Quality Assurance Engineer

Job Title
:
Quality Assurance Engineer

Team
:
Systems

Location
:
Hybrid in Chicago (IL)

Employment
Type
:
Full-time

FLSA
Classification
:
Exempt

Start
Date
: ASAP

Braven is a national nonprofit that prepares promising college students to secure a strong first opportunity after college graduation through a career-accelerating program.

We work with higher education and employer partners to offer a life-changing experience that begins with a semester-long course for college students, followed by support that lasts through graduation.

Together, our ambition is to help rebuild the middle class and revitalize the American Dream.

To learn more, take a look at Braven’s Jobs.

In order to achieve its ambition of serving 80,000–100,000 Fellows over the next decade, Braven is hiring a Quality Assurance Engineer who will ensure our student- and staff-facing software is reliable, accessible, and a joy to use.

You will be a core partner to Engineering: shaping test plans, expanding automated test coverage, and collaborating with engineers to write effective unit and integration tests. You’ll help us balance the agility needed to ship impactful features with the discipline of strong quality practices and continuous improvement.

This role is on the Systems team and reports directly to the Senior Director, Engineering.

Test automation & collaboration with engineers (40%)

• Build and maintain UI and API automation (Playwright preferred).
• Partner with engineers to write/expand unit and integration tests and improve testability.
• Increase automation coverage and reliability (flakiness control, data management).

Test planning & manual execution (35%)

• Design and execute test plans and test cases for web and API features across key integrations (Salesforce, Canvas, Pathify, Linked In, Zoom).
• Perform cross-browser/device and accessibility (WCAG) testing; log clear, actionable defects.

CI/CD quality gates, release verification, and bug triage (15%)

• Own quality checks in Git Hub Actions/CI; implement sensible gating and fast feedback loops.
• Coordinate regression and release verification for scheduled launches; drive root-cause analysis.

Data validation & process improvement (10%)

• Validate data flows with SQL; use logs/observability to detect regressions.
• Document test cases, patterns, and QA standards; champion pragmatic process improvements.
• Other duties as assigned.

• 3+ years in QA/software testing, or 2+ years of professional software engineering experience. At least 1 year working with test automation.
• Tools/
  
  Skills:
  
  Playwright (or Cypress), API testing, Database, Git/Git Hub, Git Hub Actions/CI, accessibility testing (WCAG).

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in a technical field or equivalent professional experience
• Experience with performance testing, observability (e.g., logs/metrics), and test data management.
• Familiarity with Jira and structured defect triage.
• Familiarity with REST API tools (e.g., Postman).
• Basic experience with Python or Ruby on Rails, and Heroku environments and modern web app architectures.
• Strong organizational and task management skills, with the ability to prioritize work, ensure attention to detail, and make sound technical decisions independently.
• Flexible and solutions-oriented, with strong problem-solving skills and the ability to adapt to changing priorities.
• Excellent communication skills, bridging technical and non-technical teams and managing stakeholder expectations effectively.
• Demonstrated commitment to building strong and welcoming cultures that help to develop others.
• Exemplification of Braven’s core values.
• Experience that has informed your belief in Braven’s mission and has prepared you to work with, or for, Braven’s student Fellow population.

Please know that no one ever meets 100% of the preferred qualifications. If much of this describes you, we encourage you to apply.

Work Demands

• Ability to work in-person in Chicago (IL) at least 3 days per week
• Travel 2-3 times per year

Additional Requirements

• Authorized to work in the U.S.
• Braven doesn’t offer employment visa sponsorship

Application & Interview Process

While the interview process may vary slightly, the…