QA Engineer
We are dscout. At our core, we are People Nerds. We empower our customers to meet the people who matter to them in the moments that matter most. Many of the world’s most influential tech companies use dscout to deliver better products and services, alongside customer-obsessed companies and agencies like Lyft, Nike, IDEO, and REI.
Product and UX professionals use our platform to build, field, and analyze user research via our web-based platform while scouts (research participants) share in-context moments from our native mobile apps on iOS and Android. For example, in the past 30 days we’ve conducted close to 500 research missions, had over 40,000 entries submitted by our scouts, and conducted over 500 real-time video user interviews.
Our platform is built on cutting edge technology with React.js frontend and Elixir backend tied together by GraphQL APIs with a small part done in Ruby/Rails and REST APIs. We make heavy use of PostgreSQL and Redis for our storage needs and we host our platform on Heroku. Another core part of our offering are two mobile apps - iOS and Android - that are written in Swift and Java respectively. We also employ WebRTC, Twilio, and Websockets for live video streaming and our Data Science team uses Python for NLP, video / audio processing, and data mining.
Eight years and 30K commits later, we've maintained a tidy code base that is well documented and battle tested by hundreds of thousands of users.
you are
We are looking for a Quality Assurance (QA) Engineer to bring their passion for and experience in QA to our Engineering team. You will be supporting dscout in the development and delivery of innovative, qualitative research software products. You will be working in a fast-paced, agile environment; interacting with a variety of leading development tools and languages; and learning advanced development, QA, and product delivery best practices. You will work in a cross-functional product team made up of QA, engineers, designers, and PMs. Your expertise in writing test cases, documenting results, and providing feedback will lead you to become an expert in the dscout platform. You will also be working with engineers to troubleshoot issues that may arise with internal or external users. If this sounds exciting, we would love to talk with you!
the jobwhat you will do
- Demonstrate curiosity. You want to understand products inside and out. You're interested to learn how code works so you can test and troubleshoot better.
- Be an advocate for quality on your team and beyond
- Independently create rigorous test plans based on the business requirements provided
- Write automation tests in partnership with our engineering team
- Champion an agile software process where QA is an integral part of successful software development
- Work closely with your product manager and engineers to develop acceptance criteria for feature stories
- Identify and track bugs and share out quality statistics
- Act as the QA resource for one of our internal product teams
- Break down technical lingo to interface with other internal teams (Sales, Success, Studio/Consulting) and help them achieve their goals
what you need to have
- Bachelor’s degree in engineering, a related field, or similar work experience
- 2+ years experience in software quality assurance, software engineering, or a similar field
- 6+ months of automated testing or similar coding experience
- Experience in an agile SDLC, CD/CI, SaaS environment
- Detail oriented with excellent communication and project management skills
- Plus: experience in both web and mobile development ecosystems
- Plus: experience with SQL, Github, Jira/Confluence
Here at dscout, we are a team of passionate research, sales, technical, marketing, design, success, and operations professionals. We are driven by the power of research—how in-context insights from real people can build products and services that are more people-centric. We value learning, sharing, and building. We deeply value being a diverse and inclusive team and company, and we are looking for team members who align with that belief. We are proud of what dscout is today and we would love the opportunity to build our future with you.
In addition to joining a smart and passionate team that provides a great learning opportunity, you will get:
- A strong compensation package with bonus structure. Your success is tied to company success. We are all in this together.
- An incredible set of core benefits as well as a 401k with match, work from home Wednesdays, solid PTO policy, and generous company holidays. We are committed to helping build your future.
- Exposure to the inner workings of a growing company. And open, transparent communication within our team. You will know what is happening and why it matters.
- An education stipend. Keep learning and sharpening your skills.
- A beautiful workspace along the Chicago Riverwalk, in the heart of lots of places to eat, drink, and play. Read more about our new office space here!
- Plenty of snacks, drinks, and caffeine to keep you powered throughout the day, and a weekly happy hour to relax with the team.