# Senior Quality Software Engineer

**Company:** [NODA AI](https://hotfix.jobs/companies/noda-ai)
**Location:** Austin, TX
**Role:** QA Engineering
**Experience:** 7+ years
**Skills:** Python, Rust, CI/CD, SAST, dependency scanning, nist 800-171, test automation, Distributed Systems, concurrent systems, quality dashboards, hardware-in-the-loop testing, software-in-the-loop testing, simulation testing, vulnerability scanning, security testing
**Posted:** 2026-08-05

> This senior quality engineer will build and own Core Engineering’s test automation infrastructure, CI/CD quality gates, security validation, metrics, and release go/no-go recommendations. The role requires 7+ years of software QE experience, Python proficiency, distributed-systems expertise, and eligibility for a security clearance.

## Job Description

## Responsibilities
- Own the test automation framework across Rust and Python, covering unit, integration, regression, and scenario-level testing.
- Integrate test suites into CI/CD with enforced gates at every stage, including SAST, dependency scanning, and vulnerability checks.
- Enforce NODA's compliance boundary so CUI and export-controlled data never reach clean-zone or vendor-accessible test paths.
- Drive build quality metrics, including coverage, flake rate, false positive rate, and mean time to detect and triage.
- Maintain a component-level quality dashboard feeding into program-level go/no-go views for engineering and program leadership.
- Own go/no-go checklists and issue release recommendations backed by functional, security, and compliance evidence.
- Triage failures before routing, providing engineers with a diagnosis rather than a symptom.
- Maintain test-suite health through review cadence, stale-test deprecation, and coverage-gap identification.
- Translate quality state into language that drives release decisions at the leadership level.
- Grow the QE function under Core Engineering as headcount scales.

## Required Qualifications
- 7+ years in software quality engineering, with a track record of building test infrastructure.
- Production-quality test code and maintainable test harnesses.
- Python required; Rust or a clear plan to learn it.
- Hands-on CI/CD integration, including building gates, debugging flaky tests, and enforcing blocks.
- Experience owning quality dashboards and metrics that drive go/no-go decisions.
- Fluency in distributed and concurrent systems and their failure modes.
- Experience integrating security testing into CI/CD, including SAST, dependency scanning, and compliance validation aligned to NIST 800-171 or equivalent.
- Experience designing test infrastructure that respects security boundaries and vendor guardrails while supporting restricted core components.
- Background in defense, robotics, aerospace, or autonomous systems.
- U.S. citizenship and ability to obtain a security clearance.

## Preferred Qualifications
- Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) or software-in-the-loop (SIL) testing experience.
- Simulation-based test pipelines.
- Edge or resource-constrained testing experience.
- Active security clearance.

## Benefits & Perks
- Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans.
- 401(k) retirement savings plan with company match.
- Equity grants for new hires.
- Unlimited PTO and 11 paid holidays.
- Generous company holiday calendar, including a holiday hiatus in November and December.
- Generous parental leave.
- Military leave for annual training or service requirements.
- FSA, DCFSA, and HSA.
- Professional development opportunities.
- Access to One Medical.
- Free 24/7 mental health resources, including therapy, plus legal and financial support.

## Growth Path
- **Quality Engineer:** Owns one or more test domains and maintains test harnesses supporting integration and validation.
- **Senior Quality Engineer:** Owns the quality function for Core Engineering, builds the test automation framework, and drives metric-backed go/no-go decisions.
- **Staff Quality Engineer:** Advises engineering leadership on QE architecture and strategy and sets quality standards across engineering sub-teams.
- **Principal Quality Engineer:** Defines the long-term QE roadmap and establishes company-wide standards for test infrastructure, coverage, and release quality.

Final leveling is determined at the offer stage based on demonstrated scope, impact, and technical leadership.

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