Quality Assurance Engineer (Software Solutions 12 Month Contract) - I&T, Remote

Introduction to the VKB Group
The VKB Group is an agricultural company, providing support to farmers and producing straight-from-the farm-foods for consumers. Apart from the various consumer brands, the VKB Group is also represented by its regional brands: VKB, GWK and NTK. Our roots are firmly planted in agriculture with farming at our core, continuously growing and evolving throughout the years.

Starting with providing everything needed on the farm to produce food, we now also operate in all areas of the food supply chain: processing, logistics, and national and global market channels.

This “house of brands” we’ve established with the support of our farmer shareholders is the foundation for building the agribusiness of the future.

About you:

• You are keen to join one of the most dynamic and leading agricultural companies in South Africa.
• You want to be part of an I&T department that is passionate about delivering optimal services to the VKB Group.
• Great team player, you should be able to teach and develop skills of others in the team to allow for better success and team achievements.
• You have a proven track record to be inquisitive, thorough, diplomatic, and creative.
• You have the ability to step back and see the bigger picture and keep perspective in pressured and dynamic circumstances.
• Offer objectivity to end-users regarding the validity of any features/changes/application.
• You are teachable and able to adapt to new processes and procedures.
• Methodical and organized approach to testing execution and appropriate evidence filing in line with best practice principles.
• You are able to work in a team environment and add value and innovation to the team.
• You must be able to manage time and deadlines in a suitable manner and be able to communicate when delays are presented.

About the Role:

The role is established in the I&T Governance and Service Transition department of the VKB Information and Technology department as part of the Quality Assurance Team. The QA Engineer will report to the Quality Assurance Lead and ultimately to the Head of I&T Governance and Service Transition.

The QA Engineer will be responsible for working with the Quality Assurance Team to deliver high-quality products in line with predetermined standards to the relevant product owners. As part of the QA process, activities will include designing and execution of automated testing procedures in accordance with the Q&A framework, best practice principles, and software testing processes. The applicant must also have enough knowledge of manual testing as this is the base for automated testing.

QA Engineer is part of the senior roles within the QA department.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Training and development of team members (all concepts within the automation realm).
• Maintaining existing or setting up complementing frameworks and test environments.
• Refining current policies, SOPs, and automated testing processes to align with best practices.
• Continuously implementing modern techniques and technologies to ensure code and development stays up to date with changes in the industry.
• Using and implementing CI/CD to enhance testing processes.
• Performing test planning including the selection of appropriate test methodologies depending on the application type as well as collaborating with other team members to understand the scope of test cases.
• Reporting on the progression of testing projects/cases assigned by management in a metric and structured manner.
• Reviewing code changes and pull requests to help team members improve and ensure quality standards are met and maintained.
• Leading and overseeing the development of structured, high-quality testware as part of QA deliverables.

Skills and Qualifications:

• Minimum Grade 12 education.
• Applicable Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology or related field preferred.
• 5 Years + Automated Testing experience in development and execution of testing scripts.
• Experience in JAVA, JavaScript, Python programming languages.
• Knowledge and understanding of IaC as part of DevOps.
• Experience in the following technologies will be beneficial:
• Selenium and Playwright.
• Microsoft Dynamics – Business Central.
• JIRA.
• GIT and Azure.
• Docker.
• Knowledge of testing hardware setup and maintenance.
• Analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
• High proficiency in computer technology and programming languages.
• Strong knowledge of software QA methodologies, tools, and processes.
• Experience in writing clear, concise, and comprehensive test plans and test cases.
• Experience with performance and/or security testing will be regarded as an advantage.
• Demonstrated knowledge of testing best practices, version control practices, and defect management practices.
• Strong work ethic with a fierce dedication to exceeding expectations.
• Impeccable organizational skills with the ability to multitask and deliver results under pressure.
• Ability to engage in detailed discussions while being able to visualize the bigger picture and see the end result.
• Good communication skills in written and oral format.
• Great team player and able to work efficiently with minimal supervision and deliver exceptional results on time.