A Quality Engineer focused on automation at Optum spends most days designing, building, and maintaining automated tests and test frameworks that ensure software products meet reliability and performance standards. They collaborate closely with other Optum developers and product managers to understand requirements, translate them into automated test cases, and integrate those tests into continuous integration and delivery pipelines. Daily work includes writing and refactoring test scripts, reviewing test results, investigating failures to distinguish defects from test issues, and improving test coverage and efficiency. They also monitor build health, help define quality metrics, and proactively enhance automation tools and processes to reduce manual testing effort and enable faster, more confident releases. Primary Responsibilities • Analyze and break down software requirements and technical specifications to design and execute comprehensive test strategies and software development. • Write, execute, and maintain manual and automated test cases • Test applications and drive resolution of defects by collaborating closely with development teams • Establish and maintain test cases, test suites, and test data • Create and maintain test cases and test execution results in Rally • Develop, maintain, and execute automated test scripts using industry-standard frameworks such as Playwright, Cucumber, Selenium, or similar tools • Perform REST API testing and validate backend services • Review automated test code to ensure adherence to coding standards and best practices • Continuously improve test automation frameworks, processes, and coverage • Stay current with industry trends, tools, and best practices in test automation and quality engineering Software Development • Write clean, maintainable, and testable code following engineering best practices • Contribute to unit testing, integration testing, and test-driven development (TDD/BDD) practices • Participate in code reviews and provide feedback to ensure code quality and reliability • Collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver high-quality software in an agile environment • Support CI/CD pipelines using tools such as GitHub Actions and integrate automated testing into build and deployment workflows Collaboration & Agile Practices • Actively participate in walkthroughs, inspections, sprint planning, reviews, and retrospectives • Collaborate with business users, system analysts, designers, and engineers to refine requirements and technical designs • Plan, document, evaluate, and track testing and development results to ensure defect-free system applications • Communicate effectively regarding defects, enhancements, risks, and technical decisions • Follow Agile/Scrum standards and engineering best practices • Leverage enterprise-approved AI tools to streamline workflows, automate tasks, and drive continuous improvement • Design, develop, and deploy AI-powered solutions to address complex business challenges with emphasis on responsible use of AI You'll be rewarded and recognized for your performance in an environment that will challenge you and give you clear directions on what it takes to succeed in your role as well as provide development for other roles you may be interested in. Required Qualifications • Bachelor's degree in computer science, Engineering, or a related field • 4+ years of experience in REST API testing • 4+ years of experience in functional, unit, and regression testing • 3+ years of experience in software development and/or quality engineering, with strong exposure to automation testing • 3+ years of experience with version control systems (Git) and CI/CD tools (e.g., GitHub Actions) • 3+ years of experience working in an Agile/Scrum environment • 2+ years of experience with automation frameworks such as Selenium, Playwright, Cucumber, or similar • 2+ years of experience with cloud platforms such as Azure or AWS • 2+ years of experience with GraphQL, MySQL, MongoDB, and cloud platforms Preferred Qualifications: • Strong development experience in Java, TypeScript, or Python • Knowledge of the AI Development Life Cycle (AIDLC) and its integration into software testing processes • Experience in the healthcare industry • Knowledge or exposure to ChatGpt, CoPilot, Codex, Claude • Strong experience in performance and load testing • Database testing, including ETL processes, to validate data integrity and system performance • Familiarity with streaming technologies and modern data platforms • Experience building or enhancing test automation frameworks from scratch *All employees working remotely will be required to adhere to UnitedHealth Group's Telecommuter Policy Pay is based on several factors including but not limited to local labor markets, education, work experience, certifications, etc. In addition to your salary, we offer benefits such as, a comprehensive benefits package, incentive and recognition programs, equity stock purchase and 401k contribution (all benefits are subject to eligibility requirements). No matter where or when you begin a career with us, you'll find a far-reaching choice of benefits and incentives. The salary for this role will range from $72,800 to $130,000 annually based on full-time employment. We comply with all minimum wage laws as applicable. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records. Application Deadline: This will be posted for a minimum of 2 business days or until a sufficient candidate pool has been collected. Job posting may come down early due to volume of applicants.