QA Engineer (hands-on, Playwright / TypeScript, JLPT N2), Digital Bank in Tokyo

Japan, Tokyo Hybrid (remote + office) Testing / QA Freelance

LOCATION REQUIREMENT
You must already be living in Japan with valid work authorization. No relocation or visa sponsorship for this role.

CONTEXT
Our client is building a new digital bank in Tokyo. Several Scrum teams deliver in parallel on Java and Kotlin microservices with a React front end. The QA team sets the strategy; a separate team builds the automation framework. The seat is open now and the QA lead can interview quickly: one call with us, then two interviews on the client side.

THE ROLE: A QA ENGINEER WHO DOES THE WORK
The team wants hands-on engineers, not managers. You follow the QA strategy set by the QA leads and drive the technical work yourself, every day.

PROFILE
• Currently based in Japan with valid work authorization (no relocation or visa sponsorship).
• 5+ years in QA with recent, personal hands-on contribution: tell us what you coded, debugged or reviewed yourself last month.
• You can read, write and debug code. Java, Kotlin or TypeScript is a plus; debugging matters more than the language.
• You speak and read both English and Japanese: English with the team, Japanese with business owners and in the specs. JLPT N2 or higher required; both languages are checked orally.
• Strong plus: you use AI tools every day and have built or used AI agents.
• Also a plus: ISTQB / JSTQB test design, fintech, banking or payment experience.

• Review PO requirements and acceptance criteria before development, and challenge what is unclear.
• Read, write and debug code: review pull requests and the developers' tests, find what is wrong and explain why. The language matters less than the ability to debug.
• Build and fix things in the test environment, write and maintain test code (Playwright, Selenium or similar), and test APIs and UI.
• Design tests with real techniques: boundary values, equivalence partitioning, decision tables, state transitions, risk-based prioritization.
• Work closely with developers and POs, in English and Japanese, with precise and direct communication.

WORKING SETUP
Two days a week on site in Tokyo. Contractor through Abbeal, or a permanent contract with Abbeal if you prefer.

PROCESS
A first technical talk with us, with a short debugging exercise and a test design question, partly in English and partly in Japanese. Then two interviews on the client side, the second partly in Japanese.

Full job page: https://abbeal.com/en/careers/qa-engineer-digital-bank-tokyo

Hybrid (remote + office)

Country / Region

Japan

Prefecture (State)

Tokyo

Location (Address)

Minato-ku

1-23-5 Higashi-Azabu