Senior Software QA Engineer (SME)
Summary
SME-level QA engineer at a small federal subcontractor on a US Customs and Border Protection program: lead test strategy, build Playwright UI/API automation, maintain Selenium/Cucumber/Serenity suites, and run Section 508 accessibility testing via DHS Trusted Tester. Hybrid in Ashburn, VA (~1 day/week onsite); US citizenship and Public Trust eligibility required.
NeatDevs LLC is a small federal subcontractor with a long-running seat on a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) program in Ashburn, VA. We are hiring an SME-level Software QA Engineer to lead manual and automated testing of web applications and services - modern automation with Playwright, maintaining Selenium/Cucumber/Serenity suites, and Section 508 accessibility testing using the DHS Trusted Tester process. U.S. citizenship is required (federal contract); you must be able to obtain a DHS/CBP Public Trust - an active or recent clearance shortens your start date but is not a gate. Hybrid: on-site in Ashburn, VA about one day per week, remote the rest.
What you'll do
- Define and maintain test strategy, plans, standards, and quality gates across functional, regression, E2E, and accessibility testing
- Design and maintain automated UI tests in Playwright; maintain and migrate Selenium/Cucumber/Serenity suites
- Develop automated web service and API tests (Playwright API, Rest Assured, Postman) and backend validations (SQL, logs)
- Plan and perform Section 508 testing against WCAG 2.x AA using the DHS Trusted Tester process and ANDI; test with JAWS/NVDA
- Integrate suites into GitLab/Jenkins CI/CD and keep them fast and stable; mentor testers and developers
Required
- U.S. citizenship and ability to obtain a DHS/CBP Public Trust; must live in the DC/MD/VA area
- Bachelor's degree (BA/BS) in Computer Science or related field
- 10+ years of software QA and testing experience, including strong test automation
- Hands-on Playwright experience; Selenium/Cucumber/Serenity background
- API testing and SQL-based backend validation
- Section 508 / WCAG 2.x accessibility testing experience
Nice to have
- DHS Trusted Tester certification
- BDD (Gherkin), GitLab CI/CD, Jira/Xray
- Federal or DHS program experience
Pay and benefits
$104,000 - $119,000 per year depending on experience and clearance status. Full-time W-2 role with health, dental, and vision insurance, life insurance, 401(k), paid time off, and paid federal holidays.
NeatDevs LLC is 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 protected veteran status.