The Senior Software Engineer in Test will lead testing strategy and automation for modernization projects, ensuring software quality through team mentorship and collaboration with engineering teams.
About Nava
Nava is a consultancy and public benefit corporation working to make government services simple and effective. Since 2013, federal, state, and local agencies have trusted Nava to help solve highly scrutinized technology modernization challenges.
As a client services company, we guide agencies constrained by legacy systems to a future with sharp user experiences built on secure, reliable, fault-tolerant cloud infrastructure. We bill for our time, offering our expertise and problem-solving approach to help our government partners enhance their digital products and services.
People are at the heart of our work, from members of the public who rely on benefit programs to government agency staff. Through human-centered design and modern engineering best practices, we help our government partners better understand user needs and deliver on their missions more effectively. This focus gives everyone at Nava the opportunity to do work that is meaningful, impactful, and deeply connected to public good.
Position Summary
The Senior Software Engineer in Test will be responsible for shaping and overseeing the testing strategy and day to day operation for a large modernization effort, including the architecting and writing of automated tests. You will play a key role in ensuring the delivery of high-quality, reliable software by leading a team of testers and building out test automation capabilities.
What you'll do
- Define and execute the testing strategy for a complex, multi-phase modernization effort, aligned with overall project goals and delivery timelines.
- Lead the development of test automation frameworks and pipelines, enabling continuous testing as part of the CI/CD process.
- Build, lead, and mentor a cross-functional testing team, providing day-to-day guidance, support, and performance feedback.
- Establish test processes and best practices, including test planning, test case design, test execution, defect tracking, and reporting.
- Collaborate closely with engineering, product, and program teams to align on requirements, define acceptance criteria, and ensure test coverage.
- Oversee both functional and non-functional testing (e.g., performance, security, regression), ensuring that all quality gates are met.
- Develop and track quality metrics, regularly reporting test progress, defect trends, and overall readiness.
- Support UAT and stakeholder validation activities, coordinating across multiple business and technical teams.
- Stay current on testing tools and industry trends, and recommend innovations that improve efficiency and quality outcomes.
Required skills
- Experience managing a team of testers and mentoring junior QA engineers.
- Must have lead experience on projects.
- At least 2 years coding in Javascript.
- Ability to develop testing strategy, define testing processes, introduce best practices, and advocate for test automation.
- Experience with defining and executing test plans and test cases for complex enterprise applications.
- Strong skills in tracking, reporting, and prioritizing defects using tools like Jira, Github project.
- Experience with a mix of automation tools such as: Selenium, Cypress, Playwright, JUnit, or other automation frameworks
- Knowledge of performance testing tools.
- Experience leading regression, UAT, and E2E testing.
Desired skills
- Ability to write in Python
Other requirements
All roles at Nava require the following:
Must be legally authorized to work in the United States.
Must meet any other requirements for government contracts for which candidates are hired.
Work authorization that doesn’t require visa sponsorship, now or in the future.
May be subject to a government background check or security clearance, depending on the contract.
Perks working with Nava
Health coverage – Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans to support your overall health needs.
Time off – Vacation, holidays (including Juneteenth), and floating days to rest and recharge.
Company holidays- Enjoy 12 paid federal holidays each year on top of your regular PTO.
Annual bonus – When Nava meets goals, eligible employees receive a performance-based annual bonus.
Parental leave – Paid time off for new parents, plus weekly meals delivered to your home.
Wellness program – Full platform offering physical, mental, & emotional health resources & support tools.
Virtual care – See doctors online with no copay through UnitedHealthcare’s virtual visit program.
Sabbatical leave – Earn extended paid leave after continuous service for personal growth or rest.
401(k) match – Nava matches 4% of your salary to support your retirement savings plan.
Flexible work – Remote-first environment with flexibility built around your schedule and responsibilities.
Home office setup – Company laptop & setup assistance provided via Staples for remote work needs.
Utility support – Monthly reimbursement to help offset eligible home office utility expenses.
Learning opportunities – Internal training programs and resources to help grow your professional skills.
Development budget – Annual allowance for courses, tuition, certifications, & LinkedIn Learning access.
Referral bonus – Get rewarded when you refer great people who join the Nava team.
Commuter benefits – Pre-tax commuter programs to support in-office travel when applicable.
Insurance coverage – Nava provides disability, life, and accidental death insurance at no cost.
Supportive culture – A collaborative and remote-friendly team environment where people genuinely care.
Location
We have fully remote options if you reside in one of the following states:
Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, DC, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin.
*If you are not living in one of the states listed above, unfortunately, you will not be considered for a position at this time. Additionally, if employed with Nava, you must be based in the U.S. and cannot work from outside the country.
Stay in touch
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Please contact the recruiting team at [email protected] if you would like to request reasonable accommodation during the application or interviewing process.
We participate in E-Verify. Upon hire, we will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S. This role requires you to work from the contiguous United States.
Top Skills
Cypress
JavaScript
Junit
Playwright
Selenium
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