QA Leader

Rapta, Inc; Portland (OR); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation and benefits

Job summary

Rapta, Inc. is seeking a QA Leader to establish and drive the quality engineering function across software, hardware-integrated systems, and real-world deployments in a fast-growing AI-enabled manufacturing environment.

This full-time role is based in Portland, Oregon, leading cross-functional teams to embed quality early in requirements, design, and field deployments. You will build scalable QA processes across hardware and software, with a focus on reliability and operational excellence.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in quality engineering, systems integration, or related discipline; 5+ years leading QA teams.
• Ability to own quality across software, hardware, and production environments.
• Strong interest in reliability engineering, AI systems, automation, and industrial tech.
• Excellent technical communication and cross-functional leadership.

Responsibilities

• Define end-to-end quality strategy for software, hardware-integrated systems, and deployments.
• Build and lead a high-performing QA function, hiring and mentoring teams.
• Expand automated test coverage across unit, integration, end-to-end, and release validation.
• Develop validation plans for hardware/software interactions (cameras, sensors, edge compute).
• Partner with engineering, product, systems, and customer teams to embed quality early.
• Establish quality metrics and release readiness, and lead root-cause analysis.

Skills

QA leadership

Systems integration

Automation testing

CI/CD testing

Cross-functional

Tools

Automation frameworks

CI/CD tooling

Containerization

Version control

Defect tracking

Job description

QA Leader

Full-Time Position | Portland, Oregon

About Us

Rapta is revolutionizing precision US manufacturing with an agentic native AI Platform trusted by the nation's top defense primes. Backed by top investors and growing 521% year-over-year, we're a Portland-based team building computer vision and robotics technology that keeps America's most critical production lines running flawlessly. If you want to do meaningful work at the intersection of AI and advanced manufacturing, we'd love to meet you.

Position Overview

We're seeking an experienced QA Manager to establish and lead Rapta’s quality engineering function for our distributed, cutting-edge applied AI systems. This is a full-time position working directly with our engineering team to define quality strategy across three essential domains: software, integrated hardware, and real-world industrial applications.

This is not a purely software QA role. You will build the systems, team, and operational discipline that ensure Rapta software works reliably with cameras, sensors, robotics, and production equipment in demanding manufacturing environments.

What You'll Do

• Define and execute an end-to-end quality strategy for software, hardware-integrated systems, and industrial deployments
• Build and lead a high-performing QA function, including hiring, mentoring, and establishing clear quality ownership across engineering and systems teams
• Design and expand automated test coverage across unit, integration, end-to-end, performance, regression, and release validation testing
• Develop practical validation plans for hardware/software interactions, including cameras, sensors, networking, edge compute, and industrial equipment interfaces
• Partner with engineering, product, systems, and customer-facing teams to embed quality early in requirements, architecture, field deployment, and release processes
• Establish quality metrics, release readiness criteria, defect triage practices, and continuous‑improvement initiatives for both laboratory and customer production environments
• Lead root‑cause analysis for quality issues across code, hardware integrations, configuration, deployment conditions, and manufacturing workflows

What We're Looking For

• 10+ years of professional experience in quality engineering, systems integration, test engineering, or a related discipline, including 5+ years leading or managing QA teams or programs
• Demonstrated ability to own quality across complex software, integrated hardware, and operational production environments
• Deep curiosity for software quality, reliability engineering, AI systems, automation, and industrial technology
• Strong system design instincts and the ability to identify quality risks across services, deployments, data flows, hardware interfaces, and user workflows
• Excellence in technical communication, documentation, and cross‑functional leadership

Required Technical Skills

• Expertise in prompt engineering and AI‑assisted development as a daily practice — Claude Code, Augment, Copilot, or equivalent is a force multiplier in your workflow, not a novelty
• Strong experience with automated testing frameworks and tooling for API, UI, integration, and end‑to‑end testing
• Experience developing test strategy for distributed systems, CI/CD pipelines, containerized applications, and production releases
• Practical experience testing software that interacts with physical hardware, sensors, cameras, networks, or edge devices
• Proficiency with version control, test management, defect tracking, quality reporting, and release validation practices
• Experience with performance, reliability, regression, and failure‑mode testing

Highly Competitive Candidates Will Also Bring

• Previous experience in manufacturing, industrial automation, robotics, or quality control systems
• Experience validating computer vision, machine learning, or AI‑enabled systems
• Familiarity with industrial cameras, sensors, PLC‑connected systems, robotics, motion control, or hardware/software integration testing
• Knowledge of manufacturing quality standards and methodologies, including ISO, Six Sigma, FMEA, or CAPA
• Experience testing real‑time systems and software deployed under edge computing constraints
• Experience supporting deployments in active production facilities and translating customer and operator feedback into durable quality improvements

Why Join Us?

• Work with cutting‑edge AI technology in a high‑impact industry
• Competitive compensation and benefits package
• Professional development and learning opportunities
• Opportunity to shape manufacturing technology that impacts American industry

Location Requirements

Candidates outside of the Portland metro area will not be considered.

Equal Opportunity

Rapta is committed to hiring and retaining a diverse workforce. We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer, making decisions without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, or any other protected class.