Quality Engineer

Utah State University Space Dynamics Laboratory; North Logan (UT); On-site; USD 110,000 - 135,000; Full time

Job summary

Space Dynamics Laboratory in Utah seeks a Quality Engineer in Software Quality Assurance to establish and lead an SQA capability across aerospace programs. You will partner with software, systems, and hardware teams to ensure mission-critical software meets quality objectives and safety requirements.

This role focuses on applying SDL's software engineering processes throughout the lifecycle, mentoring junior SQA staff, and expanding SQA across multiple programs while maintaining compliance with

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field with 5+ years of experience supporting software development programs in Software Quality Assurance or related discipline.
• Understanding of modern software development lifecycles and software quality principles.
• U.S. citizenship with the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government security clearance.

Responsibilities

• Partner with software development teams to apply SDL software quality practices throughout the lifecycle.
• Participate in software planning, lifecycle reviews, verification activities, and quality assessments to identify and reduce software quality risks.
• Collaborate with software, systems, hardware, cybersecurity, and test organizations to identify quality risks and help teams resolve them.
• Support software traceability, configuration management, secure software development practices, and SBOM activities.
• Represent Software Quality Assurance as a collaborative engineering partner for programs and customers.
• Grow SDL's SQA capability by mentoring and leading future personnel while expanding SQA across programs.

Skills

Communication

Relationship building

Cross-functional

Software quality

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL) is seeking a Quality Engineer in Software Quality Assurance to establish and lead a Software Quality Assurance (SQA) capability across multiple aerospace and defense programs. The selected candidate will provide direct SQA support to software programs while building relationships across the organization. As adoption of SQA grows, the successful candidate will help expand this capability by mentoring, recruiting, and leading additional SQA personnel. The selected candidate will also support hardware and program quality engineering initiatives as needed.

The successful candidate will serve as a trusted technical partner to software engineers, systems engineers, program managers, and customers. They will champion software quality practices, provide guidance to development teams, and establish Software Quality Assurance as a trusted engineering partner across SDL.

This is not a software test engineering or software development position. Instead, this role partners with software development teams throughout the software development lifecycle to help programs successfully apply SDL's software engineering processes, satisfy quality objectives, and deliver software that meets mission assurance requirements.

Responsibilities

• Partners with software development teams to consistently apply SDL software engineering processes and software quality practices throughout the software development lifecycle
• Participates in software planning, lifecycle reviews, verification activities, and quality assessments to identify and reduce software quality risks
• Partners with software, systems, hardware, cybersecurity, and test organizations to identify software quality risks and help teams resolve them
• Supports software traceability, software configuration management, secure software development practices, and Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) activities
• Represents Software Quality Assurance as a collaborative engineering partner for programs and customers
• Helps grow SDL's Software Quality Assurance capability by recruiting, mentoring, and leading future SQA personnel while expanding SQA support across multiple programs
• Supports broader Quality Assurance and Mission Assurance activities as needed

Required Qualifications

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build trust, influence technical organizations, and work effectively without direct authority
• Demonstrated ability to build productive working relationships across multidisciplinary engineering organizations
• Bachelor's degree with 5+ years of relevant experience supporting software development programs in Software Quality Assurance, Mission Assurance, Systems Engineering, or a closely related discipline
• Understanding of modern software development lifecycles and software quality principles
• U.S. citizenship with the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government security clearance
• Experience supporting hardware quality engineering or quality assurance activities
• Ability to read two-dimensional drawings and interpret drawing notes

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience recruiting, mentoring, or leading technical teams, or a demonstrated desire to build and lead a growing organization
• Experience supporting aerospace, defense, or embedded software programs
• Knowledge of AS9100D, software quality standards, or secure software development practices
• Experience working directly with software development teams, software configuration management, or requirements traceability

Why Join SDL?

SDL offers competitive salaries and a comprehensive benefits package. Visit our Benefits Page to learn more about what we offer.

SDL delivers advanced multi-domain solutions to protect national security and enable scientific discovery. Our expertise in satellites, sensors and instruments, ground systems and data processing, and autonomous systems plays a critical role in missions supporting NASA and the Department of Defense.

At SDL, we strive to uphold a culture of respect, collaboration, empowerment, and accountability. We listen with open minds, seek to understand diverse perspectives, and engage in thoughtful dialogue. We work together by sharing knowledge, involving others, and offering support. We trust and empower our team members to take ownership, act with integrity, and be accountable. Above all, we deliver on our commitments to each other and to our mission partners.