How to hire an automation test engineer

How to hire an automation test engineer, step by step

Here's a step-by-step automation test engineer hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write an automation test engineer job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new automation test engineer
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does an automation test engineer do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring an automation test engineer, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them an automation test engineer to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire an automation test engineer that fits the bill.

   This list presents automation test engineer salaries for various positions.

   Type of Automation Test Engineer	Description	Hourly rate
   Automation Test Engineer		$30-53
   Engineer Lead Quality Assurance Lead	Engineer Lead Quality Assurance Leads are responsible for managing the designing and operations of hardware or software testing. Their duties include developing testing plans, implement risk mitigation strategies, communicate process improvements to cross-teams such as marketing and engineering, resolve the conflict between teams, and ensures product or software adheres to the organization and industry standards... Show more	$40-68
   Quality Assurance Analyst	Quality Administrators are responsible for managing the quality processes of an organization. Their duties include creating data collection processes, conducting data cleansing, tracks quality milestones, and develop training programs for internal teams... Show more	$27-44

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Java
   • Python
   • Jenkins
   • Jira
   • QA
   • GIT
   • Regression
   • Scrum
   • C #
   • JavaScript
   • Cucumber
   • Test Results
   • UI
   • Automation Framework

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Provide overarching strategic recommendations for productivity improvements and achieve QMS - ISO certification.
   • Analyze test results, track the software defects in JIRA and interact with the developers to resolve technical issues.
   • Work on paypal checkout and trade center automation using selenium, ruby, sql.
   • Implement JUnit framework to write test cases for different modules and resolve the test findings.
   • Participate in daily scrum meeting, sprint planning meeting, retrospective meeting, and weekly automation meeting.
   • Project delivery in agile model, and tracking project's progress through daily scrum regarding design defects.

   More automation test engineer duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your automation test engineer job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. An automation test engineer can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, automation test engineers' average salary in tennessee is 37% less than in california.
   • Seniority. Entry-level automation test engineers 43% less than senior-level automation test engineers.
   • Certifications. An automation test engineer with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in an automation test engineer's salary.

   Average automation test engineer salary

   $85,353yearly

   $41.04 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level automation test engineer salary

   $64,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 19, 2026

   Average automation test engineer salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$114,998	$55
   2	Washington	$87,538	$42
   3	Arizona	$86,759	$42
   4	Massachusetts	$86,454	$42
   5	District of Columbia	$86,317	$42
   6	Virginia	$86,296	$41
   7	New Jersey	$83,251	$40
   8	Pennsylvania	$82,982	$40
   9	New York	$82,602	$40
   10	Texas	$79,620	$38
   11	North Carolina	$78,674	$38
   12	Illinois	$77,042	$37
   13	Georgia	$76,680	$37
   14	Colorado	$75,016	$36
   15	Florida	$74,714	$36
   16	Minnesota	$74,669	$36
   17	Ohio	$74,147	$36
   18	Nebraska	$74,067	$36
   19	Missouri	$73,204	$35
   20	Indiana	$73,022	$35

   Average automation test engineer salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Apple	$142,062	$68.30	316
   2	ICE Mortgage Technology	$133,075	$63.98
   3	Evernote	$132,588	$63.74
   4	Zoox	$132,001	$63.46	67
   5	Safeway	$131,966	$63.45
   6	Gilt	$131,840	$63.38
   7	NVIDIA	$129,817	$62.41	53
   8	Amazon	$127,605	$61.35	812
   9	Macy's	$124,208	$59.72	1
   10	Expedia Group	$122,918	$59.10	41
   11	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	$122,402	$58.85	391
   12	Cisco	$116,772	$56.14	110
   13	Proofpoint	$116,168	$55.85	8
   14	Two Sigma	$116,019	$55.78
   15	Neiman Marcus Group	$115,134	$55.35
   16	Duolingo	$114,633	$55.11	2
   17	Workday	$113,431	$54.53	4
   18	J.P. Morgan	$112,685	$54.18
   19	American Red Cross	$110,794	$53.27	1
   20	Parsons	$110,035	$52.90	21

4. Writing an automation test engineer job description

   An automation test engineer job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of an automation test engineer job description:

   Automation test engineer job description example

   Job Title
   Cloud Test Automation Engineer (Remote -Spain)
   Location(s)
   Spain - Remote (Home Based)
   Imagine a world where you could detect health issues sooner to treat them more effectively. Where food and water are always safe, even in remote corners of the earth. And where scientific and medical research are enhanced to solve the greatest challenges of our times. At PerkinElmer, we imagine this world every day. Then, we innovate and collaborate to make it happen everywhere.
   Our dedicated team of about 16,000 employees worldwide, pioneers scientific technologies for better detection, imaging, and informatics to help our customers work to create healthier families, improve the quality of life, and sustain the well-being and longevity of people globally.
   
   If you are seeking a meaningful, impactful, and stimulating career, look no further.
   
   Cloud Test Automation Engineer
   Our Informatics R&D center in Granada is a PerkinElmer Informatics core site in Visual Analytics, Data Science and Bioinformatics. We create software and solutions to help scientists make the next breakthrough discovery for a healthier world.
   This is a remote role that can be based anywhere in Spain.
   
   Role Description:
   Design test plans, write and execute test cases for functional and/ or performance within the domain assigned Develop and maintain automated test cases within the test framework Work as a member of the scrum team including planning, estimating, and verifying user stories and acceptance criteria Develop strong expertise in the assigned domain area Effectively communicate status, metrics, and issues on a regular basis Understanding and complying of/ to Informatics practices Assist in creating test summary reports of high quality, written language and content Become a user expert on how our products work, gaining an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses; and championing customer issues in order to ensure they have a positive experience
   
   Role Requirements:
   Computer Science and/ or Science-based Bachelor's degree Experience with qualifying high-volume, scalable SaaS solutions Experience working in an agile/scrum environment is preferred Working knowledge of Linux operating systems Experience working on SaaS solutions based in AWS or AzureExperience with technologies like Docker and/or KubernetesExcellent understanding of Quality Assurance life cycle, methodologies and best practices Knowledge in test case management and bug tracking systems such as Jira, Zephyr is preferred Good English, written and verbal
   
   What We Offer:
   Passion for quality International working environment Competitive salary and benefits Being part of a highly qualified team that is committed to excellence Access to cutting-edge expertise through which you can make positive impact in the world around us
   #LI-EMEA
   #Remote

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find automation test engineers for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your automation test engineer job on Zippia to find and attract quality automation test engineer candidates.
   • Use niche websites such as dice, engineering.com, stack overflow, it job pro.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit automation test engineers, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete the technical interview.

   While interviews are great, you will only sometimes learn enough from a conversation with an automation test engineer applicant. In those cases, having candidates complete a test project can go a long way in figuring out who's the most likely to succeed in the role. If you aren't a technical person and don't know how to design an appropriate test, you can ask someone else on the team to create it or take a look at these websites to get a few ideas:

   • TestDome
   • CodeSignal
   • Testlify
   • BarRaiser
   • Coderbyte

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new automation test engineer

   Once you have selected a candidate for the automation test engineer position, it is time to create an offer letter. In addition to salary, the offer letter should include details about benefits and perks that are available to the employee. Ensuring your offer is competitive is vital, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and it is important to be open to discussion and reach a mutually beneficial agreement. After the offer has been accepted, it is a good idea to formalize the agreement with a contract.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new automation test engineer. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire an automation test engineer?