Sr Automation Engineer

Role Overview
The Digital Accessibility Automation Engineer is responsible for advancing accessibility across digital products through engineering-led scalable automation solutions. This role focuses on embedding accessibility validation into automated testing frameworks and CI/CD pipelines to enable continuous monitoring early defect detection and regression prevention across our client-facing digital channels-including websites mobile apps and other digital platforms that serve as key customer touchpoints.
This role emphasizes accessibility automation at scale including Axe Monitor transactional scripting Selenium integration and CI/CD enablement across enterprise digital platforms.

Key Responsibilities
Partner with design product and engineering teams to ensure accessibility is built into digital experiences from ideation through delivery.
Provide technical expertise on accessible implementation patterns using semantic HTML and WAI-ARIA.
Conduct accessibility testing using automated and targeted manual approaches aligned to WCAG 2.2.
Design implement and maintain accessibility automation at scale using Deque Axe Monitor.
Script and execute transactional accessibility test scripts (e.g. authentication search booking checkout flows) executed by Axe Monitor.
Integrate automated accessibility checks into Selenium-based automation frameworks.
Embed accessibility validation into CI/CD pipelines to support shift-left and continuous testing strategies.
Monitor accessibility trends regressions and risk across applications and environments using automated reporting and dashboards.
Analyze automated scan results to distinguish true accessibility defects from false positives.
Partner with engineering and test teams to troubleshoot automation failures and guide remediation.
Maintain reusable reliable automation scripts and frameworks that scale across products and teams.
Clearly communicate technical findings and recommendations to engineering test and product stakeholders.

Program Leadership & Strategy
Lead execution of the digital accessibility roadmap with a strong emphasis on automation-first enforcement.
Translate accessibility goals into repeatable automated validations that reduce manual testing effort and compliance risk.
Coordinate automation milestones across Product Engineering and QA aligning accessibility automation with release schedules.
Monitor accessibility maturity using automation-driven KPIs (coverage regressions prevented time-to-fix).

Hands-On Accessibility Expertise
Conduct targeted manual accessibility testing to:
o Validate automated findings
o Cover gaps automation cannot detect (cognitive usability AT behavior)
Evaluate experiences against WCAG 2.2 AA ADA Section 508 EAA using assistive technologies as needed.
Provide engineering-ready remediation guidance including code-level recommendations.
Validate fixes via automated reruns and regression testing prior to release.

Collaboration & Enablement
Partner with Engineering test and DevOps to:
o Embed accessibility automation into existing pipelines
o Align functional and accessibility test strategies
Mentor teams on:
o Writing accessibility-friendly UI code
o Interpreting Axe results
o Fixing issues efficiently
Act as a technical liaison with Deque and other tooling partners.

Governance & Compliance
Ensure compliance with WCAG 2.2 AA and EAA through continuous automated monitoring.
Maintain and evolve:
o Automation standards
o Accessibility test patterns
o CI/CD accessibility gates
Support vendor and third-party evaluations by assessing automation readiness and accessibility risk.

Reporting & Insight
Produce automation-driven reporting:
o Accessibility coverage by product
o Regressions caught pre-release
o Trends over time from Axe Monitor
Communicate results clearly to engineering leaders and executives focusing on risk reduction and velocity gains.

Must-Have Skills
5 years of experience in digital accessibility with a strong automation and engineering focus.
Expert knowledge of WCAG 2.1 / 2.2 and WAI-ARIA including deep understanding of automatable success criteria.
Strong understanding of HTML CSS and JavaScript including modern SPA behavior.
Hands-on experience with Deque Axe Monitor including configuration execution and maintenance of transactional scripts.
Strong experience with Deque Axe DevTools for rule validation debugging and pre-Monitor testing.
Proven experience integrating accessibility automation into Selenium-based test frameworks.
Ability to write maintain and troubleshoot transactional automation scripts executed at scale.
Experience integrating accessibility automation into CI/CD pipelines (e.g. Jenkins GitHub Actions Azure DevOps).
Strong debugging skills related to flaky automation selectors timing issues and dynamic content.
Experience working with version control systems (Git) and enterprise automation practices.
Excellent technical communication skills with engineering and test teams.
Must be local to Houston or Chicago and willing to work in a hybrid environment.