases and test data
- Creation of test cases based on requirements
- Execution of manual tests
- Defect documentation, retesting and tracking
Technologies & Tools: SCRUM, Jira, Confluence, Zephyr Scale
Discover over 15,000 top freelancers
Test Automation Engineers statistics
Aggregated from the professional profiles of matched freelancers.
Experience
18 years
Position duration
2 years
Positions per freelancer
13
Top business areas
Information Technology, Quality Assurance, Product Development
Top industries
Information Technology, Banking and Finance, Manufacturing
Certification focus areas
Quality Assurance, Information Technology, Project Management
Bachelor's degree or higher
94%
Master's degree or higher
53%
Doctorate
8%
Certifications per freelancer
4
Most common languages
German, English, French
Speak two or more languages
100%
Based on our profile pool as of 5 Nov 2026.
Daily rate distribution
The chart shows how the daily rates of experts in this role are distributed, based on recent contracts on our platform. Each bar covers a rate range — its height shows the share of experts charging within that range.
Average rates for Test Automation Engineers
Rates are based on recent contracts and do not include FRATCH margin.
The average daily rate is the mean of all daily rates from recent contracts of comparable freelancers on our platform.
The median daily rate is the middle value of all daily rates — half of comparable freelancers charge less, half charge more. Unlike the average, it is barely affected by outliers.
Calculated based on our freelancers’ daily rates as of 5 Nov 2026. Actual rates may vary depending on seniority level, experience, skill specialization, project complexity, and engagement length.
Test Automation Engineers experts industry focus
See which industries our matched freelancers work in most often — every figure is calculated live from the freelancers on FRATCH.
- Information Technology (96%)
- Banking and Finance (61%)
- Manufacturing (46%)
- Automotive (43%)
- Telecommunication (39%)
- Transportation (37%)
- Government and Administration (37%)
- Retail (33%)
Please note that freelancers can work across multiple industries, so percentages overlap.
About the role
What they deliver
A Test Automation Engineer designs, builds and maintains automated checks that expose defects early and make releases more predictable. They translate acceptance criteria into reliable test scenarios, connect tests to delivery pipelines and investigate failures rather than simply reporting them.
- Automated UI, API and integration tests
- Regression suites for critical business workflows
- Test execution in CI/CD pipelines
- Failure analysis, defect reports and quality dashboards
Core expertise
Strong professionals combine software development with quality engineering. They write maintainable test code, understand application architecture and know when a scenario belongs at unit, API, integration or end-to-end level. They also work with version control, test data, environments, mocking and service virtualization.
Common tools include Selenium, Cypress, Playwright, WebdriverIO, REST Assured, Postman, JUnit, TestNG, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI and Jenkins. The right stack depends on the product, technology landscape and delivery process.
When to hire freelance
Companies bring in a freelance Test Automation Engineer when a release programme needs faster coverage, a manual test process has become a bottleneck or an existing suite is slow and unstable. Freelancers can establish an automation strategy, modernise legacy tests or support a temporary quality push without changing the permanent team structure.
They are especially useful during platform migrations, major product launches, ERP implementations and continuous delivery transitions. A focused engagement should define the systems in scope, risk priorities, environments, reporting needs and handover expectations.
What sets them apart
The best automation engineers do not measure success by the volume of test scripts. They choose valuable scenarios, keep tests independent and design clear failure messages. They challenge brittle requirements, identify gaps in testability and work closely with developers, product managers and manual testers.
Look for evidence of stable pipelines, meaningful coverage decisions and reduced investigation effort. A strong professional can explain trade-offs, review automation code and leave behind documentation that the internal team can maintain.
Frequently asked questions
The facts hiring teams ask for most often when it comes to Test Automation Engineers.
A Test Automation Engineer assesses the product, defines an automation approach and creates automated UI, API or integration tests. They also connect suites to CI/CD, analyse failures, document results and help the team maintain the solution after delivery.
A strong test automation engineer needs programming skills, knowledge of testing principles and experience with version control, test data and delivery pipelines. Useful tools include Playwright, Cypress, Selenium, REST Assured, JUnit, Git and Jenkins, but practical judgement matters more than a long tool list.
The titles overlap, but the focus can differ. A Test Automation Engineer usually concentrates on automated checks and their integration into delivery, while a QA Engineer may cover broader quality activities and an SDET often works across test tooling, development practices and product architecture.
A freelance automation tester is useful when a company needs specialist support for a release, migration, test framework rebuild or temporary delivery bottleneck. This approach can add focused expertise without expanding the permanent team for a short-term need.
Yes, most Test Automation Engineers can work remotely when repositories, environments, test data and communication channels are accessible. On-site collaboration may help with complex hardware, regulated environments or teams that need intensive workshops during setup.
A test automation engineer needs a clear view of the product areas, critical user journeys, existing tests, target environments and release process. Agree on deliverables such as a framework, automated scenarios, pipeline integration, reporting and knowledge transfer before work begins.
Ask a Test Automation Engineer to explain how they prevent flaky tests, select meaningful coverage and investigate failures. Review sample code, framework structure and documentation, then discuss a real trade-off such as testing a changing UI versus validating the underlying API.
A freelance automation engineer should clarify access, environments, data ownership, application stability, supported browsers or devices and the definition of done. They should also confirm who reviews code, who handles defects and how the team will maintain tests after the engagement.
The average hourly rate for Test Automation Engineers is 84 €, which corresponds to a daily rate of about 676 € based on an 8-hour working day.
Of the freelancers working as Test Automation Engineers, 94% hold at least a Bachelor's degree, 53% hold at least a Master's degree, and 8% hold a doctorate.
On average, freelancers working as Test Automation Engineers have 18 years of professional experience, with a single engagement typically lasting around 2 years.
The most common languages among freelancers working as Test Automation Engineers are German (98%), English (98%), and French (22%).
The most common industries among freelancers working as Test Automation Engineers are Information Technology (96%), Banking and Finance (61%), and Manufacturing (46%).
The most common business areas among freelancers working as Test Automation Engineers are Information Technology (100%), Quality Assurance (100%), and Product Development (76%).
FRATCH Test Automation Engineers main locations
Our freelancers and interim experts are at home all over Germany — available on-site in Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and every major business hub, or fully remote. Choose a city to discover matched specialists, local market insights and up-to-date availability.
Munich 
Berlin Hamburg Munich Cologne Frankfurt Stuttgart Dusseldorf Leipzig Dortmund Essen Bremen Dresden Hanover Nuremberg In Austria our freelancers and interim experts support companies from Vienna to Graz — on-site where your project needs them, or fully remote. Choose a city to discover matched specialists, local market insights and up-to-date availability.
Vienna Graz Across Switzerland our specialists are active in Zurich, Geneva, Basel and Bern — working on-site or fully remote. Choose a city to discover matched specialists, local market insights and up-to-date availability.
Zurich Geneva Basel Bern Countries:
Request a free demo
Get in touch with the FRATCH team and we will get back to you within 4 hours.
Would you rather directly get in touch?
We always have the time for a call or email!
Philipp Thomaschewski
FRATCH CEO
