Senior QA Engineer; Manual Testing + Automation + API Validation | Strong Critical Thinking Skills

Position: Senior QA Engineer (Manual Testing + Automation + API Validation | Strong Critical Thinking Skills)
Company Description
At Pristine Data AI, our mission is to empower sales and marketing teams with AI-driven solutions that provide in-depth insights into their target audiences. By delivering actionable intelligence, we help businesses create relevant conversations, foster engagement, and drive revenue growth. Join us in redefining how organizations connect with their customers through innovative technology solutions.

Role Description
We are looking for a detail-oriented and analytical QA Engineer with  5–8 years of strong manual testing experience.  The ideal candidate should have solid expertise in functional, regression, smoke, and exploratory testing, along with basic exposure to automation and API validation using Postman.
The role requires strong logical reasoning, the ability to interpret complex requirements, and a structured approach to identifying defects and edge cases.

Key Responsibilities
Analyze business requirements and prepare comprehensive test scenarios and test cases
Perform Functional Testing, Regression Testing, Smoke Testing, and Exploratory Testing
Conduct End-to-End testing across web-based applications and workflows
Identify edge cases, negative scenarios, and logical inconsistencies
Perform impact analysis for new feature releases and enhancements
Support UAT cycles and post-production validation
Log, track, and manage defects through closure
Validate APIs using Postman by checking request/response payloads, status codes, and basic JSON structure
Support automation efforts during regression cycles
Collaborate closely with developers, product teams, and stakeholders
Ensure quality standards are maintained throughout the release cycle

Required Skills
Strong understanding of SDLC and STLC
Hands-on experience in manual testing methodologies
Experience in Regression, Smoke, Exploratory, Integration, and End-to-End testing
API validation using Postman
Experience required in Selenium or Playwright
Strong defect reporting and documentation skills
Experience working in Agile environments

Analytical & Cognitive Skills (AI-Focused)
Strong critical thinking to evaluate AI-generated outputs for accuracy, relevance, and contextual alignment
Excellent reading comprehension skills to interpret input requirements and validate output consistency
Ability to identify logical gaps, inconsistencies, or fabricated information in system responses
Strong attention to detail to detect subtle errors, tone mismatches, or contextual deviations
Logical reasoning to validate complex workflows and dynamic output behavior
Ability to assess alignment between system inputs and generated outputs
Strong regression impact awareness when validating model, prompt, or workflow changes
Structured thinking to evaluate edge cases and non-deterministic system responses effectively.