Manual QA Engineer

Position Overview

We are seeking a detail-oriented Manual QA Engineer to help ensure the quality, usability, reliability, and consistency of our software applications. The successful candidate will have a strong foundation in software testing principles, hands-on experience preparing and executing test cases, and the ability to identify, investigate, document, and track defects throughout the software development lifecycle.

You will work closely with developers, product owners, business analysts, designers, and other QA team members to understand requirements, validate application behaviour, and help deliver high-quality releases. The role requires analytical thinking, clear communication, structured documentation, and a proactive approach to identifying risks before software reaches production.

Key Responsibilities

Requirement Analysis and Test Planning

• Review business requirements, user stories, functional specifications, wireframes, and acceptance criteria.
• Identify gaps, ambiguities, dependencies, and testability concerns early in the development lifecycle.
• Prepare test plans, test scenarios, test cases, and checklists based on project scope and risk.
• Map test cases to requirements to support traceability and coverage analysis.
• Identify critical business workflows and prioritise testing based on risk, impact, and usage.
• Participate in requirement reviews, sprint planning, refinement sessions, and test-readiness discussions.
• Estimate testing effort and communicate dependencies, assumptions, and potential risks.

Manual Test Execution

• Execute test cases and exploratory tests to validate application functionality against documented requirements.
• Perform functional, smoke, sanity, regression, integration, system, and end-to-end testing as appropriate.
• Validate positive, negative, boundary, and edge-case scenarios.
• Test forms, field validations, navigation, search, filters, sorting, data entry, reports, notifications, and user workflows.
• Verify business rules, calculations, status transitions, and error-handling behaviour.
• Validate user roles, permissions, and access restrictions.
• Retest resolved defects and perform targeted regression testing to check for unintended side effects.
• Record test results accurately and maintain clear evidence of execution.

Web and Application Testing

• Validate web applications across supported browsers, devices, screen sizes, and operating environments.
• Check UI consistency, usability, layout, content, navigation, and responsive behaviour.
• Verify loading states, empty states, error messages, confirmation messages, and recovery flows.
• Identify visual inconsistencies and usability issues that may affect end users.
• Test session handling, logout behaviour, timeouts, and access to protected pages where relevant.
• Validate file uploads/downloads, data exports, printing, and other application-specific workflows as required.

API and Integration Testing

• Perform basic to intermediate API testing using tools such as Postman or equivalent tools, where required.
• Validate HTTP methods, status codes, response payloads, headers, and error responses.
• Test valid and invalid request data, required fields, boundary values, and authentication scenarios.
• Verify that data submitted through the user interface is correctly processed and reflected by integrated systems.
• Validate integrations with third-party services and internal systems against agreed requirements.
• Capture request and response details when investigating integration issues, while avoiding exposure of sensitive information.

Database and Data Validation

• Validate application data using SQL queries where database access is available and authorised.
• Verify that create, read, update, and delete operations produce the expected results.
• Check data consistency between the user interface, APIs, and database.
• Validate reports, totals, calculations, filters, and data exports against source records.
• Identify duplicate, missing, incorrect, or inconsistent data.
• Follow approved procedures when working with test data and avoid unauthorised changes to shared or production data.

Defect Management and Reporting

• Log defects in tools such as Jira, Azure Boards, or equivalent issue-tracking systems.
• Write clear, reproducible defect reports containing steps to reproduce, expected results, actual results, severity, priority, environment, and supporting evidence.
• Attach relevant screenshots, screen recordings, logs, or sample data where useful.
• Classify and prioritise defects according to business impact and agreed team standards.
• Collaborate with developers and product stakeholders to clarify issues and support root-cause investigation.
• Retest fixes and update defect status with accurate results.
• Track recurring defects, identify coverage gaps, and recommend preventive actions.
• Escalate release-blocking defects and quality risks promptly.

Regression and Release Validation

• Maintain and update regression test suites as application functionality evolves.
• Select appropriate regression coverage based on code changes, affected modules, dependencies, and risk.
• Perform smoke testing on new builds to determine whether they are stable enough for further testing.
• Validate release candidates against agreed acceptance criteria.
• Support user acceptance testing (UAT) by preparing scenarios, validating reported issues, and coordinating feedback.
• Provide a clear summary of testing completed, outstanding defects, known limitations, and release risks.

Documentation and Quality Improvement

• Maintain test plans, test cases, checklists, test data notes, execution records, and defect reports.
• Keep test documentation current when requirements or application behaviour change.
• Identify opportunities to improve test coverage, reduce repetitive manual effort, and make testing more efficient.
• Contribute to QA standards, templates, checklists, and team knowledge-sharing.
• Follow established test processes while suggesting practical improvements where appropriate.

Collaboration and Agile Delivery

• Work with developers, business analysts, product owners, designers, and QA colleagues throughout the development lifecycle.
• Participate in Agile/Scrum ceremonies, including daily stand-ups, sprint planning, refinement, reviews, and retrospectives.
• Clarify acceptance criteria and communicate test findings in a timely and constructive manner.
• Coordinate testing activities across teams and raise blockers, environment issues, and dependencies early.
• Take ownership of assigned test activities and support the team in meeting quality and delivery goals.

Required Skills and Qualifications

• Professional experience in software quality assurance or manual software testing.
• Strong understanding of software testing fundamentals and the software development lifecycle (SDLC).
• Practical experience preparing test plans, test scenarios, test cases, and test data.
• Experience executing functional, smoke, sanity, regression, integration, and end-to-end tests.
• Ability to analyse requirements and identify positive, negative, boundary, and edge-case scenarios.
• Experience documenting, tracking, retesting, and closing defects using an issue-tracking tool.
• Good understanding of web application behaviour, browser-based testing, and common UI validation scenarios.
• Familiarity with API concepts and tools such as Postman is desirable; requirements should be aligned with the project.
• Basic SQL knowledge for data verification is desirable.
• Familiarity with Git-based development workflows and CI/CD concepts is an advantage.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, observation, and documentation skills.
• Good written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work independently while collaborating effectively with cross-functional teams.

Preferred Skills

• Experience testing SaaS products, enterprise applications, or complex business workflows.
• Exposure to API testing using Postman or similar tools.
• Familiarity with SQL queries and database validation.
• Experience testing role-based access control, multi-user workflows, and permission-sensitive features.
• Familiarity with cross-browser, responsive, accessibility, and usability testing.
• Experience supporting UAT and release-readiness activities.
• Familiarity with test management tools such as TestRail, Zephyr, or equivalent.
• Basic understanding of performance and security testing concepts.
• Exposure to automation testing tools such as Playwright or Selenium, although the primary focus of this role is manual testing.
• Experience working in Agile/Scrum teams and frequent-release environments.

Types of Testing

The role may involve the following testing activities, depending on product and project requirements:

• Functional testing: Validate that features behave according to requirements.
• Smoke testing: Confirm that critical functionality works on a new build.
• Sanity testing: Verify a focused change or fix before broader testing.
• Regression testing: Check that existing functionality remains unaffected by changes.
• Integration testing: Validate interactions between connected components and systems.
• System testing: Assess the application as a complete system.
• End-to-end testing: Validate complete user journeys across relevant modules and integrations.
• Exploratory testing: Investigate the application using structured learning and risk-based scenarios.
• Usability testing: Identify issues affecting clarity, consistency, and ease of use.
• Cross-browser and responsive testing: Verify behaviour across supported browsers and screen sizes.
• User acceptance testing support: Help validate business workflows against user expectations.
• Data validation: Check data accuracy, consistency, calculations, and reporting outputs.

Tools and Technology Exposure

Area	Tools / Concepts
Test Management	Jira, Azure Boards, TestRail, Zephyr, or equivalent
API Testing	Postman or equivalent
Database Validation	SQL, relational databases, and/or NoSQL data checks
Browsers	Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari, as required by the product
Documentation	Test plans, test cases, checklists, defect reports, test summaries
Delivery Practices	SDLC, STLC, Agile/Scrum, release validation
Collaboration	Issue tracking, shared documentation, code/release notes
Automation Awareness	Playwright or Selenium — beneficial, not the core focus

Professional Competencies

• Attention to detail: Notices inconsistencies in workflows, data, UI behaviour, and requirements.
• Analytical thinking: Breaks down complex requirements into effective test scenarios.
• Clear communication: Explains defects and risks in a concise, actionable manner.
• User-focused mindset: Considers how real users may interact with the application, including unexpected paths.
• Ownership: Follows issues through retesting and closure and communicates blockers promptly.
• Collaboration: Works constructively with developers, product teams, and other stakeholders.
• Adaptability: Adjusts test coverage as requirements, priorities, and release plans change.
• Quality mindset: Balances thoroughness with risk, timelines, and business impact.

What Success Looks Like

• Requirements are reviewed early and important test scenarios are identified before implementation is complete.
• Test cases cover critical business flows, negative scenarios, and relevant edge cases.
• Defects are reported with clear reproduction steps and sufficient supporting evidence.
• Fixes are retested promptly, with appropriate regression coverage.
• Testing status, unresolved issues, and release risks are communicated accurately.
• Test documentation remains clear, current, and reusable.
• Collaboration with engineering and product teams contributes to fewer escaped defects and more reliable releases.

Experience Level

2–5 years of professional manual testing experience. Candidates should demonstrate a sound foundation in manual testing, a structured approach to test design, and the ability to validate real-world application workflows.

Application Notes

Applicants should be prepared to explain their approach to analysing requirements, designing test cases, prioritising regression coverage, writing effective defect reports, and testing APIs or validating data where relevant. Interview exercises may include reviewing a sample requirement and identifying test scenarios, edge cases, and potential risks.