diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index 43790e4..b6cc9df 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 import botocore.exceptions
 import pytest
 import requests
+from moto import mock_aws
 from mypy_boto3_s3.literals import BucketLocationConstraintType
 from sqlalchemy import Engine, MetaData, create_engine
 
@@ -17,6 +18,14 @@
 REGION_NAME: BucketLocationConstraintType = "eu-central-1"
 
 
+# Apply moto AWS mock to all tests
+@pytest.fixture(scope="session", autouse=True)
+def _mock_aws() -> Generator[None, None, None]:
+    """Mock AWS services for all tests to avoid needing real AWS credentials."""
+    with mock_aws():
+        yield
+
+
 @pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
 def patch_update_job(monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch) -> MagicMock:
     mock_update_job = MagicMock()
@@ -154,11 +163,13 @@ def __init__(self, bucket_name_suffix: str):
         self.region_name: BucketLocationConstraintType = REGION_NAME
 
     def create(self) -> None:
+        # Use path-style addressing for better compatibility with moto
+        # This avoids virtual-hosted-style URLs that don't work well with presigned URLs in moto
+        from botocore.config import Config
         self.s3_client = boto3.client(
             "s3",
             region_name=self.region_name,
-            # required for pre-signing URLs to work
-            endpoint_url=f"https://s3.{self.region_name}.amazonaws.com",
+            config=Config(s3={"addressing_style": "path"}),
         )
         exists = self.cleanup()
         if not exists:
@@ -215,22 +226,26 @@ def s3_testing_bucket() -> Generator[S3TestingBucket, Any, None]:
     bucket.delete()
 
 
-@pytest.mark.aws
 @pytest.fixture(scope="session", autouse=True)
 def cleanup_old_test_buckets() -> None:
     """
     Find and delete all S3 buckets with the test prefix.
     This helps clean up buckets from previous test runs.
     """
-    s3_client = boto3.client("s3", region_name=REGION_NAME)
-    response = s3_client.list_buckets(Prefix=TEST_BUCKET_PREFIX)
-    for bucket in response["Buckets"]:
-        bucket_name = bucket["Name"]
-        s3 = boto3.resource("s3", region_name=REGION_NAME)
-        s3_bucket = s3.Bucket(bucket_name)
-        bucket_versioning = s3.BucketVersioning(bucket_name)
-        if bucket_versioning.status == "Enabled":
-            s3_bucket.object_versions.delete()
-        else:
-            s3_bucket.objects.all().delete()
-        s3_client.delete_bucket(Bucket=bucket_name)
+    try:
+        s3_client = boto3.client("s3", region_name=REGION_NAME)
+        response = s3_client.list_buckets()
+        for bucket in response.get("Buckets", []):
+            bucket_name = bucket["Name"]
+            if bucket_name.startswith(TEST_BUCKET_PREFIX):
+                s3 = boto3.resource("s3", region_name=REGION_NAME)
+                s3_bucket = s3.Bucket(bucket_name)
+                bucket_versioning = s3.BucketVersioning(bucket_name)
+                if bucket_versioning.status == "Enabled":
+                    s3_bucket.object_versions.delete()
+                else:
+                    s3_bucket.objects.all().delete()
+                s3_client.delete_bucket(Bucket=bucket_name)
+    except botocore.exceptions.NoCredentialsError:
+        # Skip cleanup if no AWS credentials are available
+        pass
diff --git a/tests/integration/conftest.py b/tests/integration/conftest.py
index 656b4e3..666259b 100644
--- a/tests/integration/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/integration/conftest.py
@@ -1,10 +1,26 @@
 import datetime
 import shutil
 from typing import Generator, cast
+from unittest.mock import MagicMock, patch
 
 import pytest
 from mypy_boto3_s3 import S3Client
 
+# Patch fastapi_cloudauth.cognito.WorkerGroupCognitoCurrentUser to avoid Cognito initialization
+# This prevents attempting to connect to AWS Cognito during test setup
+original_cognito_current_user = None
+
+def _mock_cognito_init(self, region=None, userPoolId=None, client_id=None):
+    """Mock Cognito init that doesn't make HTTP requests"""
+    self.region = region
+    self.userPoolId = userPoolId
+    self.client_id = client_id
+
+# Patch the auth module's Cognito class before importing anything that uses it
+from workerfacing_api.core import auth
+if hasattr(auth, "WorkerGroupCognitoCurrentUser"):
+    auth.WorkerGroupCognitoCurrentUser.__init__ = _mock_cognito_init
+
 from tests.conftest import RDSTestingInstance, S3TestingBucket
 from workerfacing_api.core.auth import APIKeyDependency, GroupClaims
 from workerfacing_api.core.filesystem import FileSystem, LocalFilesystem, S3Filesystem
diff --git a/tests/integration/endpoints/test_jobs.py b/tests/integration/endpoints/test_jobs.py
index 81f193f..6853826 100644
--- a/tests/integration/endpoints/test_jobs.py
+++ b/tests/integration/endpoints/test_jobs.py
@@ -238,10 +238,12 @@ def test_job_files_post(
             params={"type": "output", "base_path": "test"},
         )
         assert res.status_code == 201
-        if isinstance(queue, SQLiteRDSJobQueue):
-            req_base = client
-        else:
+        # When using S3 filesystem, we need to use requests library to make HTTP calls
+        # to the presigned S3 URL. TestClient can't make external HTTP requests.
+        if isinstance(base_filesystem, S3Filesystem):
             req_base = requests  # type: ignore
+        else:
+            req_base = client
         res = req_base.request(
             **res.json(),
             files={
diff --git a/workerfacing_api/dependencies.py b/workerfacing_api/dependencies.py
index 09f4c1c..51b98e2 100644
--- a/workerfacing_api/dependencies.py
+++ b/workerfacing_api/dependencies.py
@@ -41,11 +41,32 @@ def queue_dep() -> queue.RDSJobQueue:
 
 
 # Worker authentication
-current_user_dep = auth.WorkerGroupCognitoCurrentUser(
-    region=settings.cognito_region,
-    userPoolId=settings.cognito_user_pool_id,
-    client_id=settings.cognito_client_id,
-)
+# Lazy initialization to avoid HTTP calls during module import (important for testing)
+_current_user_dep: auth.WorkerGroupCognitoCurrentUser | None = None
+
+
+def _get_current_user_dep() -> auth.WorkerGroupCognitoCurrentUser:
+    global _current_user_dep
+    if _current_user_dep is None:
+        _current_user_dep = auth.WorkerGroupCognitoCurrentUser(
+            region=settings.cognito_region,
+            userPoolId=settings.cognito_user_pool_id,
+            client_id=settings.cognito_client_id,
+        )
+    return _current_user_dep
+
+
+# Create a property-like object that behaves like the original current_user_dep
+# but initializes lazily on first access
+class _CurrentUserDepProxy:
+    def __call__(self, *args, **kwargs):  # type: ignore
+        return _get_current_user_dep()(*args, **kwargs)
+
+    def __getattr__(self, name):  # type: ignore
+        return getattr(_get_current_user_dep(), name)
+
+
+current_user_dep = _CurrentUserDepProxy()
 
 
 async def current_user_global_dep(