Remote Software Tester jobs – Full‑Time QA Engineer (Remote) based in Cary town, North Carolina – Selenium, Cypress & API Testing – $80‑$95k – Agile / Scrum Team – Contract‑to‑Hire

TITLE:Remote Software Tester jobs – Full‑Time QA Engineer (Remote) based in Cary town, North Carolina – Selenium, Cypress & API Testing – $80‑$95k – Agile / Scrum Team – Contract‑to‑Hire --- Who we are We’re a mid‑size SaaS company that grew from a two‑person garage operation to a 120‑person product studio in just under five years. Our flagship product—an automated workflow platform for mid‑market manufacturing—now processes over $250 million in transactions each quarter. The engineering org sits in three time zones, but the heartbeat of every release is our QA crew, who keep the user experience tight, the data clean, and the releases on schedule.We are headquartered in Cary town, North Carolina, yet we’ve been hiring remote talent for the past three years because the work we do is too good to limit to one geography. Why this role exists nowOur product roadmap for 2025 includes a major redesign of the mobile SDK, a public GraphQL API, and a series of AI‑assisted automation features. Each of those initiatives adds a layer of complexity that our current testing capacity can’t cover reliably. The QA lead, Maya, told us last month, “We need more hands on deck to keep the defect leak rate under 1 % while we ship bi‑weekly.” In short, we need a dedicatedRemote Software Tester who can own end‑to‑end test cycles for both web and mobile, help us scale automation, and mentor junior QA teammates as we expand.What you’ll own - Design, develop, and maintain automated test suites for the web UI (React) and mobile clients (iOS/Android) using Selenium WebDriver and Cypress. - Create and execute API test collections in Postman and newman, covering REST and GraphQL endpoints, and embed them into our CI pipeline. - Work with product managers to translate user stories and acceptance criteria into clear test cases in TestRail, ensuring traceability from requirement to release. - Conduct exploratory manual testing for new features, focusing on edge‑cases that automation can’t anticipate yet.- Partner with DevOps to troubleshoot flaky tests, reduce test runtime by at least 15 % each quarter, and keep the nightly build health at > 95 % pass rate. - Mentor two junior QA analysts, reviewing their test scripts, giving feedback on test design patterns, and leading a weekly “bug‑bounty” session. - Contribute to the QA metrics dashboard (defect density, mean time to detect, mean time to resolve) that the leadership reviews every sprint. A day in the life (remote, but never isolated) 8:30 am – Quick stand‑up on Microsoft Teams with the cross‑functional squad (product, dev, UI/UX) that lives mostly in Cary town, North Carolina and San Francisco.We align on the sprint goal and surface any blockers. 9:00 am – Dive into a new user story: “Add bulk‑edit capability to the inventory list.” You pull the feature branch, spin up a Docker‑based test environment, and start sketching automated scenarios in Cypress. 11:30 am – Review pull requests from the junior QA analysts, leave comments on code style and test data management, then merge the approved scripts into the main repository on GitHub. 12:30 pm – Lunch break (feel free to walk the dog, take a short hike, or binge a podcast).1:30 pm – Run an exploratory session on the Android build. You discover a race condition that automation missed; you log a defect in JIRA, attach a screen recording, and flag it for immediate triage. 3:00 pm – Attend a “Test Strategy” workshop with the QA lead and the engineering manager. You present a proposal to introduce contract testing using Pact for micro‑service contracts. 4:30 pm – Update the QA metrics dashboard in PowerBI: defect leak is now 0.8 % (down from 1.2 % last sprint), and test coverage for the new feature sits at 78 % automated.5:00 pm – Wrap up, check Slack for any urgent bugs from the on‑call rotation, commit final notes to Confluence, and log off. The tools you’ll be using (our current stack) 1. Selenium WebDriver (Java) – UI automation for legacy browsers. 2. Cypress (JavaScript) – Fast, reliable front‑end tests for React components. 3. Postman & Newman – API testing and CI integration. 4. TestRail – Test case management and traceability. 5. JIRA & Confluence – Issue tracking and documentation hub. 6. GitHub & GitHub Actions – Version control and pipeline orchestration.7. Docker – Consistent local test environments. 8. Jenkins – Legacy CI jobs for mobile builds. 9. SQL Server Management Studio – Direct DB validation for data‑integrity tests. 10. Appium – Mobile automation for iOS and Android. 11. Pact – Contract testing for micro‑services (pilot phase). 12. PowerBI – Dashboard for QA metrics and executive reporting. Who you are (the human behind the keyboard) -Experience: Minimum 3 years of hands‑on software testing in a SaaS environment, with at least 1 year of automation scripting.We’ve seen candidates who have shipped code to production, not just performed “click‑and‑verify.” - Technical chops: Comfortable writing tests in Java, JavaScript, or Python; able to debug failing UI tests, read stack traces, and resolve flaky issues. - Analytical mindset: You treat every defect as a data point, asking “why” until you reach the root cause, and you enjoy building metrics that tell a story. - Communication: Able to explain a bug to a developer in plain language, and to write clear test steps for a non‑technical stakeholder.- Collaboration: You thrive when you’re part of a distributed team, using Zoom, Slack, and async docs to stay aligned. What success looks like (first 6 months) - Automated at least 60 % of the new feature’s test cases, reducing manual regression time from 3 days to under 8 hours. - Keep the defect leak rate below 1 % for each release, measured against the production environment. - Mentor the junior QA analysts to a point where they can independently own a feature’s full test lifecycle. - Contribute a new contract‑testing framework (Pact) that catches breaking changes before code merges, saving the team an average of 4 hours per sprint in debugging.Our team – the people you’ll work with - Product Owner (Emily, based in Cary town, North Carolina): Deep knowledge of manufacturing workflows, she writes user stories with clear acceptance criteria. - Lead Engineer (Rohit, San Jose): A former DevOps specialist who champions testability in code reviews. - QA Lead (Maya, remote): Has built the QA process from scratch; she runs weekly “bug‑busting” drills. - Junior QA Analysts (Liam & Priya, remote): Recent grads eager to learn, they bring fresh perspectives on exploratory testing.Why you’ll love working here (and not just for the paycheck) - Fully remote, but intentionally connected: We host quarterly “virtual coffee” socials, and every year we organize a two‑day off‑site in Cary town, North Carolina where the whole team meets in person, plays board games, and hikes the local trails. As Maya says, “Even though we’re remote, the team feels like a family; we celebrate birthdays, share memes, and actually talk about life, not just tickets.” - Clear career path: After 12 months, you can move into a QA Lead role, a Test Automation Architect position, or pivot to a Product Analyst track—your growth is in your hands.- Competitive compensation: $80 k‑$95 k base, plus quarterly performance bonuses tied to sprint metrics (defect leak, test coverage). - Benefits that matter: 100 % employer‑paid health, dental, vision; 12 weeks of paid parental leave; a $5 k annual professional development stipend; and a home‑office stipend for ergonomic gear. Our expectations for remote work - Availability: Core hours are 10 am–4 pm PT (covers the overlapping window with the team in Cary town, North Carolina). Outside of that, you set your own schedule as long as you meet sprint deadlines.- Workspace: We expect a quiet, reliable internet connection (minimum 25 Mbps download) and a dedicated workspace. We’ll reimburse up to $300 for a standing desk or monitor. - Collaboration: Proactive communication is key. Daily stand‑ups, sprint retrospectives, and async updates in Confluence are part of our rhythm. A human moment > “I was on a call with Maya when she showed me a bug that only appeared on a specific iPhone model while juggling a Zoom meeting with my kids in the background. We laughed, fixed it, and she said, ‘That’s why we need people who can stay sharp, even when life happens.’” – Alex,Senior QA Engineer (remote, joined 2022) If you’re excited by the idea of owning quality for a product that powers real‑world factories, and you want to work alongside a team that values honesty over hype, send us: 1.Your updated résumé (highlighting automation projects). 2. A short cover letter (max 300 words) telling us why remote testing matters to you and a story of a tricky defect you solved. 3. Links to any public test scripts, GitHub repos, or blog posts you’ve authored (optional but appreciated). Submit via ourCareers portal, and you’ll hear back from Maya within 5 business days. We’ll schedule a 30‑minute video chat, a technical walkthrough of a sample test scenario, and a final conversation with the product owner— all remote, all at your convenience.Closing note We’re not looking for a perfect candidate; we’re looking for a curious, resilient tester who will grow with us as we expand our platform. If you’re ready to bring your testing expertise to a product that matters to manufacturers across the U.S., and you enjoy the flexibility of working from wherever you call home, let’s talk. * We’re an equal‑opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.* Apply tot his job