1. **Test Planning and Strategy**: Developing test plans and strategies for API automation testing, considering project requirements, timelines, and quality goals.

2. **Test Case Design**: Designing comprehensive test cases and test scenarios to validate API functionality, performance, and security.

3. **Automation Scripting**: Writing and maintaining automation scripts using Java, Selenium WebDriver, and Rest Assured for API testing, ensuring robust and scalable test automation frameworks.

4. **Test Execution**: Executing automated test scripts to validate API endpoints, requests, and responses, and ensuring adherence to acceptance criteria and functional requirements.

5. **Defect Management**: Identifying, reporting, and tracking defects using defect tracking tools like Jira, and collaborating with development teams to ensure timely resolution.

6. **Regression Testing**: Conducting regression testing to ensure that new changes and features do not adversely impact existing API functionality.

7. **Integration Testing**: Collaborating with development teams to perform integration testing of APIs with other components of the system, such as front-end applications or databases.

8. **Performance Testing**: Conducting performance testing of APIs using tools like JMeter or Gatling to evaluate response times, throughput, and scalability under different load conditions.

9. **Security Testing**: Performing security testing of APIs to identify vulnerabilities such as injection attacks, authentication issues, and data exposure risks.

10. **Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD)**: Integrating automated API tests into CI/CD pipelines using tools like Jenkins or GitLab CI/CD to ensure early detection of defects and faster delivery cycles.

11. **Documentation**: Creating and maintaining documentation for automated test scripts, test cases, test data, and testing processes to facilitate knowledge sharing and onboarding of team members.

12. **Collaboration and Communication**: Collaborating with cross-functional teams including developers, product owners, and business analysts to understand requirements, provide feedback, and ensure alignment on quality goals.

13. **Mentoring and Training**: Mentoring junior testers and providing guidance on best practices, techniques, and tools for API automation testing.

14. **Continuous Learning**: Staying updated with the latest trends, tools, and methodologies in API automation testing and actively seeking opportunities for professional development.

15. **Quality Advocacy**: Advocating for quality assurance best practices within the organization and driving initiatives to improve testing processes, tools, and techniques.