Manager, Software Test Engineering

ABOUT THE ROLE

Test Engineering is a critical function within Engineering. You will play an instrumental role in building a strong QA team in our Costa Rica region, focusing on product quality, increasing engineering productivity, performance engineering, DevTestOps, and establishing effective communication with cross-functional teams. This highly visible role involves engaging with the Engineering leadership team and driving testing for Civic Platform products. It is a highly collaborative and technical role across a broad range of areas, requiring an understanding of customer experience and a focus on improving product quality.

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES 

• Lead the Test Engineering efforts and manage a team of test engineers in a fast-paced development environment, ensuring alignment with business goals.
• Collaborate with Development, Product Managers, Cloud Engineering, and team leaders in multiple locations to ensure project objectives are aligned and milestones are met.
• Provide technical guidance and support to the Costa Rican Test Engineering team, offering insights and solutions to complex engineering challenges.
• Assist in building a strong technical testing team and align the teams with project goals.
• Design and automate API and UI testing for web-based products and application services using Python with Robot Frameworks and open-source tools. Integrate test cycles with the CI/CD pipeline.
• Foster a culture of quality and continuous improvement, designing and developing test solutions that increase engineering productivity.
• Investigate and implement improvements in infrastructure for better performance, customer experience, and capacity planning with benchmarking and driving automation.
• Lead test efforts for Civic Platform products and initiatives that impact cross-functional organizations with automation deployment and test regressions.
• Promote a harmonious working environment by fostering an understanding of cultural differences between the Costa Rican, U.S., and teams spread across different countries.
• Establish goals and measurement practices (OKRs and KPIs).
• Be accountable for the successful launch of Civic Platform products, API gateways, and mobile applications, aligning with engineering initiatives.
• Identify gaps and issues, and proactively define, plan, and strategize activities, processes, and workflows.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• 8+ years of Test Engineering experience.
• Master’s or Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, or a related discipline.
• Experience collaborating with teams in different countries.
• Experience working with product-based companies in a fast-paced agile development environment.
• Experience architecting testing solutions for highly configured and scalable applications.
• Knowledge of SaaS-based applications and CI/CD pipelines.
• Hands-on experience with open-source automation frameworks and tools.
• Hands-on experience building enterprise-level test suites and developing test harness solutions.
• Experience working with Java platforms, API management, and mobile applications.
• Strong debugging, monitoring, and optimization skills using JMeter, logging tools, or similar.
• Expertise in identifying performance issues within J2EE/.NET architecture, load balancers, IIS, databases (Oracle/SQL), operating systems, networks, software (Java/.NET), and hardware.
• Experience in defining OKRs and KPIs, and strong problem-solving skills.

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience with JMeter, Python/Java-based automation development, and Robot Framework Automation is a significant plus.
• Knowledge of Java-based application testing is highly desired, especially with Angular.
• Experience working with SaaS products and pipeline integration is a significant plus.

Accela is establishing a new entity in Costa Rica as part of our global growth strategy. Our organization specializes in advanced SaaS Software Applications covering a wide range of technologies and complex solutions such as: Hybrid Mobile Applications, Data Analytics & Reporting, Enterprise Payment Integrations, Advanced GIS mapping & routing, Responsive Angular UIs, and new AI POCs. These applications are hosted on our multi-cloud platform spanning both Azure and AWS. Being a part of the Accela team provides an opportunity to collaborate with world-class application engineers and a leadership team renowned for expertise in Agriculture, Operations, Security.

Compensation and Benefits: Accela offers a competitive salary and benefits in line with local standards.

Work-Life Balance: Accela is a “remote-first” organization and offers remote work options where feasible so employees can work in an environment that sparks motivation and creativity. Additionally, Accela offers generous paid time off with paid holidays, paid annual leave, paid “wellness days” offered sporadically throughout the year to focus on rest and relaxation, and a company “soft-close” during the week between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.

Career Growth and Development: Accela encourages and practices promoting from within to enable employees to hone or expand their skill set, contribute more value to the company, and grow. In addition, Accela offers non-promotional learning and development opportunities for skills enhancement through on-the-job training and internal and external education, including a paid LinkedIn Learning subscription to all employees. As a global company, Accela employees have the opportunity to work closely with international teams, providing a broader perspective and a chance to develop a global network.

Impactful Contributions: As a new member of Accela’s Costa Rica team, you will make significant contributions in setting the tone and influencing the company’s success in a new location. This opportunity provides a chance to make a visible impact.

Accela Culture: Our closely integrated, diverse team thrives on a #oneteam philosophy, embracing agile methodologies for software development, fostering a culture of collaboration, and active communication. At Accela, your ideas matter, your contribution makes an impact, and together we thrive. We think of employees as partners because we are all partners in shared success. We make sure everything we do is through the lens of humanity—from our commitment to the highest-quality SaaS solutions to the way we engage with our customers and communities to do business responsibly. We offer our employees strong values and purpose, empathetic leadership, and a place where all people feel they belong. Accela believes in building a diverse and inclusive culture where team members can make a real impact.

Your best work starts here. #Oneteam #BeWellWorkWell

ABOUT ACCELA 

For nearly 20 years, Accela has been an industry leader in designing and delivering government software to improve efficiency, increase citizen engagement and enable the development of thriving communities. Today, citizens are savvy to how services should be delivered, and expect a consistently convenient, openly transparent view into their local government. While government agencies struggle to do more with less, our mission has never been more critical. Accela provides a robust, cloud-based platform of government software solutions that accelerate growth, efficiency, and transparency in communities of all sizes. From planning, to building, to service request management and more, Accela’s SaaS offerings level the playing field for small and medium governments and enable smaller agencies to leverage larger city technologies. Our open and flexible technology helps agencies address specific needs today, while ensuring they are well prepared for the emerging challenges of the future.

OUR COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION 
Accela believes in developing and nurturing a workplace community where our differences are celebrated, and everyone feels a sense of psychological safety and belonging. Accela is committed to putting resources and attention towards evolving our practices, policies, and philosophies to enable diversity to thrive and to support equity in opportunity for everyone.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, sex, color, religion, national origin, protected veteran status, or based on disability, gender identity, and sexual orientation.

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