Senior Software Quality Engineer Contractor

PlayStation; San Mateo (CA); On-site; USD 121,000 - 182,000; Full time

Job summary

Sony Interactive Entertainment in San Mateo, CA is seeking a Senior Software Quality Engineer to shape quality for PlayStation peripherals and firmware. You will own test strategy for complex features, translate unclear requirements into concrete coverage, and collaborate with developers, product teams, and QA peers to improve quality early.

This role blends hands-on testing with technical leadership, mentoring junior QEs, guiding test plans, and driving efficient testing across end-to-end

Qualifications

• Several years of software quality engineering experience.
• Ability to own test strategy for complex features.
• Experience with functional, exploratory, regression, and integration testing.
• Familiar with tools like JIRA, TestRail, or qTest, and open to picking up new tooling as needs change.
• Able to explain problems, risks, and trade‑offs clearly to engineers, product partners, and leadership.
• Organized and detail‑minded, with experience mentoring others in Agile development environments.

Responsibilities

• Own test strategy and plans for major features and end‑to‑end flows, and turn unclear requirements into concrete coverage.
• Lead test plan walkthroughs with developers, product managers, and other partners ahead of key release milestones.
• Run and guide functional, regression, exploratory, and integration testing, and close coverage gaps across the product area.
• Investigate complex failures using logs, traces, and system metrics, and lead triage and defect prioritization.
• Mentor junior and mid-level QEs on test design, tooling, problem‑solving, and quality practices.
• Improve QE processes, tooling, and documentation, and share what you learn with nearby teams.

Skills

Test strategy

End-to-end testing

Regression testing

API testing

Mentoring

Agile

Communication

Tools

JIRA

TestRail

qTest

Job description

Why Sony Interactive Entertainment?

Sony Interactive Entertainment isn’t just the Best Place to Play — it’s also the Best Place to Work. Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) is the company behind the PlayStation brand. As a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation, we’re part of a proud legacy of innovation and excellence. SIE is a dynamic technology company, delivering cutting‑edge hardware and network services to more than 100 million people and an entertainment leader, home to some of the most beloved and recognizable intellectual properties (IP) in the world. Our role at SIE is to create and nurture the experiences under the PlayStation brand, a name synonymous with entertainment excellence and creativity.

Job Description

Senior Software Quality Engineer

Summary

Do you want to shape how quality is built into PlayStation® peripherals and firmware, not just verify it at the end? Join the team crafting thoughtful test strategies for PlayStation® Link™ devices. Your work will directly support product performance, stability, and the overall player experience!

We're growing the Quality Engineering team and looking for a senior engineer who enjoys owning test strategy for complex features, bringing clarity to unclear requirements, and helping the engineers around them grow.

This role combines hands‑on testing with technical leadership. You'll lead planning and testing for major features, partner with developers and product teams to build in quality early, and mentor other QEs as they develop.

We value curiosity, continuous learning, and a thoughtful approach to quality at every stage.

Responsibilities

• Own test strategy and test plans for major features, including end‑to‑end flows, and turn unclear requirements into concrete coverage
• Lead test plan walkthroughs with developers, product managers, and other partners ahead of key release milestones
• Run and guide functional, regression, exploratory, and integration testing, and close coverage gaps across the product area
• Investigate complex failures using logs, traces, and system metrics, and lead triage and defect prioritization
• Mentor junior and mid-level QEs on test design, tooling, problem‑solving, and quality practices
• Improve QE processes, tooling, and documentation, and share what you learn with nearby teams

Qualifications

We'll succeed by working together to learn from bugs and build test coverage with intention.

• Several years of experience in software quality engineering or a related testing role
• Comfortable owning test strategy and planning for complex features, including scope, release criteria, and test boundaries
• Experienced across functional, exploratory, regression, and integration testing, with good judgment about which approach fits a situation, plus some experience testing APIs
• Familiar with tools like JIRA, TestRail, or qTest, and open to picking up new tooling as needs change
• Able to explain problems, risks, and trade‑offs clearly to engineers, product partners, and leadership
• Organized and detail‑minded, with experience mentoring others in Agile development environments

Nice to Have

If you bring any of these, we'd love to hear about them!

• Experience testing consumer electronics, especially peripherals or embedded firmware
• Familiarity with PlayStation® products
• Experience testing on Microsoft Windows platforms
• Passion for gaming
• Experience with telemetry tools, validating event tracking, or performance testing
• Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines and test automation frameworks

At SIE, working with our partners, we consider several factors when setting each role’s base pay range, including the competitive benchmarking data for the market and geographic location. Please note that the individual base pay range may vary based on job‑related factors which may include knowledge, skills, experience, and location. In addition, this role is eligible for benefit offerings that include medical, dental, and vision. Click here to learn more.

The estimated base pay range for this role is listed below, this is an hourly rate.$87.98—$132.02 USD

Please note, Sony Interactive Entertainment conducts background checks at the offer stage for all new employees (which may include criminal background checks for some roles) and will need to process personal information to support these checks. Please refer to our Candidate Privacy Notice for more information about what personal information we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, and your data protection rights.

Equal Opportunity Statement:

Sony is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All persons will receive consideration for employment without regard to gender (including gender identity, gender expression and gender reassignment), race (including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin), religion or belief, marital or civil partnership status, disability, age, sexual orientation, pregnancy, maternity or parental status, trade union membership or membership in any other legally protected category.

We strive to create an inclusive environment, empower employees and embrace diversity. We encourage everyone to respond.

Sony Interactive Entertainment is a Fair Chance employer and qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records will be considered for employment.