What is a QA Engineer?

Quality Assurance Engineers are responsible for quality assurance of a software product. It is their job to improve the software development process and ensure each step is completed to the highest standard possible.

They are required to think and act on behalf of the end-user in order to address not just their needs from the product, but their level of ability and knowledge.

What should be included in a QA Engineer job description?

Because QA Engineers need to maximise the final quality of a product, they are required to be able to put themselves in the mindset of the end-user.

This means Quality Assurance Engineers should be involved in each step of the software development lifecycle, working across teams and communicating with clients, in order to ensure that the end-user and the client are satisfied with the resulting product.

Other essential duties and responsibilities include:

• Plan and coordinate testing activities
• Identify, report, and track bugs; monitor debugging results
• Design and develop automation scripts
• Develop testing processes and best practice procedures
• Work with design, dev, and product teams; liaise with client if required
• Stay up-to-date on latest developments in the field

What skills and qualifications should an QA Engineer have?

While it is not strictly required, a tertiary education in software development, computer science or mathematics is recommended. Candidates should be able to demonstrate the following competencies:

• Experience in software development or software quality assurance
• A thorough understanding of QA processes and methodologies
• Experience with white and black box testing
• Experience with automated testing tools
• Experience with databases and SQL

Soft skills should include:

• Problem solving
• Communication
• Teamwork
• Critical thinking
• Time management
• Attention to detail