QA Engineer & Team Lead, Robotics - Lexington, KY

jabil; Lexington (KY); On-site; USD 110,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Badger Technologies, a Jabil company, seeks a QA Engineer & Team Lead, Robotics to guide QA for next-generation robotic platforms onsite in Lexington, KY. The role blends leadership with hands-on testing across software and hardware quality assurance.

The ideal candidate spends ~40-50% of time building automated tests and investigating quality issues, while leading a QA team and aligning with Engineering, Product, and Operations to ensure successful releases.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• 6+ years of experience in Software Quality Assurance, with at least 2 years in a QA leadership or team lead role.
• Proven experience leading QA initiatives while remaining actively involved in hands-on testing and automation.
• Experience developing and maintaining automated test frameworks and test automation solutions.
• Strong experience with software testing methodologies, including functional, integration, regression, system, performance, and acceptance testing.
• Proficiency with Python, C++.

Responsibilities

• Lead, mentor, and develop a small team of QA engineers, including performance management, coaching, career development, and daily task prioritization.
• Define and execute the overall QA strategy, test methodologies, release readiness criteria, and quality standards across robotics platforms.
• Establish and track key quality metrics, including defect leakage, automation coverage, reliability targets, and release health indicators.
• Lead defect triage meetings, quality reviews, and risk assessments to proactively address product quality concerns.
• Partner with Product Management, Engineering, and Operations teams to align testing priorities, release schedules, and project risk mitigation plans.
• Champion continuous improvement initiatives and quality best practices throughout the organization.

Skills

Leadership

Automation

Hands-on testing

Python

C++

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or Engineering

Tools

CI/CD

Test automation frameworks

Job description

At Jabil (NYSE: JBL), we are proud to be a trusted partner for the world's top brands, offering comprehensive engineering, supply chain, and manufacturing solutions. With 60 years of experience across industries and a vast network of over 100 sites worldwide, Jabil combines global reach with local expertise to deliver both scalable and customized solutions. Our commitment extends beyond business success as we strive to build sustainable processes that minimize environmental impact and foster vibrant and diverse communities around the globe.

QA Engineer & Team Lead, Robotics - Based onsite in Lexington, KY

About Badger Technologies

Badger Technologies, a Jabil company, develops innovative autonomous robots and data-driven solutions that help retailers enhance operational efficiency, improve inventory accuracy, and create safer, smarter shopping environments. By combining robotics, computer vision, and advanced software technologies, Badger is transforming how retailers manage store operations and customer experiences.

Job Summary

Jabil is seeking a highly skilled QA Engineer & Team Lead, Robotics to lead quality assurance efforts for our next-generation robotic platforms. This is a hybrid leadership and hands-on technical role, combining team management responsibilities with active participation in software and hardware quality engineering.

The ideal candidate will spend approximately 40-50% of their time developing automated tests, executing complex validation efforts, and investigating quality issues, while dedicating the remainder to leading a small QA team, driving quality strategy, and partnering with Engineering, Product, and Operations teams to ensure successful product releases.

This role supports the full product lifecycle, including new product introduction (NPI), feature development, sustaining engineering, and field reliability initiatives. While the primary focus is software quality assurance, the role also includes hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing and validation of robotic systems to ensure reliable performance in real-world environments.

What can you expect to do?

Leadership & Quality Strategy

• Lead, mentor, and develop a small team of QA engineers, including performance management, coaching, career development, and daily task prioritization.
• Define and execute the overall QA strategy, test methodologies, release readiness criteria, and quality standards across robotics platforms.
• Establish and track key quality metrics, including defect leakage, automation coverage, reliability targets, and release health indicators.
• Lead defect triage meetings, quality reviews, and risk assessments to proactively address product quality concerns.
• Partner with Product Management, Engineering, and Operations teams to align testing priorities, release schedules, and project risk mitigation plans.
• Champion continuous improvement initiatives and quality best practices throughout the organization.

Hands-On Quality Engineering

• Design, develop, and maintain comprehensive test plans, test cases, and automated test frameworks for software and robotic systems.
• Actively participate in functional, integration, system, regression, performance, and user acceptance testing activities.
• Build and enhance automated testing solutions for web, API, embedded, and robotics applications.
• Perform root cause analysis of complex software, firmware, and hardware-related defects.
• Validate new features and software releases throughout the development lifecycle and ensure readiness for field deployment.
• Support hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) verification activities related to robotic hardware updates, end-of-life component replacements, and reliability improvements.
• Participate in design reviews and technical discussions to identify quality risks early in the development process.

Technical Collaboration

• Work closely with software, firmware, hardware, and systems engineering teams to define acceptance criteria and ensure quality is built into products from inception.
• Support CI/CD testing strategies and automated quality gates across development and release pipelines.
• Perform diagnostic testing, log analysis, firmware flashing, and debugging activities on target hardware and robotic platforms.
• Contribute to improvements in testing infrastructure, tools, processes, and automation capabilities.

What is the experience needed to be successful in this role?

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical discipline required.
• 6+ years of experience in Software Quality Assurance, with at least 2 years in a QA leadership or team lead role.
• Proven experience leading QA initiatives while remaining actively involved in hands-on testing and automation.
• Experience developing and maintaining automated test frameworks and test automation solutions.
• Strong experience with software testing methodologies, including functional, integration, regression, system, performance, and acceptance testing.
• Proficiency with Python, C++ ,