Main Responsibilities and Required Skills for Software Quality Engineer
A Software Quality Engineer is responsible for ensuring the quality of software products and developing and implementing quality assurance processes and procedures. They work closely with software developers and project managers to ensure that software applications meet specific quality standards, such as functionality, performance, reliability, and security. In this blog post we describe the primary responsibilities and the most in-demand hard and soft skills for Software Quality Engineers.
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Main Responsibilities of Software Quality Engineer
The following list describes the typical responsibilities of a Software Quality Engineer:
Adhere to
Adhere to Quality Engineer standards and best practices as well as audit requirements.
Advise
Advise upper management with respect to release for delivery of products.
Aid in
Aid in identifying and documenting critical application flows for test automation.
Analyze
Analyze complaint data for statistical trends and communicate opportunities for improvement.
Analyze, report on and monitors issues and defects found during the testing execution.
Analyze the issues using software or application monitoring tools.
Analyze user and business requirements to create technical test plan and test cases.
Analyze user stories and business process requirements to estimate quality risks.
Apply
Apply various testing types and methodologies effectively during the SDLC.
Arbitrate
Arbitrate the flow of feature and bug resolutions during the 'sprints'.
Assist in
Assist customers' QA team in building and executing their test strategy.
Assist in development of procedures and standards.
Assist in improving QA processes, tools, and environments.
Assist in the development of test strategy and test plans.
Audit
Audit activity planned for the next month.
Audit findings, due dates and follow-up action.
Author
Author and deliver new test scripts.
Automate
Automate tests and tests own code.
Automate tests using homegrown and / or open source test frameworks.
Build
Build and run our software testing operations including ML pipeline, API and UI testing.
Build Automation Frameworks.
Build Digital Banking features that serve the customers of our customers.
Build test plans and test cases, and execute them.
Care
Care deeply about customers, quality, craftsmanship, and polish.
Champion
Champion process improvements based on industry best practices for quality assurance.
Clean
Clean, well-lit and temperature-controlled.
Collaborate with
Collaborate across a wide range of roles and experience levels in a global setup.
Collaborate across teams with exceptional peers who are passionate about what they do.
Collaborate with geographically and culturally diverse multi-functional teams (on need basis).
Collaborate with Innovative 3Mers Around the World.
Collaborate with other functions including product management, product development, and designers.
Collaborate with peers to accomplish common goals.
Collaborate with SMEs on feature testing.
Collaborate with the delivery team to build automated e2e tests for a variety of digital products.
Communicate
Communicate effectively, working closely with internal and external resources.
Communicate Software quality requirements in compliance with Transport Canada and customer demands.
Communicate with customers to understand real life usage, build test cases.
Complete
Complete validation and validation related paperwork timely and accurately.
Conduct
Conduct regression analysis and addresses gaps.
Confirm
Confirm, report and manage defects.
Contribute to
Contribute to the growth and development of the software team related to validation best practices.
Create
Create and maintain test strategy, plan and test cases for testing new and existing product features.
Create and manage defects.
Create and publish overall quality metrics for product releases.
Create automation test scripts.
Create awesome product features with product managers and designers as your partners.
Create end-to-end, cross cloud-impacting, integration automation (API and UI) with complex orgs.
Create, execute, and report on results of manual test cases for assigned projects.
Create, improve, and automate test plans.
Create logs to document testing phases and defects.
Decompose
Decompose requirements into exhaustive test cases and create tests within TestRail.
Define
Define and build test scenarios and acceptance tests.
Define and implement test strategy for complex end-to-end systems that comprise the NCR solutions.
Define and refine team processes to gain efficiency.
Define appropriate measures to ensure product quality.
Define automation strategy and ensure testability.
Define overall test strategy for assigned features.
Define the business results expected from risk management strategies and projects.
Design
Design Controls specifically for complex software electomechanical devices.
Design detailed and comprehensive test plans and test cases.
Develop
Develop an understanding of our reporting products from the user perspective.
Develop best in class test automation code.
Develop key Multi-Cloud components and deployment environments, validations methodologies.
Develop reference documentation for systems operations required to perform verification.
Develop segmentation strategy to plan targeted communication.
Develop Team, Profession Service Deployment.
Develop test plans and test cases that validate customer requirements are met.
Develop well-documented & readable python scripts to interpret Software Engineering logs.
Devise
Devise improvements to current procedures and develops models of possible future configurations.
Discover
Discover, narrow down and isolate bugs and write clear, reproducible bug reports.
Document
Document defects effectively and work with Development team to triage and troubleshoot defects.
Document effective coverage of requirements by verification techniques.
Document and work to resolve complex problems.
Drive
Drive improvements to team and testing processes.
Enable
Enable your team to efficiently and effectively test the software that it builds.
Ensure
Ensure all calculations are correct in all possible circumstances.
Ensure quality and coverage for functionality, integration, regression, end to end and performance.
Ensure quality and effectiveness of assigned tasks.
Ensure software quality by efficiently identifying software defects and data quality issues.
Ensure the confidentiality and integrity of the information being accessed.
Establish
Establish quality requirements as they pertain to software and airborne electronic hardware.
Estimate
Estimate, prioritize, plan automation testing efforts related project work.
Evaluate
Evaluate product code according to specifications.
Evangelize
Evangelize quality of your product.
Execute
Execute functional / regression, performance and deployment tests.
Execute System Integration Testing and communicates the results for approval.
Expand
Expand and maintain the automated test suite for our products.
Facilitate
Facilitate defect meetings with all teams involved to get defects addressed promptly.
Focus on
Focus on improving the team's quality process with an emphasis on automation.
Follow
Follow procedures and guidelines for QA Team activities.
Follow standard methodologies for testing, profiling and releasing high quality software.
Help
Help developers write good and repeatable unit tests.
Help drive and promote understanding of the need for change through the organization.
Help Integrate POS with payment hardware and configuration.
Identify
Identify and resolve problems in a timely manner.
Identify areas of improvement or concern and works with the engineering team to address them.
Identify, build , maintain and execute automat ed test s scripts written in Java and JavaScript t.
Identify, communicate, and manage risks.
Identify, document and track variances in design, requirements and functionality.
Identify KPIs and establish benchmarks to measure impact of marketing activities and ROI of efforts.
Identify testing risks and propose solutions to mitigate.
Implement
Implement Behavior Driven Development processes.
Initiate
Initiate, stimulate, and support the implementation of process improvements.
Innovate
Innovate and automate and break the code.
Innovate on code and database deployment methods.
Innovate on testing tools ,quality and team processes.
Interface
Interface with customers to understand real life usage, build test cases.
Investigate
Investigate bugs using available logs, developer tools, databases, and then find a solution to it.
Investigate new technologies.
Investigate, reproduce, log and escalate reported defects.
Investigate and analyze impact of failure within and across product lines.
Lead
Lead Risk Management activities.
Lead testing of large, complex, high-quality features with minimal oversight.
Learn
Learn and apply a diverse set of testing tools and technologies.
Log
Log issues discovered in testing with steps to reproduce and failed acceptance criteria.
Maintain
Maintain and build automation scripts.
Maintain a strong understanding of industry trends and best practices for software testing.
Maintain quality artifacts such as test designs, cases and tools used by the organization.
Manage
Manage multiple projects and guide / mentor other quality engineers.
Mentor
Mentor other QA Engineers & Contract Personnel on Automation Techniques & Tools.
Monitor
Monitor and determine various staffing and professional development needs.
Monitor executions for Validation plan.
Monitor test results and reports using analysis tools.
Oversee
Oversee software design change projects to assure quality and compliance.
Own
Own everything about our services from concept through to operations.
Own non-functional testing and carryout testing and baseline of metrics.
Participate in
Participate in discussions with fellow test developers and provide technical guidance.
Participate in projects to improve product architecture, robustness and performance.
Participate in test strategy, test estimation and planning discussions.
Participate in the definition and implementation of effective processes and procedures.
Participate in the maintenance, improvement and deployment of the Quality Management System.
Perform
Perform complex work flow analysis and recommends quality improvements.
Perform RCA on the bugs reported by customers.
Perform root cause analysis of issues as needed, to determine necessary corrective action.
Perform SCAR (Supplier Corrective Action) , and process deviation activities.
Perform software test and quality assurance tasks as assigned.
Prepare
Prepare and communicate recommendations and respective action plans.
Prepare audit checklists and reports as well as present corrective action reports.
Produce
Produce technical documentation as needed.
Provide
Provide back up support to the manager as needed.
Provide guidance on resolving deviations associated with verification and validation activities.
Provide input and support throughout product's life cycle.
Provide input into evolving Quality processes.
Provide mentoring in quality, compliance, and technical areas across multiple work groups.
Provide technical and quality system guidance related to establishing software requirements.
Provide technical support to Support personnel and / or customers.
Provide validation training and consultation services on validation policies and practices.
Recognize
Recognize risks versus the relative gains associated with actions.
Recreate
Recreate issues reported in the field and help work to find root cause.
Recruit
Recruit, hire, mentor, coach, and energize engineering staff members.
Report
Report status on tasks and assignments.
Represent
Represent the quality engineering function for the review and approval of designated design outputs.
Research
Research Agile testing and test automation tools to make implementation recommendations.
Research problems and recommend solutions.
Retrieve
Retrieve and file bugs from devices' crash report logs.
Review
Review and analyze system specifications.
Review and Approval of designated project documentation in product creation projects.
Review and approve software lifecycle deliverables.
Review and approve software unit tests.
Review and take action on feedback from Salesforce employees using our products.
Review design specs and engineering docs and provide feedback.
Review include applicable specifications, materials, tools, techniques, and methodologies.
Serve
Serve and collaborate as a team leader in a distributed work environment.
Set up
Set up and maintain test environments.
Simplify
Simplify complex features into elegant functional design.
Support
Support continuous development and maintenance of all automation scripts.
Support design test and inspection method development, and lead method validation activities.
Take
Take ownership of quality health (e.g. testing coverage, performance, best practices, etc.).
Take personal responsibility to resolve issues.
Test
Test microservices across various architectures such as Spring Cloud.
Track
Track and report on quality metrics, highlight opportunities and drive improvement.
Track defects and create defects summary report for different group of people.
Train
Train and guide other QA team members on tools and test automation.
Troubleshoot
Troubleshoot production issues as well as work with development to make enhancements and fix bugs.
Uphold
Uphold engineering excellence and enforce best practices.
Use
Use qualitative and quantitative data to inform and drive test strategies and quality efforts.
Utilize
Utilize risk management documentation to determine risk of reported and as found product events.
Utilize testing equipment to include oscilloscopes, multi-meters and general lab equipment.
Verify
Verify reproducibility and impact of bugs found by others.
Visit
Visit Customer sites and Partners to understand production deployments.
Work
Work across teams with SEs, Support engineers, and across the R&D organizations.
Work as part of a fast paced scrum team.
Work closely within the team to define feature priorities, deliveries, and product schedules.
Work closely with Product Owners to identify and capture non-happy path requirements.
Work collaboratively in group problem solving situations.
Work with a team whose focus is to create best-in-class product and user experience.
Work with Customer to schedule and support quality audits.
Work with DevOps to resolve any system level issues.
Work with software development team to troubleshoot and resolve test defects.
Work with technical teams to plan safe releases with a post-production monitoring plan.
Work with the Customer SQE to correct the deficiencies.
Work with the development team to identify, analyze and resolve defects.
Write
Write best in class code to automate testing for your assigned feature areas.
Write and execute manual & automated test cases / scripts.
Write test plans, test cases, and create supporting documentation and test files.
Write test plan & test strategy.
Most In-demand Hard Skills
The following list describes the most required technical skills of a Software Quality Engineer:
Agile
Test
Test Automation
Automated Testing
C#
React
SQL
Automation
Cucumber
Software Quality
Software Quality Assurance
UI Testing
.Net Framework
Agile Framework
Code Management Tool
Deployment Tools
End-To-End Solutions
Leveraging Software QA Tools
Most In-demand Soft Skills
The following list describes the most required soft skills of a Software Quality Engineer:
Written and oral communication skills
Analytical ability
Problem-solving attitude
Organizational capacity
Attention to detail
Creative
Interpersonal skills
Detail-oriented
Work independently with little direction
Keen sense of prioritization
Curious
Collaborative
Love open-ended problems
Quantitative aptitude
Team first attitude
Time-management
