QA Engineer (IoT & Embedded Systems)

Job Description

QA Engineer (IoT & Embedded Systems)

Location: Pulchowk, Lalitpur 

Role Level: Mid – Senior

Education : Bachler's Degree

The Role

We are looking for an exceptional engineer to be the last checkpoint before our IoT products reach the real world. This role sits at the intersection of embedded hardware and software reliability. We are not hiring a tester who follows checklists. We are hiring an engineer who can break systems on purpose, find the root cause, and prove with data whether a product is truly ready for release.

Our Culture & Standards

We value autonomy, precision, and the courage to advocate for quality. Here is what we expect from our QA team:

Take Ownership:

You are in charge of quality. We do not micro-manage. If the instructions are not clear, we trust you to ask questions and define how the system should work. When you find a bug, you don't just report it; you help us understand why it happened.

Test for Real Life:

We trust your judgment. If you say "It is ready," we believe you. Do not just test if the device works when everything is perfect. You must test what happens when things go wrong: like weak WiFi, low battery, or power outages.

Check the Whole System:

You are not just testing an app. You will check how the Hardware, Firmware, and Cloud work together. You need to test in real situations (like a house with interference), not just inside a quiet lab.

Speak Up:

We need detailed feedback, not just "it failed." Tell us exactly when the error happens (for example: "it fails when the battery is under 20%"). If the product is not ready, you have the right to say, "We cannot release this."

Requirements:

• Firmware and Software Testing: Able to validate firmware behavior including boot sequences, state machines, interrupt handling, watchdog timers, and OTA update processes (rollback, failure recovery). 
• Protocol and API Testing: Experience testing REST APIs, MQTT, and WebSocket connections for data integrity, latency, authentication, and error handling using tools like Postman, JMeter, MQTT Explorer, and Wireshark.
• Scripting and Automation: Able to write automated test scripts in Python or C++ for regression testing, data validation, and log parsing, integrated into CI/CD pipelines.
• Debugging: Able to read and interpret firmware debug logs, serial outputs, and crash dumps. Trace issues across the full stack using serial monitors, GDB, and JTAG/SWD debuggers.
• Hardware Validation: Experience verifying component-level operation (sensors, regulators, LEDs, relays) against datasheet specifications for voltage, current, and temperature tolerances. 
• Signal and Power Analysis: Able to measure and validate signal waveforms (PWM, I2C/SPI/UART, ADC accuracy), check for noise and crosstalk using oscilloscopes and logic analyzers, and test power consumption across operating modes using power profilers.
• Education: Bachelor's degree in Electronics, Electrical, Computer Engineering, or a related field. 

Responsibilities:

• Simulate failure conditions: network drops, corrupted packets, buffer overflows, memory leaks, and low-resource states. Validate graceful degradation and recovery. 
• Monitor thermal behavior under sustained load. Identify hotspots and throttling using thermal cameras and data loggers.
• Run environmental and stress tests: temperature cycling, humidity, vibration, and accelerated life testing for long-term reliability. 
• Validate hardware-firmware integration (GPIO, ADC, DAC, PWM, communication buses) with attention to timing-critical interactions and interrupt response times. 
• Verify the complete data pipeline: Sensor to MCU to Wireless (WiFi/BLE/4G/Thread/LoRa) to Cloud to App. Test for data accuracy, latency, and loss across the chain. 
• Run continuous operation tests (72+ hours) and rapid state-change simulations to catch memory leaks, drift, and intermittent failures. Load test cloud infrastructure with simulated device fleets. 
• Test in real-world deployment conditions: WiFi congestion, unstable power grids, power outages, multi-device interference, and physical obstructions.
• Write clear, reproducible bug reports with full environment context. Maintain test case libraries, traceability matrices, and produce test summary reports with coverage and risk analysis. 

Preferred Skills:

• Strong mathematical foundation: Numerical Methods, Matrix Algebra, Statistics (Hypothesis Testing, Z-Tests, K-S Tests). 
• Ability to apply math practically to validate sensor accuracy, algorithm performance, and diagnose root causes.
• Ability to apply math practically to validate sensor accuracy, algorithm performance, and diagnose root causes.