Regression that survives the next feature
Suites and smoke paths treated as product work, not a spreadsheet of clicks that only the author can run.
QA · Automation · Regression · API
QA / automation engineers who protect the release, not the checklist
A QA / automation hire is not “someone who can click through a happy path.” iQud engineers own regression, API checks, and release confidence that survive real builds, not a checklist that only runs on one laptop.
- Regression that catches real breaks
- API and UI checks in your CI
- Release confidence as owned work
- First PR in about a week
QA / automation delivery signals
- 5 dTypical time to first pull request
- QACoverage that ships with the release
- APIAutomated checks, not a laptop script
- 2 wkSprint cadence with quality review
The QA / automation seats we actually staff
“QA / automation” is not one job. We match on the quality surface you need, the same stacks behind iQud’s live Automation and Software Development pages.
01 02 API checks in the pipeline
Contract and integration tests owned in the repo, not a Postman collection that lives on one laptop.
03 UI automation that stays maintainable
Selectors, waits, and flaky-test hygiene as owned work, not a brittle record-and-playback demo.
04 Release confidence in your cadence
Gate criteria, bug triage, and sign-off in the sprint, so quality is not a surprise the night before ship.
05 Manual depth when automation is not enough
Exploratory and edge-case coverage on real flows, not a green CI that never saw the product.
06 When a DevOps or backend seat is better
A pipeline that needs CI ownership, or a service gap that is really application code, still wants a different hire. We will say so on the intro call instead of forcing a QA-only seat.
Tools they open on day one
Every tile is a live iQud technology or service page. The strip below is the delivery and collaboration stack these engineers already work in (Jira, Slack, and the rest of the project tools around quality), not a frontend or backend dump.
From intro call to a merged PR
A QA / automation hire should be shipping a test, a gate, or a bug fix path in your repo, not sitting in a two-month onboarding theatre while the checklist stays a rumour.
1 Map the quality gap
Manual vs automation, API vs UI, existing suites, seniority, overlap hours, and what “done in 30 days” looks like on the release path.
2 Shortlist real engineers
We match available QA / automation specialists to your brief and share relevant regression, API, or release-gate work.
3 You interview
Meet the human who will join standup. Validate how they talk through a flaky suite, a production escape, and the last check they actually owned past the checklist.
4 First sprint in your tools
Repo access, CI, and a first pull request, typically inside a week once you say go.
Start with one seat. Grow if the backlog says so.
Most clients embed a single QA / automation engineer first. A pair or a manual/automation split only when the work actually needs it.
One embedded engineer
A QA / automation specialist joins your squad, takes direction from your lead, and works in your rituals.
Best forClosing a quality gap without a new vendor process
Dedicated QA / automation seat
A stable owner for regression, API checks, or release gates, with senior review on the sprint.
Best forA product that needs a named quality owner
Scoped QA / automation initiative
A defined slice: a first automation suite, an API gate, or a release checklist with contracts already in motion.
Best forA milestone you can point at, not an open-ended test sandbox
QA / automation hiring rates, in writing
Two ways to staff a QA / automation engineer. Hourly for spikes and defined tickets. A dedicated monthly seat when you want someone in your standup every day, at a lower effective rate than running the clock.
Hire by the hour
$20/ hour
Flexible QA / automation capacity for release spikes, regressions, and scoped tickets. You only pay for hours worked.
- Same QA / automation engineers as a monthly seat
- Best for overflow, a release gate, or a single suite
- Start fast, pause when the spike is done
- Billed against actual hours, not a retainer
Best value
Hire for a month
$2,000/ month
A named QA / automation engineer on your sprint, about 160 hours of dedicated quality capacity, with senior review in the cadence.
A full-time month at $20 is $3,200. This seat is $2,000.
- Named engineer in your repo, CI, and standup
- Manual and automated work in the same engagement
- Month-to-month. No annual lock-in.
- Lower cost than the same hours billed at $20
Rates are for dedicated QA / automation engineers (regression, API checks, release confidence). Seniority mix and overlap hours are confirmed on the intro call. We will not quote a stack we do not already ship.
Why product teams staff QA / automation here
A mediocre QA hire produces a checklist that works on their laptop. These engineers produce coverage that survives real builds, real regressions, and your next release.
Product work, not “who can click the happy path”
They live in flaky suites, escapes, and why last week’s bug came from a check that should have owned its own gate.
Your repo, your CI, your hours
GIFT City overlap with Europe and the US. Quality reviews happen live when your leads are online.
Senior eyes on the sprint
Mid-level speed without unsupervised test debt. Review is part of the engagement, not an extra SKU.
Ten clients a quarter, on purpose
We do not run a revolving bench. Capacity is limited so the engineer you interview is the one in standup.
QA / automation hiring questions
Start with one. Most clients embed a single senior or mid-level QA / automation engineer, then add a pair if the regression or release backlog justifies it.
All three when they are product work. A manual seat owns exploratory and edge-case coverage. A UI automation seat owns maintainable suites. An API seat owns contract and integration checks in CI. We will only shortlist engineers on stacks we already ship.
That is a DevOps hire, or a backend hire, not this quality seat. Say so on the intro call and we will not force a test-suite profile onto a pipeline or API-only brief.
After we map the role and you approve the hire, first pull requests typically land within a week, faster when the repo, CI, and existing suites are ready.
Yes. GitHub, Jira, your CI, your standups. We do not invent a parallel process unless you ask for one.
Hourly ($20) is for spikes and defined tickets. You pay only for hours worked. The monthly seat ($2,000) is a named QA / automation engineer on your sprint, about 160 hours of dedicated capacity. The same month billed hourly would be $3,200. Seniority and overlap hours are confirmed on the intro call.
Give the product a QA engineer who can protect the release
Tell us manual vs automation, API vs UI, and the first gate you want on the next ship. We’ll come back with a named profile, a start window, and a two-week plan.