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:

1. GIT

2. Java

3. Selenium

4. Jenkins

5. Javascript

6. Python

7. Agile

8. Jira

9. Test

10. Test Automation

11. Automated Testing

12. C#

13. React

14. SQL

15. Automation

16. Cucumber

17. Software Quality

18. Software Quality Assurance

19. UI Testing

20. .Net Framework

21. Agile Framework

22. Code Management Tool

23. Deployment Tools

24. End-To-End Solutions

25. Leveraging Software QA Tools

Most In-demand Soft Skills

The following list describes the most required soft skills of a Software Quality Engineer:

1. Written and oral communication skills

2. Analytical ability

3. Problem-solving attitude

4. Organizational capacity

5. Attention to detail

6. Creative

7. Interpersonal skills

8. Detail-oriented

9. Work independently with little direction

10. Keen sense of prioritization

11. Curious

12. Collaborative

13. Love open-ended problems

14. Quantitative aptitude

15. Team first attitude

16. Time-management