Senior Manual QA Engineer (Remote)

Outside Hire is a growing outsourcing company with over 75 employees, building custom products and solutions for our clients. We're dynamic, fast-paced, and always evolving!

The Senior Manual QA Engineer serves as the hands-on quality gatekeeper responsible for comprehensive manual testing of the payment processing platform. This role focuses on end-to-end validation of payment flows, compliance verification, exploratory testing, and ensuring that all features meet acceptance criteria before production release.
Working alongside the Senior Automation QA Engineer, this role owns the manual testing strategy for complex payment scenarios that require human judgment, edge case exploration, and real-world user experience validation. The Senior Manual QA Engineer is critical to ensuring the platform delivers a compliant, reliable, and user-friendly payment experience for partners and their customers.

End-to-End Payment Flow Testing
•    Execute comprehensive manual testing of complete payment flows from checkout initiation through settlement confirmation
•    Validate dynamic surcharge calculations across different card types (Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover), BIN ranges, and jurisdictions
•    Test split settlement scenarios ensuring accurate distribution to Partners, Merchants, Promoters, and the Platform
•    Verify cost calculation engine including interchange fees, acquirer fees, and platform fees
•    Test Apple Pay and Google Pay wallet integrations including DPAN handling and tokenization
•    Validate refund and chargeback workflows including proportional surcharge reversals

Compliance & Regulatory Testing
•    Validate Durbin Amendment compliance ensuring regulated debit cards are blocked from surcharges
•    Test state-specific surcharge cap enforcement (e.g., 3% Nevada cap, California, Texas Ticketing Act rules)
•    Verify card network surcharge rules (Visa, Mastercard maximum caps) are correctly applied
•    Test PCI-DSS compliance requirements including secure card data handling in hosted payment fields
•    Validate fee transparency requirements ensuring buyers see accurate line-item breakdowns

Integration Testing
•    Test Partner HPP (Hosted Payment Page) integration including API responses, field rendering, and error handling
•    Validate webhook notifications (Transaction Authorized, Declined, Split Completed, Refund Initiated, Payout Settled)
•    Test payment processor integration including authorization, capture, and settlement flows
•    Verify BIN lookup service integration accuracy and fallback handling
•    Test tokenization service integration for payment method tokens

Exploratory & Edge Case Testing
•    Conduct exploratory testing sessions to discover edge cases and unexpected system behaviors
•    Test boundary conditions for surcharge calculations, transaction amounts, and split percentages
•    Validate error handling and graceful degradation when external services fail (BIN lookup, processor timeouts)
•    Test concurrent transaction scenarios and race conditions in split settlement
•    Perform negative testing including invalid card data, expired tokens, and malformed requests

Test Documentation & Management
•    Create and maintain comprehensive test cases for all payment scenarios
•    Document test execution results with clear pass/fail criteria and evidence
•    Write detailed bug reports with reproduction steps, expected vs. actual results, and severity classification
•    Maintain test data sets for different card types, jurisdictions, and merchant configurations
•    Collaborate with Automation QA to identify test cases suitable for automation vs. manual execution

UAT & Stakeholder Coordination
•    Support User Acceptance Testing (UAT) with Partner engineering teams
•    Coordinate testing activities with engineering team during sprint cycles
•    Participate in sprint planning to estimate testing effort and identify risks
•    Communicate test status, blockers, and quality metrics to stakeholders
•    Validate production readiness criteria before pilot launches

WHAT THIS ROLE WILL NOT DO

•    Write or maintain automated test scripts — this is owned by the Senior Automation QA Engineer
•    Configure CI/CD pipeline test integrations — DevOps and Automation QA responsibility
•    Write production code or fix bugs — engineering team responsibility
•    Make architectural or design decisions — owned by Chief Architect and Engineering Manager
•    Conduct performance or load testing — this requires specialized tooling owned by Automation QA
•    Manage production deployments or infrastructure — DevOps responsibility
•    Define product requirements or acceptance criteria — Technical Product Owner responsibility (though will validate against them)

KPIs AND ACCOUNTABILITIES

Experience
•    5+ years of manual software testing experience, with at least 2 years in payment processing, fintech, or financial services
•    Proven track record of testing complex, multi-system integrations
•    Experience with agile development methodologies and sprint-based delivery
•    History of working in regulated environments requiring compliance validation

Technical Skills
•    Strong understanding of REST APIs and ability to test using tools like Postman or Insomnia
•    Proficiency in SQL for database validation and test data management
•    Experience testing webhook integrations and asynchronous event flows
•    Familiarity with .NET or Java applications and AWS / Azure cloud services
•    Understanding of payment card data flows (PAN, tokenization, BIN lookup)
•    Experience with test management tools (Jira, TestRail, or similar)

Testing Expertise
•    Expertise in test case design using techniques like equivalence partitioning, boundary value analysis, and decision tables
•    Strong exploratory testing skills with session-based test management experience
•    Ability to perform risk-based testing and prioritize based on business impact
•    Experience with regression testing strategies for high-velocity release cycles
•    Knowledge of UAT facilitation and stakeholder coordination

Soft Skills
•    Excellent written communication for test documentation and bug reports
•    Strong attention to detail and analytical thinking
•    Ability to work collaboratively with developers, product owners, and external stakeholders
•    Proactive communication of risks and blockers
•    Comfortable challenging assumptions and advocating for quality

•    Experience testing payment gateway integrations (Stripe, PayPal, Square, ProPay, or similar)
•    Knowledge of PCI-DSS compliance requirements and security testing
•    Familiarity with surcharge regulations (Durbin Amendment, state-specific caps, card network rules)
•    Experience with ticketing platforms or event management systems
•    Understanding of split payment/settlement systems and multi-party fund distribution
•    Experience testing mobile wallet integrations (Apple Pay, Google Pay)
•    Background in testing reconciliation and financial reporting systems
•    Knowledge of interchange fee structures and card network economics
•    Experience with chargeback and dispute management workflows
•    ISTQB or similar QA certification

SUCCESS PROFILE

The ideal candidate is a meticulous payment testing specialist who combines deep domain knowledge with hands-on testing expertise. They understand that in payment systems, edge cases aren't just edge cases—they're potential compliance violations or financial losses.

You'll thrive in this role if you:
•    Get satisfaction from finding bugs that would have caused real-world payment failures
•    Enjoy the detective work of exploratory testing in complex financial systems
•    Take pride in comprehensive test documentation that enables repeatable quality
•    Value compliance and understand why regulatory requirements matter
•    Collaborate effectively with developers without creating adversarial relationships
•    Stay curious about how payment systems work behind the scenes
•    Can balance thoroughness with sprint delivery timelines

Inclusive Environment: Dynamic work environment that values creativity and collaboration

Cutting-Edge Projects: Modern, well-architected platform with best-in-class tools

Impact: Build systems that process real financial transactions

Modern Stack: Quarkus, Kotlin, AWS, and AI coding assistants

Competitive Benefits: Competitive salary, remote work, professional development

Growth Culture: Continuous learning, innovation, and recognition

Work-Life Balance: Flexible hours, remote-first, sustainable pace

Outside Hire is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.