Senior Test & Quality Assurance Engineer, Cyber Missions

AgileATS, LLC.; Columbia (MD); On-site; USD 175,000 - 195,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Parental leave

Flexible leave

401(k)

Disability

Health stipend

Job summary

Shadow Strategies in Columbia, MD is seeking a senior Test Engineer to lead quality assurance across the full system lifecycle for a mission-critical cyber operations workflow. You will define and execute the program's test strategy, build automated testing, and collaborate with developers, systems engineers, and operators to deliver reliable, secure capabilities.

TS/SCI with poly clearance is required; salary range is $175,000–$195,000.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related field; 12 years of experience.
• Associate degree plus 16 years experience.
• 18 years experience without a degree.
• Experience leading testing for complex mission systems.
• Experience with Agile environments.

Responsibilities

• Lead test engineering and quality assurance activities across full system lifecycle.
• Develop and maintain test strategies, plans, procedures, and quality metrics.
• Define automated test frameworks and CI/CD test integration.
• Design, execute, and oversee functional, integration, system, regression, and operational testing.
• Analyze test results and provide quality assessments to program leadership.
• Identify, document, prioritize, and track defects through resolution.
• Lead testing during integration events, operational demonstrations, and customer acceptance activities.
• Collaborate with systems engineers, software developers, and operators to improve product quality and mission effectiveness.
• Mentor junior test engineers and foster continuous improvement of quality processes.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to program leadership on quality assurance and test engineering matters.

Skills

Test leadership

Test planning

Verification & validation

Requirements testing

Defect management

Test automation

Integration testing

Troubleshooting

Quality reporting

Agile

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

Associate degree + 16 years experience

18 years experience without a degree

Tools

CI/CD pipelines

Cloud environments

Kubernetes

Job description

This is an active, impact-ready, fully-funded position.

Location: Columbia, MD

Telework: TBD, subject to manager approval and tasking

Clearance Required: TS/SCI with Polygraph

Salary Range: $175,000 to $195,000

At Shadow Strategies, you will join a culture defined by innovation, purpose, and meaningful impact. We seek test engineers who bring structure to complexity, connect technical decisions across the system, and turn mission needs into reliable operational capability. If you are inspired by complexity, motivated by clarity, and committed to excellence, we invite you to become part of something exceptional.

This role provides quality assurance and testing engineering leadership for the development and evolution of a declarative, mission-adaptable workflow capability supporting cyber operations. You will define and execute the program's test and quality strategy, ensuring software, infrastructure, automation, and mission services meet performance, reliability, security, and operational requirements. You will work directly with mission stakeholders, developers, systems engineers, and operators to establish verification and validation approaches, develop automated testing capabilities, and ensure mission-critical functionality is delivered with confidence.

What You’ll Do

• Lead test engineering and quality assurance activities across the full system lifecycle
• Develop and maintain requirements-based test strategies, test plans, procedures, and quality metrics
• Define and implement automated test frameworks and CI/CD test integration
• Design, execute, and oversee functional, integration, system, regression, and operational testing
• Analyze test results and provide quality assessments to program leadership
• Identify, document, prioritize, and track defects through resolution
• Lead testing during integration events, operational demonstrations, and customer acceptance activities
• Collaborate with systems engineers, software developers, and operators to improve product quality and mission effectiveness
• Mentor junior test engineers and foster continuous improvement of quality processes
• Serve as a trusted advisor to program leadership on quality assurance and test engineering matters

Who This Might Be a Fit For

• You have led testing and quality assurance efforts for complex mission systems
• You can develop comprehensive test strategies and adapt them to evolving mission requirements
• You have experience identifying quality risks and implementing mitigation strategies before they impact mission delivery
• You enjoy improving engineering processes and raising the overall quality of deliver capabilities
• You are passionate about building confidence in systems through rigorous verification and validation

Required Skills

• Leadership of test engineering and quality assurance activities for complex software-intensive systems
• Test planning, test case development, and test execution
• Verification and validation methodology
• Requirements-based testing and traceability
• Defect management and root-cause analysis
• Automated testing frameworks and test automation development
• Integration, system and operational testing
• Technical troubleshooting and quality risk assessment
• Technical documentation and quality reporting
• Experience supporting Agile environments

Helpful Experience Areas

• CYBERCOM or related cyber mission environments
• Offensive cyber operations, mission automation, or declarative workflow systems
• DevSecOps and CI/CD pipeline testing
• Cloud, containerized, or Kubernetes-based environments
• REST APIs, service integrations, and automated provisioning

Years of Experience and Degree Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related field and 12 years of experience

OR an associate degree and 16 years of experience

OR 18 years of experience without a degree

Degrees must be obtained from an accredited college or university recognized by the U.S. Department of Education

Work Environment

Based in Columbia, MD

Telework policy is being defined as this is a new contract, subject to manager approval and tasking

Multidisciplinary teams supporting cyber mission systems in classified environments

Senior test & quality assurance engineers are expected to independently lead quality assurance and verification activities, provide technical guidance to multidisciplinary teams, and influence program-level quality strategy. They are responsible for ensuring delivered capabilities meet mission requirements, quality standards, and operational expectations.

What Comes With It

You will have what you need to do your best work:

• Fully covered health insurance for medical, dental, and vision
• Paid parental leave: 16 weeks if you give birth, 4 weeks if your partner does
• Flexible leave: 36 days total each year, including 25 days of PTO and 11 paid holidays
• 401(k) for your future
• Short-term and long-term disability
• Annual health stipend if you opt out of our insurance

The Extras? They’re Built In.

No points systems. No bean bags. Just clarity, autonomy, and a mission that matters.

Shadow invests in exceptional people because demanding work requires more than a paycheck. Our benefits are designed to provide meaningful support inside and outside the mission.

See our benefit plan at: https://www.shadowstrategies.io/benefits

Shadow Strategies is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to creating a workplace that values diversity and fosters inclusion. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), national origin, age, disability, genetic information, or any other protected status in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws.

Salary is determined by various factors, including but not limited to location, the individual’s particular combination of education, knowledge, skills, competencies, and experience, as well as contract-specific affordability and organizational requirements.