Junior QA Tester

About Writer’s Toolbox

Writer's Toolbox is a multi-award-winning education technology company, delivering school writing improvement programmes globally and proven to more than double national writing outcomes. With teams across New Zealand, Australia and the UK, Writer's Toolbox has built an internationally recognised programme, combining thirty years of pedagogy research with educational AI to lift student writing at scale.

We’re looking for a Junior QA Tester to join our team to help us maintain strong testing practices across Writer’s Toolbox (WTB) and several internal web-based applications. This is an excellent opportunity for someone early in their QA career who wants to develop strong manual testing skills while progressively learning test automation.

About the Role

As a Junior QA Tester, your initial focus will primarily be on manual testing, working closely with Product and Development to ensure new functionality works as expected and existing functionality continues to operate correctly. You will be supported and mentored by an experienced QA Manager.  As you become more confident in the role and understand our products and testing practices, you will progressively develop your automation skills. The longer-term goal is for you to contribute to creating, running, and maintaining automated tests alongside your manual testing responsibilities.

Key Responsibilities

Manual Testing

·       Create and maintain test scenarios and test cases based on user stories, requirements, and acceptance criteria.

·       Execute functional, exploratory, smoke, and sanity testing of web-based applications.

·       Perform cross-browser testing and verify functionality across supported environments, user roles, and permissions.

·       Re-test defects following fixes from developers and test new functionality prior to release.

·       Identify areas of risk and consider scenarios that may not be covered by original requirements.

·       Maintain clear and accurate test documentation and support regression testing as your experience develops.

Defect Management

·       Identify, reproduce, and document software defects in Jira with clear reproduction steps, expected/actual behaviour, and supporting evidence.

·       Work closely with developers to investigate, clarify, and follow defects through to resolution.

·       Communicate testing progress, issues, and risks clearly to the wider team.

Working With Product & Development

·       Collaborate closely with Product Managers, Product Owners, and Developers throughout the software delivery lifecycle.

·       Develop a strong understanding of the product, its users, and common user workflows.

·       Ask questions, raise quality concerns early, and contribute to improving the team’s testing practices.

·       Develop a practical understanding of Agile software development and QA's role within it.

Developing Automation Skills

(Note: Automation is not the primary focus upon joining. During your first few months, you will focus on mastering product knowledge and manual QA practices.)

·       Identify manual test scenarios that are suitable candidates for automation.

·       Learn our team’s chosen automation framework with structured mentorship.

·       Convert manual test scenarios into automated scripts, run existing test suites, and investigate test failures.

·       Maintain and update automated tests as product functionality evolves over time.

What We’re Looking For

Experience & Qualifications

·       0–2 years of commercial QA/software testing experience OR a relevant degree/qualification with practical tech experience.

·       Understanding of basic software testing principles, test case creation, and bug reporting.

·       Strong written/verbal communication skills and a logical approach to problem-solving.

·       Ability to collaborate effectively with developers and Product team members.

Automation & Technical Skills (Nice to Have)

Basic programming knowledge is helpful but not required. Bonus if you have:

·       Exposure to programming/scripting (JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, or similar).

·       Familiarity with browser developer tools or web application architecture.

·       Exposure to any test automation framework.

Tools & Environment

Previous experience with these tools is helpful but not essential (you will work with):

·       Jira & Confluence

·       Web-based testing environments & Browser Developer Tools

·       Our automated testing framework (introduced as part of your role)

Personal Qualities

We are looking for someone who is:

·       A Strong Spoken and Written Communicator: Ability to clearly document steps and discuss technical issues with developers.

·       Curious & Analytical: Eager to understand how software works and naturally thinks about edge cases or potential failures.

·       Detail-Oriented & Organised: Efficient at catching details others miss and managing test evidence cleanly.

·       Collaborative & Proactive: Communicates issues clearly, asks questions early, and takes ownership of product quality.

What Success Looks Like

·       First 3 Months: Understand core WTB user workflows and QA processes; confidently create and execute manual test scenarios and write clear defect reports in Jira.

·       3–6 Months: Independently manage testing for smaller features, contribute to regression testing, and begin learning the automation framework to create basic scripts with guidance.

·       Longer Term: Independently handle testing for assigned features, maintain reliable manual/automated test suites, and contribute to expanding our QA process.

Why Join Us

This is an opportunity to build your QA career in a supportive environment with direct access to experienced QA leadership. You won’t be expected to know everything on day one—we’ll help you develop strong testing fundamentals first, then progressively build your technical and automation skills as your confidence grows.

How to apply

Please respond with a CV and cover letter explaining why you would be suitable for the role.