Manual QA Tester (Contract 3+ months)

Standard Bots; City of Glen Cove (NY); On-site; USD 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Standard Bots is seeking a sharp manual tester to join the QA team for a ~3‑month contract. You will perform structured manual and exploratory tests across robot software, validate releases on hardware, and document high-quality bug reports with exact steps and logs.

You will work with SDETs and Systems Test Engineers to reproduce defects, support release validation, and keep test hardware ready for next cycles. No robotics background required but hardware curiosity helps.

Qualifications

• 2+ years of hands-on manual QA experience with strong test-case design.
• Ability to perform structured manual regression and exploratory testing.
• Excellent written bug reports with reproduction steps and logs.
• Comfort testing software that controls physical hardware and firmware.
• Experience with test-management tools and basic scripting is a plus.
• Strict attention to procedures and reproducible results.

Responsibilities

• Execute manual regression and smoke passes across releases for UI and hardware.
• Perform broad exploratory testing of robotic workflows and edge cases.
• Create and maintain clear manual test cases in the test-management tool.
• File high-quality bug reports with precise steps, state, and firmware versions.
• Collaborate with SDETs and Systems Test Engineers to reproduce defects.
• Support release QA and validate release candidates.
• Perform basic recovery on test hardware to keep test cells available.

Skills

Manual Testing Foundation

Exploratory Instincts

Clear Bug Reporting

Hardware Curiosity

Tooling Comfort

Methodical & Reliable

Job description

What You'll Do

We're looking for a sharp, methodical manual tester to add dedicated manual-testing capacity to the QA org during a busy stretch of releases. You'll run structured manual and exploratory test passes across Standard Bots' software — the robot control apps, teach pendant, and core workflows — execute regression every release, and file clean, well-documented bugs. Because our software drives physical 6-axis robots, a bug isn't just a UI glitch; it can move real hardware. Careful, observant testing is the whole job.

This is a contract role (roughly 3 months, with the option to extend). It's a strong fit for an experienced manual tester who is disciplined, hardware-curious, and writes crisp reproduction steps.

Responsibilities

• Execute manual regression and smoke passes across software releases — on the product UI and on real robots — to catch regressions before they reach customers.

• Run broad exploratory testing across complex robotic workflows: probe edge cases, unusual sequences, and the failure modes scripted tests miss.

• Write and maintain clear, repeatable manual test cases in our test-management tool (Qase), and keep them current as features ship.

• File high-quality bug reports with precise reproduction steps, system state, logs, and firmware/build versions, so engineers can act without back-and-forth.

• Partner with SDETs and Systems Test Engineers to reproduce and isolate defects, and surface the coverage gaps you find along the way.

• Support release QA, including gated test runs and release-candidate validation, and report results clearly.

• Perform basic recovery on test hardware (re-home, reset) to keep test cells available.

Skills You'll Bring

• Manual Testing Foundation: 2+ years of hands-on manual QA experience, with strong test-case design and disciplined, repeatable execution.

• Exploratory Instincts: A knack for breaking things — you find the failure modes no one thought to script.

• Clear Bug Reporting: Excellent written communication. You capture the state, logs, and steps needed to reproduce, not just a screenshot.

• Hardware Curiosity: Comfortable testing a product where software controls physical hardware, and aware that software bugs have physical consequences.

• Tooling Comfort: At home in Linux/CLI environments and with test-management tools (Qase or similar); basic scripting is a plus.

• Methodical & Reliable: You follow procedures precisely, notice when something is off, and chase it down.

Who You Are

A detail-oriented, self-driven tester who takes pride in catching what everyone else misses. You're comfortable around hardware, communicate clearly, and thrive in a fast-moving release cycle. No robotics background required.

Nice To Have

• Experience testing products where software controls physical hardware (robots, EVs, drones, medical devices, appliances)

• Familiarity with test-management tools (Qase, TestRail) and bug trackers (Asana, Jira)

• Basic scripting (Python, Bash) or CLI comfort for log parsing and data extraction

• Exposure to robotic systems (6-axis arms, collaborative robots) or hardware-in-the-loop testing

• Familiarity with network protocols (SSH, HTTP)