How to hire a software quality engineer

How to hire a software quality engineer, step by step

Here's a step-by-step software quality engineer hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a software quality engineer job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new software quality engineer
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a software quality engineer do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a software quality engineer, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   Hiring the perfect software quality engineer also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   This list presents software quality engineer salaries for various positions.

   Type of Software Quality Engineer	Description	Hourly rate
   Software Quality Engineer	A Software Quality Engineer ensures that the software of a company meets all quality standards. They are responsible for software development, inspection, implementation, testing, and verification.	$35-65
   Engineer Lead Quality Assurance Lead	Engineer Lead Quality Assurance Leads are responsible for managing the designing and operations of hardware or software testing. Their duties include developing testing plans, implement risk mitigation strategies, communicate process improvements to cross-teams such as marketing and engineering, resolve the conflict between teams, and ensures product or software adheres to the organization and industry standards... Show more	$40-68
   Test Engineer	Test engineers are professionals who observe and record the quality of products, which includes functionality, durability, speed, and safety. They are responsible for checking the materials and procedures thoroughly throughout the production cycle... Show more	$28-50

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Software Quality
   • Java
   • Python
   • Software Development
   • Test Cases
   • C++
   • C #
   • QA
   • Test Automation
   • Regression
   • Scrum
   • API
   • Jira
   • GIT

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage logging issues, defects in JIRA and provide status reports to the management in status meetings and weekly status report.
   • Work with scrum master and developer leads to optimize resource allocation for accelerating user story delivery process.
   • Perform backend testing and write SQL queries for the validation purpose.
   • Perform test for functionality, GUI, end-to-end, system, configuration and backend utilizing web server.
   • Install, remove, configure, and maintain UNIX, LINUX, AIX operating system software on servers.
   • Create, edit and maintain functional regression test script for Java portal systems and successfully execute manually.

   More software quality engineer duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the software quality engineer job description is a good way to get more applicants. A software quality engineer salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

   For example, the average salary for a software quality engineer in Kansas may be lower than in California, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level software quality engineer. Additionally, a software quality engineer with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average software quality engineer salary

   $99,902yearly

   $48.03 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level software quality engineer salary

   $73,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 17, 2025

   Average software quality engineer salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$134,265	$65
   2	Washington	$112,234	$54
   3	Oregon	$99,204	$48
   4	Arizona	$90,269	$43
   5	New York	$86,955	$42
   6	Massachusetts	$83,693	$40
   7	Pennsylvania	$83,585	$40
   8	Virginia	$79,859	$38
   9	North Carolina	$79,293	$38
   10	Texas	$79,149	$38
   11	Ohio	$77,759	$37
   12	Michigan	$76,757	$37
   13	Illinois	$76,592	$37
   14	Maine	$76,247	$37
   15	Colorado	$76,115	$37
   16	Georgia	$75,028	$36

   Average software quality engineer salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Apple	$140,985	$67.78	606
   2	Twitter	$133,065	$63.97	3
   3	StubHub	$130,882	$62.92	104
   4	Google	$129,054	$62.05	860
   5	PayPal	$128,607	$61.83	32
   6	Amazon	$128,179	$61.62	1,073
   7	Infinera	$127,015	$61.06
   8	Walmart	$126,715	$60.92	636
   9	NVIDIA	$126,609	$60.87	250
   10	Xoom	$124,631	$59.92
   11	eBay	$124,398	$59.81	45
   12	Apptio	$124,197	$59.71
   13	AppDynamics	$124,168	$59.70
   14	Brocade Services Corporation	$122,573	$58.93
   15	Expedia Group	$121,273	$58.30	34
   16	Square	$120,748	$58.05
   17	Western Digital	$120,488	$57.93	97
   18	Zscaler	$119,816	$57.60	26
   19	Microsoft	$119,134	$57.28	778
   20	Salesforce	$119,015	$57.22	137

4. Writing a software quality engineer job description

   A software quality engineer job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of a software quality engineer job description:

   Software quality engineer job description example

   Job Title
   Quality Software Engineering Co-Op
   Location(s)
   Akron
   Position Overview
   The Akron Technical Center Quality group is seeking a Co-Op Quality Associate to join our team. This individual will join other quality personnel in documenting and investigating customer complaints regarding the performance of our newborn screening software applications. These software tools manage our customers' laboratory work-flow and help enable the early detection of certain metabolic disorders in newborn babies.
   
   The Quality Associate Co-Op position requires motivation, steady team effort, and customer interaction. In this position, you will learn how to use and support our software while working with local software engineers to investigate customer issues as well as communicate with the international quality team, following an established complaint handling process. In addition, you will gain an understanding of the science behind genetic screening.
   
   Position Details
   The Quality Associate Co-Op position is responsible for reviewing product support cases and forwarding complaints to the manufacturer. The position interfaces with Software Support and customers to gather additional information required for complaint initiation/investigations. The position serves as a liaison between the manufacturer, the customer, and Software Support.
   
   In this position, you will rely on the following tools: Microsoft SQL Server and Visual Basic. If you don't have training and/or experience in these technologies that's ok. We will work with you on an appropriate training plan. Whether your strengths are with some of the tools we use or you have a strong science background with an interest in computers, we'll provide an introduction to facilitate success. What's most important is that you have an interest in the healthcare field as a career!
   
   Requirements
   If you feel these are some of your strengths, this position may be for you:
   Strong problem solving ability and technical aptitude Excellent communication skills Attention to detail ThoroughAbility to function both independently and on multi-disciplinary teams Willingness to learn Drive to succeed Interest in health & life sciences industries
   
   Basic Qualifications:
   Pursuing a Bachelor's degree in a STEM field Applicants must hold at least a sophomore status at an accredited university.
   
   Preferred Qualifications:
   Pursing a degree in Biomedical Engineering, Computer Engineering, etc.
   
   Availability:
   We are looking for students available during the following terms: Spring 2023, Fall 2023, and Summer 2024.
   PerkinElmer is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability status, age, or veteran status or any other characteristics protected by applicable law. PerkinElmer is committed to a culturally diverse workforce.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right software quality engineer for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with software quality engineers they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit software quality engineers who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your software quality engineer job on Zippia to find and recruit software quality engineer candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit software quality engineers, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to the technical interview.

   While interviews are great, you will only sometimes learn enough from a conversation with a software quality engineer applicant. In those cases, having candidates complete a test project can go a long way in figuring out who's the most likely to succeed in the role. If you aren't a technical person and don't know how to design an appropriate test, you can ask someone else on the team to create it or take a look at these websites to get a few ideas:

   • TestDome
   • CodeSignal
   • Testlify
   • BarRaiser
   • Coderbyte

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new software quality engineer

   Once you've decided on a perfect software quality engineer candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   To prepare for the new software quality engineer first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a software quality engineer?