Our technology team is a rapidly growing group of talented and experienced engineers helping to build the leading enterprise software company focused on restaurant technology. We use modern technologies, automation, and AI-assisted engineering practices to build products that power restaurant operations at scale.We are looking for a hands-on, forward-thinking QA Automation Engineer to join our Kitchen Display System (KDS) team. This is an automation-first role where you'll own and extend automated test coverage for a business-critical platform used in restaurant operations. You will work within an established automation framework, help maintain healthy regression pipelines, improve test reliability, and partner closely with engineers to deliver high-quality software.This is a high-impact role on a fast-moving team where quality, automation, and continuous improvement are core to how we build and release software.What You'll Do Here
Develop, maintain, and expand automated test coverage for the Kitchen Display System (KDS) platform.
Design and execute automated UI, API, regression, and smoke tests.
Build scalable, maintainable automation solutions using established framework patterns and best practices.
Partner closely with developers, product managers, and QA engineers to ensure quality throughout the software development lifecycle.
Investigate defects, troubleshoot test failures, and identify quality risks early in the development process.
Maintain and improve automated test execution within CI/CD pipelines.
Participate in sprint planning, test strategy discussions, and release validation activities.
Leverage AI-assisted tools and workflows to improve test design, automation development, code reviews, troubleshooting, and engineering productivity.
Contribute to the continuous improvement of quality engineering standards, automation practices, and testing processes.Experience We're Looking For
4+ years of hands-on QA Automation, SDET, or Quality Engineering experience.
Strong programming skills in Java and a solid understanding of object-oriented programming principles.
Experience building and maintaining UI automation frameworks using Appium, Selenium, Playwright, or similar technologies.
Experience designing and implementing scalable automated test solutions.
Experience testing REST APIs and working with JSON payloads.
Experience with CI/CD pipelines and automated test execution.
Experience with Maven, Git, and modern software development workflows.
Strong troubleshooting, debugging, and root-cause analysis skills.
Ability to quickly understand and contribute to large, existing codebases.
Experience using AI-assisted development tools for coding, debugging, test generation, documentation, or code review.
Excellent communication and collaboration skills.
Experience working in Agile/Scrum environments.Bonus Experience
Experience with restaurant technology, POS systems, Kitchen Display Systems (KDS), or other transactional business applications.
Experience with Kotlin.
Experience testing desktop or Electron-based applications.
Experience with Azure DevOps or similar CI/CD platforms.
Familiarity with Docker and containerized testing environments.
Experience with distributed test execution environments.
Experience with performance, reliability, or latency-sensitive testing.
Experience with modern AI-assisted engineering workflows and agentic development tools.Technology Environment
Java
TestNG
Appium and Selenium
REST API Testing
Maven
Azure DevOps
Docker
Git
The Type of Team Player We Need
Proactive mindset with a high degree of ownership and accountability.
Passion for quality, automation, and continuous improvement.
Strong analytical thinker and creative problem-solver.
Comfortable working in a fast-paced environment with evolving priorities.
Adaptable, collaborative, and eager to learn.
Curious about emerging technologies and modern engineering practices, including AI-assisted software development.
Team-oriented professional who enjoys partnering across Engineering, Product, and QA disciplines.
Celara is an enterprise software company focused on restaurant technology, specifically building the leading platform for restaurant operations at scale. The company develops a Kitchen Display System (KDS) that powers restaurant operations and uses modern technologies, automation, and AI-assisted engineering practices to deliver high-quality products. Celara's technology team is rapidly growing and focused on building business-critical platforms that help restaurants manage their operations efficiently.
