Software Quality Assurance Engineer

Throne Labs; North Brentwood (MD); Hybrid; USD 100,000 - 135,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

Equity for US-based positions

Daily access to earned wages

401(k) plan

Paid time off and parental leave

Life insurance & disability

Employee Assistance Program

Job summary

Throne Labs in Brentwood, MD / Seattle, WA is seeking a Software Quality Assurance Engineer to contribute to QA/QC of our firmware and software across hardware interfaces. The role is full-time with a hybrid schedule, onsite about 3 days per week.

You will work with product and engineering teams, design test cases, perform manual testing, and help evolve QA processes to accelerate time-to-market while ensuring high quality and reliability. Equity and a comprehensive benefits package are included.

Qualifications

• Solid knowledge of software QA with 4+ years of commercial experience.
• Experience testing backend APIs, web and mobile apps.
• Understanding of cloud-based architecture and AWS tooling.
• Familiarity with microservices and serverless styles.
• Experience with observability and monitoring tools.
• Experience with test automation using JavaScript, TypeScript or Python.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with product and engineering teams to understand requirements.
• Estimate test efforts and plan QA work.
• Design test cases, checklists and scenarios for different levels and types.
• Conduct manual testing of firmware and software for quality and user experience.
• Perform integration testing of hardware/firmware/software components.
• Investigate logs and locate issues in production and QA environments.
• Provide traceability and contribute to the Test Plan.
• Set up and maintain the QA test environment.
• Optimize testing using AI and automation tools.
• Contribute to technical and testing documentation.

Skills

QA fundamentals

API testing

Web testing

Mobile testing

AWS tools

Microservices

Observability tools

Test automation

AI tools

Tools

Selenium

Postman

Jest

Job description

About Throne

Throne is a fast growing Series C startup transforming local communities by delivering clean, safe, accessible restrooms to cities, transit agencies, and public spaces. With flagship customers in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Ann Arbor, and Washington DC, and recent launches in New York City, Atlanta, and Seattle, we're rapidly scaling into new markets in 2027 and beyond.

We recognize an unspoken problem: that better bathroom accommodations are sorely needed in most cities. Public and retail bathrooms are neither positioned to meet demand, nor incentivized to provide the quality experience people deserve.

Our mission is to provide peace of mind to the millions of people who set out on an adventure on any given day. That adventure may be big or small. It may involve taking your toddler to the park, driving a stranger to the airport, running a half marathon, or exploring a new city for the first time.

About the Role

Throne is looking for a full-time Software Quality Assurance (QA) Engineer to be a crucial member of the Software and R&D Engineering Teams. Thrones are proprietary technology which include mechanical components, smart plumbing, smart HVAC, various sensors, actuators, and on-board processing systems, cellular connectivity and a solar/battery driven power system. Software QA Engineer will be contributing into establishing QA/QC processes, improving time-to-market and maintaining high quality of our custom firmware and software solutions for internal Staff, and external Users and Partners.

You will work closely with Throne's extended team, consisting of start-up veterans, creative innovators, and portable sanitation experts. We are passionate about defining Throne as the reliably clean option at some of life's most stressful moments. We are ruthless about results, relentless about improvement, and we value diversity, inclusion, and having fun.

The person hired in this role will work a hybrid schedule, and will be expected to work onsite about 3 days a week from either Brentwood, MD (right outside of Washington, D.C.) or Seattle, WA (Industrial District).

The base salary range for this position is $100,000 - $135,000. Actual compensation will depend on a candidate’s applicable experience, skills, and geographic location. This role is also eligible for a comprehensive benefits package, including equity.

At Throne You Will

• Work closely with the product and engineering teams to understand business requirements.
• Participate in test efforts estimation.
• Design test cases, checklists and scenarios for different test levels and types using test design techniques.
• Conduct manual testing of firmware and software to ensure products and features perform according to the requirements and contribute to a lovable user experience.
• Perform integration testing of hardware/firmware/software components and communicate issues to the relevant teams, ensuring seamless collaboration across departments.
• Investigate logs, identify and localize issues on production and QA environments.
• Provide traceability/test coverage information, contribute to the Test Plan.
• Setup/maintain QA test environment.
• Optimize testing, considering different contexts and different constraints, by applying various testing practices, utilizing AI and other tools for test and process automation.
• Contribute to technical and testing documentation creation and maintenance.

We Are Looking For

• Solid knowledge in software quality assurance with a minimum 4 years of relevant commercial experience.
• Experience with back-end (API, database testing), web and mobile testing.
• Understanding of cloud-based architecture and hands-on experience with AWS tools and services (e.g. Lambda, CloudWatch).
• Understanding of specifics of micro-services and serverless architecture.
• Familiarity with observability and monitoring tools (e.g. Datadog, Grafana, Sentry, OpenSearch, or similar).
• Experience with test automation (JavaScript, TypeScript or Python).
• Willingness to work in a startup lab environment in an active R&D phase.
• Tolerance to changing requirements and priorities, and context switching between different products.
• Ability to communicate effectively with on-site and remote teams, and explain technical concepts and issues to less tech savvy colleagues.
• Proactiveness in giving feedback and improving existing processes.
• Hands-on experience using AI-assisted tools for test case generation, log analysis, or automation (e.g. GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude, Testim, or similar).

Preferred Qualifications

• Awareness of security testing fundamentals and/or accessibility standards (WCAG) is a plus.
• Experience with performance testing is a plus.
• Experience with testing of IoT and hardware products is a plus.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance, with medical options that are 100% employer-paid
• Equity for all US-based positions, so you share in Throne’s growth
• Daily access to earned wages
• 401(k) plan
• Paid time off that grows with tenure, in addition to paid sick time and paid parental leave
• Life insurance, AD&D coverage, and short and long-term disability insurance
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

Benefits offered to full-time and part-time employees may vary by State.

Throne is a proud Equal Opportunity Employer, and we are committed to pursuing and hiring a diverse workforce. We believe that every person has a right to equal employment opportunities without discrimination, and that diversity contributes to the overall health of the organization. We do not discriminate based on race, color, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, religion, sex, sexual stereotyping, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, mental or physical disability, medical condition, genetic information, military or veteran status, pregnancy (which includes pregnancy, childbirth, and medical conditions related to pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding), or any other protected characteristic. Employment may be contingent upon Throne’s receipt of an acceptable and job-related drug test, motor vehicle report, and/or background check, as applicable and permissible by law.

Throne provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities and for sincerely held religious beliefs, as applicable by law. If you require an accommodation, please contact us at careers[at]thronelabs.co