Test Engineer

Nexthop Systems Inc; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

A technology startup focused on AI solutions is seeking an experienced QA Engineer to test products across various platforms and enhance test automation. The ideal candidate must have a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and at least 5 years of hands-on testing experience in networking technologies. Strong communication and debugging skills are essential, along with proficiency in scripting languages like Python. Join a team that values collaboration and creativity while working on critical projects.

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years of relevant industry experience in test or QA roles.
• Hands-on experience with testing is required.
• Proficient in networking technologies and protocols.

Responsibilities

• Testing of products and solutions across various testing types.
• Design and maintain testbeds and qualify software releases.
• Collaborate with engineering teams for customer-specific testing.

Skills

Networking technologies software

Test automation scripting

Test plan writing

Debugging skills

Communication skills

Scripting languages (Python)

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Ansible

Docker

Traffic Generators

Job description

Company Description

Nexthop AI is a team of industry-leading professionals with deep hardware and software expertise spanning silicon, systems, network operations and cloud development, dedicated to building innovative, bleeding-edge solutions for large-scale AI deployments. The team culture thrives on collaboration, creativity and fun while delivering foundational technologies for next-generation AI infrastructure.

Job Responsibilities

• Testing of products and solutions - the testing can span platform testing, functional testing, feature testing, solution testing and regression testing.
• Manual testing as well as building and enhancing test automation with scripting.
• Design and maintain testbeds, qualify software releases and deliver on quality metrics.
• Collaborate with POC eng for any customer specific testing efforts during POCs as needed.
• Collaborate with and help Eng teams (SW, HW, Support) in reproducing faults, as needed and regularly update test scripts to prevent recurrence of bugs.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering or a related field.
• Minimum 5 years of relevant industry experience in test, QA, solutions testing roles. Hands‑on testing experience is a MUST.
• Proficient in networking technologies software, network protocols, network designs and deployments with hands‑on experience across diverse Network Operating Systems (NOS) such as IOS, IOS‑XR, EOS, and Junos.
• Proficient in working with well‑known Traffic Generators and network test hardware and software solutions.
• Experience with SONiC (Software for Open Networking in the Cloud) or any Open source OS is highly desirable.
• Proven ability to write good test plans and effectively debug and troubleshoot complex networking issues (hardware and software).
• Strong written and verbal communication skills is a must.
• Proficiency in scripting languages (e.g. Python), programming languages (C, C++), automation tools (e.g. Ansible), AI development tools (e.g. Gemini, Co‑pilot, Augment; etc) is a plus.
• Familiarity with container technologies (e.g., Docker) and databases (e.g., SQL, NoSQL) is a plus.

Why Us

Our company bolsters all the advantages of working at a startup with the expertise of a seasoned team who have successfully built startups into thriving companies. Here you’ll have the unique opportunity to collaborate and learn from top‑tier engineers, while still working on mission critical projects. If you are excited to learn, solve hard problems at the forefront of computer systems, and be a part of shaping a burgeoning company, this is the place for you.