Staff Software Engineer In Test

Staff Software Engineer – In Test (Automation & Quality Engineering)
Location: [City, State] – Hybrid (3 days on‑site, 2 days remote)
Employment Type: Full‑time, Permanent
Reports To: Director of Engineering – Quality & Test Automation

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About the Company

At [Company Name], we build mission‑critical, cloud‑native platforms that power millions of users worldwide. Our engineering culture is rooted in rapid iteration, data‑driven decision‑making, and a relentless focus on delivering high‑quality software. We’re expanding our Quality Engineering organization and are looking for a senior technical leader who can design, implement, and champion next‑generation test automation across the product suite.

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Key Responsibilities

Area	What You’ll Do
Test Architecture & Frameworks	• Design, develop, and maintain scalable, reusable automation frameworks (e.g., Selenium/WebDriver, Playwright, Cypress, RestAssured, TestNG/JUnit, PyTest, SpecFlow). • Establish best‑practice patterns for UI, API, performance, and contract testing.
Collaboration & Integration	• Partner with product, development, DevOps, and SRE teams to embed quality gates throughout the CI/CD pipeline (Jenkins, GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps, GitLab). • Drive “shift‑left” testing by working early with feature teams on testability, contract definitions, and mock‑service strategies.
Test Execution & Analysis	• Own the end‑to‑end automated test execution strategy for multiple release streams. • Analyze test results, flakiness, and failure trends; provide actionable feedback to developers and product owners.
Mentorship & Leadership	• Lead a small team of QA engineers and contractors, fostering a culture of continuous learning and ownership. • Conduct code reviews, pair‑programming sessions, and technical workshops on testing techniques and tooling.
Quality Metrics & Reporting	• Define, track, and report key quality indicators (e.g., test coverage, mean time to detection, defect leakage). • Build dashboards (Grafana, PowerBI, Looker) that surface real‑time health of the test suite to stakeholders.
Continuous Improvement	• Evaluate emerging testing technologies (e.g., AI‑assisted test generation, contract testing tools, chaos engineering) and pilot them where appropriate. • Optimize test suite performance to keep feedback loops under 15 minutes for critical paths.

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Required Qualifications

Category	Minimum Requirements
Education	Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related technical field (or equivalent practical experience).
Experience	• 7+ years of professional software testing/quality assurance experience, with at least 3 years in a senior or lead role. • Proven track record designing and scaling automation frameworks for large, distributed systems.
Programming	Strong proficiency in Java, Python, or C# (you should be comfortable writing production‑grade code, unit tests, and integration tests).
Automation Tools	Hands‑on experience with at least two of the following: Selenium/WebDriver, Playwright, Cypress, RestAssured, Postman/Newman, JMeter, Gatling, or similar.
CI/CD & DevOps	Experience integrating automated tests into pipelines (Jenkins, GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps, GitLab CI).
Methodologies	Deep understanding of Agile/Scrum, Test‑Driven Development (TDD), Behavior‑Driven Development (BDD), and Shift‑Left testing practices.
Soft Skills	Excellent communication, strong analytical mindset, and the ability to influence cross‑functional teams without direct authority.

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Preferred (Nice‑to‑Have) Skills

• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and container orchestration (Kubernetes, Docker).
• Knowledge of contract testing frameworks (Pact, WireMock).
• Familiarity with performance/chaos testing tools (Locust, Gremlin).
• Exposure to security testing (OWASP ZAP, Snyk).
• Contributions to open‑source testing libraries or community talks.

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What We Offer

• Competitive base salary + annual performance bonus.
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision plans.
• 401(k) match (or local equivalent) and employee stock options.
• Generous paid time off, parental leave, and flexible work arrangements.
• Professional development budget, conference sponsorship, and internal tech‑talk series.
• State‑of‑the‑art engineering labs, ergonomic workspaces, and a collaborative, inclusive culture.

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How to Apply

1. Submit your updated résumé and a brief cover letter highlighting a recent automation framework you built (include technologies, scale, and impact).
2. Include links to any public repositories, technical blogs, or conference talks that showcase your expertise.

[Apply Now →] (Insert application link)

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We are an equal‑opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.