A quality assurance (QA) engineer plays a critical role in a company’s operations charged with safeguarding the highest quality of processes and products. Quality assurance engineers are generally responsible for testing products to ensure reliability and superiority, setting up and running tests, making adjustments to products and parts, analyzing test data, developing parameters and scenarios, and participating in product reviews.
More specifically, they are responsible for designing and implementing testing strategies and plans to ensure that the product meets the required quality standards. QA engineers have to conduct various types of testing to identify defects, bugs, or other issues in the software or product. This may include functional testing, regression testing, load testing, and performance testing. They are furthermore responsible for identifying and reporting any issues or defects found during the testing, tracking the progress of defect resolution to ensure that everything is resolved.
QA engineers work alongside cross-functional teams like developers, project managers, and other stakeholders to ensure the testing efforts are aligned with business objectives and project goals. Quality assurance engineers must also provide feedback to the development team on design, functionality, usability, and performance to improve overall product quality and user experience.
QA engineers are always busy with some part of the assurance process. They need to continuously monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of testing processes, tools, and methodologies to ensure continuous improvement.
Since ensuring quality is central to every process and product one can imagine, QA engineers can find opportunities in a number of sectors. Common industries include healthcare, finance, technology, retail, gaming, e-commerce, government, manufacturing, and beyond.
In the popular sector of technology, software QA engineers are essential to upholding the quality and reliability of software products services, like web and mobile applications, software platforms, and other technology products. QA automation engineers may need to execute automated test scripts to identify defects and verify that software products and systems meet quality standards.
Common quality assurance engineer responsibilities
A quality assurance engineer is responsible for performing a range of important quality checking and management tasks.
Responsibilities may include:
- Developing and implementing testing strategies, plans and test cases for products and software to ensure that they meet quality standards and user requirements;
- Conducting automated and manual testing to identify and report any defects, bugs or issues in the software or product;
- Working closely with developers and project managers to identify and resolve any quality issues throughout the development process;
- Continuously monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of the testing process, tools, and methodologies to ensure continuous improvement;
- Providing feedback to development teams on design, functionality, usability, and performance to improve product quality and user experience;
- Collaborating with cross-functional teams to ensure that all testing efforts are aligned with business objectives and project goals;
- Developing and maintaining documentation related to the testing process, including test plans, test cases, test scripts and defect tracking reports;
- Investigating and reproducing reported issues to identify the root cause and ensure timely resolution;
- Staying up-to-date with the latest trends, tools and techniques in software testing and quality assurance;
- Supporting and training other team members on testing and quality assurance processes and procedures as needed.
Qualifications for quality assurance engineers
QA engineers should have at least a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field. Some additional software testing certifications may be desirable.
Additional supporting skills and experience include:
- 2+ years of previous experience in a related field and role;
- Solid understanding of software development processes, testing methodologies, and programming languages;
- Experience using testing tools such as JIRA, Selenium, Appium, and other testing frameworks;
- Knowledge of relevant industry standards, regulations, and best practices, including compliance requirements such as HIPAA or GDPR for healthcare and data privacy industries;
- Certifications in software testing methodologies or tools, such as ISTQB, CSTE, or CSQA;
- Strong analytical mindset with excellent problem-solving skills and attention to detail;
- Ability to work well in a cross-functional team environment with strong communication skills;
- Experience with testing frameworks, automation tools, and programming languages such as Python and Java are an advantage.
Sources of information:
https://resources.workable.com/qa-engineer-job-description
https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/finding-a-job/qa-roles
https://www.mightyrecruiter.com/job-descriptions/quality-assurance-engineer/
https://www.betterteam.com/quality-engineer-job-description
https://breezy.hr/resources/job-descriptions/qa-engineer
https://www.comeet.com/resources/job-descriptions/qa-engineer