Sr Automation Engineer Hybrid multiple locations in Texas

About NationMind LLC:
NationMind LLC is a technology consulting firm focused on software development and QA testing services. We help clients build reliable, scalable applications with a strong emphasis on automation, performance, and quality. Our team works across industries, delivering solutions that drive innovation and operational efficiency. We are currently hiring skilled professionals for Sr Automation Engineer to join our growing team.
Sr Automation Engineer

Location

• San Antonio, Austin, or Dallas (Texas only)
• Hybrid role
• No relocation

Work Authorization

• US Citizen or Green Card only
• Must be eligible for future full-time conversion (no guarantee)

This is a high-visibility, greenfield role building a new integration testing automation practice from scratch.

The engineer will act as:

• A hands-on automation builder (not coordinator)
• A technical owner of integration test framework
• A bridge between multiple enterprise systems (ESB pipeline layer)

This is effectively a solo “founding automation engineer” role initially.

• 100% automation-focused (no manual testing)
• Must build and own backend integration test frameworks
• Validate end-to-end system integrations across enterprise services
• Act as technical checkpoint for ESB-driven data flows
• Work across multiple teams (upstream/downstream systems)

Tech skills

• Test Automation (Core Requirement)

• Karate framework (must-have)
• BDD (Behavior Driven Development)
• 5–6+ years pure automation experience
• Strong backend/service/API automation focus

• Integration & Middleware

• MuleSoft (external integrations)
• ESB (Enterprise Service Bus systems)
• Validation of cross-system workflows (ESB downstream apps)

• Messaging Systems

• IBM MQ (enterprise messaging)
• Apache Kafka (event streaming validation)

Key use case:

- Validate messages flow correctly across:
ESB MQ Kafka downstream systems

• Programming / Scripting

• Java (automation + frameworks)
• Python (headless automation, data setup, queue injection)

• Education

• Computer Science degree strongly preferred (especially for conversion to FTE)

Key responsibilities

Build Automation from Scratch

• Design and implement a new integration testing framework
• Establish standards and automation architecture

End-to-End Integration Validation

• Test full enterprise data pipelines:
• Digital apps
• ESB layer
• Mainframe / backend systems
• Ensure data correctness across systems

Messaging & Queue Validation

• Validate:
• ESB message routing
• MQ message delivery
• Kafka event publishing
• Ensure reliability of asynchronous workflows

Cross-Team Technical Coordination (NOT MANAGEMENT)

• Work directly with multiple engineering teams
• Coordinate integration readiness
• Support ESB release validation

Hands-On Engineering Ownership

• Must actively write automation code
• Must build tools/scripts/frameworks
• NOT a QA coordinator or manual tester

Red flags

Manual testers

• UI testing focused profiles
• QA coordinators or “watchers”
• Non-hands-on automation engineers

Weak Fit Signals

• Selenium/UI-heavy background only
• No backend/API automation experience
• No messaging or integration systems exposure

Ideal candidate profile

• Strong backend automation engineer
• Experience with:
• API testing
• message queues (Kafka / MQ)
• integration pipelines
• Comfortable with distributed enterprise systems
• Strong Java + Python scripting ability
• Experience building frameworks from scratch

Industry

• Banking domain experience is NOT required
• Technical depth matters more than industry background

Interview

• Technical Interview

• Deep technical screen with senior engineers
• Focus on:
• automation framework design
• integration testing architecture
• messaging/queue validation

• Likely scheduled around 4:00 PM CST

• Final Round

• Stakeholder + leadership interview
• Focus:
• system thinking
• ownership
• communication across teams

Flexible work from home options available.