Senior Software Quality Engineer

vCluster Labs is a venture-backed tech startup pioneering Kubernetes virtualization for the AI era. As a Senior Software Quality Engineer, you will own the test strategy and framework development, ensuring product reliability and quality while collaborating with cross-functional teams.

Responsibilities:

• Lead the design, development, and maintenance of automated test frameworks spanning backend services and UI, built to scale with a fast-growing product
• Own and drive test strategy across services and features, ensuring coverage is thorough and tied directly to product goals, not just ticket checkboxes
• Work closely with engineering and product to shape features early, advocate for testability, and align the team on what 'quality' means for this product
• Sit in on architecture and design discussions, bringing a testability and reliability lens before code gets written, not after
• Integrate automated tests into CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, Jenkins, etc.) so engineers get fast, high-confidence feedback on every change
• Run exploratory testing to catch usability issues, edge cases, and regressions that automation won't find on its own
• Move across multiple projects at once in a startup environment where priorities shift, without losing rigor

Requirements:

• 7+ years in QA or software testing, including 2+ years operating at a senior or staff level
• Strong hands-on skills in at least one of Go, Python, or JavaScript, used for building automation and tooling, not just scripting one-off checks
• Daily use of AI tools for reviewing PRs and design docs, writing test plans, and automating test cases, paired with the judgment to know when to trust the output and when to verify it yourself
• You spot what needs to happen and drive it forward without waiting to be told
• Proven ability to stay calm under ambiguity and juggle competing priorities in a fast-moving environment
• Strong written and verbal skills, with the ability to advocate for quality across engineering and product
• Deep understanding of CI/CD systems and hands-on experience integrating automated test suites into pipelines (GitHub Actions, Jenkins, or similar)
• Working knowledge of Kubernetes environments and distributed systems, or a strong aptitude and willingness to learn quickly
• Excellent analytical and debugging ability, particularly for backend and infrastructure-related issues
• Experience testing in tenant cluster or Tenant Isolation environments
• Prior experience owning QA at a startup through a period of rapid product growth