Manual QA Tester (Contract 3+ months)

Job Title

Sharp, Methodical Manual Tester

What You'll Do

We're looking for a sharp, methodical manual tester to add dedicated manual-testing capacity to the QA org during a busy stretch of releases. You'll run structured manual and exploratory test passes across Standard Bots' software — the robot control apps, teach pendant, and core workflows — execute regression every release, and file clean, well-documented bugs. Because our software drives physical 6-axis robots, a bug isn't just a UI glitch; it can move real hardware. Careful, observant testing is the whole job.

This is a contract role (roughly 3 months, with the option to extend). It's a strong fit for an experienced manual tester who is disciplined, hardware-curious, and writes crisp reproduction steps.

Responsibilities

• Execute manual regression and smoke passes across software releases — on the product UI and on real robots — to catch regressions before they reach customers.
• Run broad exploratory testing across complex robotic workflows: probe edge cases, unusual sequences, and the failure modes scripted tests miss.
• Write and maintain clear, repeatable manual test cases in our test-management tool (Qase), and keep them current as features ship.
• File high-quality bug reports with precise reproduction steps, system state, logs, and firmware/build versions, so engineers can act without back-and-forth.
• Partner with SDETs and Systems Test Engineers to reproduce and isolate defects, and surface the coverage gaps you find along the way.
• Support release QA, including gated test runs and release-candidate validation, and report results clearly.
• Perform basic recovery on test hardware (re-home, reset) to keep test cells available.

Skills You'll Bring

• Manual Testing Foundation: 2+ years of hands-on manual QA experience, with strong test-case design and disciplined, repeatable execution.
• Exploratory Instincts: A knack for breaking things — you find the failure modes no one thought to script.
• Clear Bug Reporting: Excellent written communication. You capture the state, logs, and steps needed to reproduce, not just a screenshot.
• Hardware Curiosity: Comfortable testing a product where software controls physical hardware, and aware that software bugs have physical consequences.
• Tooling Comfort: At home in Linux/CLI environments and with test-management tools (Qase or similar); basic scripting is a plus.
• Methodical & Reliable: You follow procedures precisely, notice when something is off, and chase it down.

Who You Are

A detail-oriented, self-driven tester who takes pride in catching what everyone else misses. You're comfortable around hardware, communicate clearly, and thrive in a fast-moving release cycle. No robotics background required.

Nice To Have

• Experience testing products where software controls physical hardware (robots, EVs, drones, medical devices, appliances)
• Familiarity with test-management tools (Qase, TestRail) and bug trackers (Asana, Jira)
• Basic scripting (Python, Bash) or CLI comfort for log parsing and data extraction
• Exposure to robotic systems (6-axis arms, collaborative robots) or hardware-in-the-loop testing
• Familiarity with network protocols (SSH,