Senior AI Test Automation Engineer

Job Description

Job Description

This role is full-time, in-office at our Long Beach, CA headquarters. We're not able to offer remote or hybrid arrangements, so please only apply if you're able to work onsite full-time.

What We Do

CarParts.com is the go-to eCommerce platform for auto care and maintenance. We provide drivers with quality parts at competitive prices and enable them to schedule appointments with trusted mechanics directly through our website. Using world-class design principles and the latest technologies, we deliver a fast, intuitive digital experience backed by our company-owned national distribution network. 

With over 1,000 employees worldwide, we are scaling rapidly, fueled by our most recent strategic partnership and $35 million investment.  This positions us for the next phase of growth as we continue to empower drivers along their journey.

  Our Culture

At CarParts.com, our culture goes beyond our core values of Safety First, Customer Focused, and Commitment to Excellence. We are a performance-driven, data-focused, and fast-paced team where results matter and winning is expected. 

- Hungry & Hardworking: We set ambitious goals, measure progress with clear metrics, and hold ourselves accountable to deliver results. 
- Promote from Within: We reward top performers with opportunities for growth and advancement. 
- Collaborative & In-Person: We believe the best ideas and fastest execution happen face-to-face. 
- High Standards: We move quickly, pay attention to details, and dig deep - whether it’s analyzing contracts, aggregating complex scenarios, or building clear, data-driven presentations. 
- No Passengers: We value grit, ownership, and the relentless pursuit of results

We are investing heavily in AI-powered engineering — building intelligent agents, integrating LLMs into our platform, and developing MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers to orchestrate context-aware automation across our ecommerce stack. This role sits at the intersection of full-stack engineering and applied AI.

Why This Role Is AI-Forward

This is not a traditional test automation role with AI bolted on. AI is woven into how we write, run, and maintain tests:

• Every engineer uses AI coding assistants (Claude Code, Claude Cowork, GitHub Copilot, Cursor) as a daily multiplier, not an optional extra
• We automate test writing with AI: agents draft Cypress and Playwright specs from requirements, user stories, and code diffs, and engineers review, refine, and own the results
• We automate test running with AI: intelligent test selection based on change impact, automated failure triage, flaky-test detection, and self-healing locator strategies
• Our platform exposes MCP servers so LLM-powered tools can query test results, trigger suites, and act on real-time quality signals
• We treat prompt engineering and token economics as first-class engineering disciplines, reviewed in PRs alongside test code

If you want to build the quality systems that guard experiences millions of customers rely on, and use AI to multiply your coverage and speed, this is the role.

Who You Are

• The Builder: You would rather build a reusable test framework, a custom Cypress command, a Playwright fixture, or a spec generator than write the same test twice, and you design suites that stay stable without you babysitting them.
• The Troubleshooter: A pipeline goes red and you instinctively pull the trace, replay the network calls, and pinpoint whether it is a product regression, an environment issue, or a flaky locator before anyone else finishes reading the ticket.
• The AI Enthusiast: You treat prompt design and token budgets with the same rigor as test architecture: optimizing context windows, evaluating model trade-offs, and shipping AI-assisted testing workflows that move quality metrics.

What You'll Do

Build & Own Test Automation (50%)

• Design, develop, and maintain automated test suites in Cypress and Playwright for functional, regression, end-to-end, and cross-browser testing
• Build robust, scalable test frameworks: custom commands, fixtures, page objects, network interception, and mocking/stubbing for reliable execution
• Create test automation for microservice APIs, testing end-to-end or in isolation using mocks, stubs, and contract testing
• Cover SPA, PWA, responsive design, and MPA architectures across desktop and mobile browsers
• Integrate automated tests into CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, Jenkins, GitLab CI); monitor and maintain automated test execution in CI/CD environments
• Develop and execute performance and load testing scripts to identify bottlenecks, collaborating with performance engineers
• Perform targeted manual, exploratory, and UAT/production validation where automation is not yet the right tool

AI-Powered Test Writing & Running (30%)

• Automate test writing: build and refine AI agents and pipelines that generate Cypress and Playwright specs from requirements, user stories, acceptance criteria, and code diffs
• Automate test running: intelligent test selection based on change impact, automated failure triage with root-cause summaries, flaky-test detection and quarantine, and self-healing locators
• Write prompts, evaluation harnesses, and monitoring for AI-assisted testing workflows; treat them as code, version them, review them
• Evaluate AI-generated tests for correctness, coverage, and reliability; never accept output blindly
• Build shared tooling: CLI utilities, test data generators, and internal developer tools powered by AI
• Contribute to MCP servers and integrations that expose test infrastructure (suites, results, environments) to LLM-powered clients

Collaborate & Grow (20%)

• Work closely with developers to understand application architecture and expand test coverage; participate in design and code reviews to catch quality issues early
• Contribute to test planning and strategy discussions; define and execute test plans aligned with project timelines and goals
• Investigate and analyze defects, documenting and reporting issues with the detail teams need to resolve them quickly
• Mentor engineers on test automation and AI-assisted testing patterns; participate in internal trainings as an attendee, Subject Matter Expert, or trainer
• Adhere to department procedures, processes, and best practices: SDLC, Change Control Management, Agile ceremonies, and ticket management
• Stay current with AI/ML tooling, LLM advances, and testing ecosystem developments; bring what you learn back to the team

Position Requirements

Core Engineering & Test Automation (Required)

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field / equivalent experience
• 6+ years of software engineering experience with deep, hands-on test automation expertise
• Proficient in programming using JavaScript / Node.js; experience with TypeScript strongly preferred
• In-depth, hands-on expertise with Cypress and Playwright, including fixtures, network interception, parallelization, and cross-browser execution
• Proven experience with mocking and stubbing libraries and contract testing for APIs
• Proven experience creating test automation for microservice APIs, for end-to-end testing or testing API services in isolation using mocks
• Proven experience creating test automation for one or more application types: Single Page Application (SPA), Progressive Web App (PWA), responsive design, and Multi-Page Application (MPA)
• Proven experience using Git source control and continuous integration tools (Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI)
• Solid understanding of software testing methodologies, test planning, and test case design
• Strong communication and collaboration skills to work effectively with cross-functional teams
• Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills to identify and troubleshoot issues
• Experienced working in Scrum teams; able to adapt to evolving project requirements and priorities
• Strong organizational and leadership skills
• Comfortable working on the command line

AI & Automation (Required)

• Hands-on experience using LLMs (OpenAI, Anthropic, or equivalent) to generate, refactor, and maintain test code
• Comfortable using AI coding assistants (GitHub Copilot, Claude Code, Claude Cowork, Cursor) daily to accelerate test development
• Able to write effective prompts for test generation, test data creation, refactoring, and documentation
• Demonstrated ability to build or extend AI-assisted testing workflows, such as:

• Test generation from requirements, user stories, acceptance criteria, or code diffs
• Intelligent test selection and prioritization based on change impact
• Automated failure triage, root-cause summarization, and flaky-test detection
• Self-healing locator and selector strategies

• Familiar with agentic concepts: tool-calling, structured output, multi-step task decomposition, and human-in-the-loop review checkpoints
• Understands foundational LLM concepts: tokens, temperature, context windows, embeddings, and RAG
• Can evaluate AI-generated tests and code for correctness, security, and coverage, not just accept output blindly

Nice to Have

• Experience with Selenium, Appium, Jest, or Puppeteer
• Proven experience testing applications built with frameworks like Express, Next.js, and React
• Experience designing or contributing to MCP servers or similar context-orchestration layers
• Experience with performance testing tools (k6, JMeter, Lighthouse)
• Experience with public cloud services (AWS, Azure, GCP)
• Experience with ecommerce/retail purchase journeys

CarParts.com is an equal-opportunity employer. We enthusiastically accept our responsibility to make employment decisions without regard to race, religious creed, color, age, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, marital status, medical condition, physical or mental disability, military service, pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions, or any other classification protected by federal, state, and local laws and ordinances.

The above-noted job description is not intended to describe, in detail, the multitude of tasks that may be assigned but rather to give the incumbent a general sense of the responsibilities and expectations of his/her position. As the nature of business demands change so, too, may the essential functions of this position.