Software QA Engineer

The Quality Assurance team is integral to Power Auctions’ mission of delivering quality software of high economic and social impact.  We build bespoke auction solutions to solve real-world problems, implementing the latest auction designs and ideas from academic research.  For example, we are currently helping the government of Botswana to sell the country’s diamonds directly to dealers, for a market price determined in a fair, transparent, and efficient auction.  Our forward capacity auction software is used in both New England and the UK to ensure their power grids have sufficient capacity to withstand peaks.  Our most recent $81 billion FCC auction allocated telecommunications spectrum for 5G networks and was the largest auction ever. 

Power Auctions is looking for 2 motivated, detail-oriented engineers and analysts to join its Quality Assurance team, ranging from recent college graduates to experienced professionals with software testing experience. Ideal candidates should have strong math/logic skills, are inspired by both technology and academics, have a passion for producing quality work, and like variety.  (If you enjoy logic problems and mathematical puzzles, you are probably the right kind of person for this role!)           

QA team members work closely with both the software engineering teams and the auction designers to ensure the auction software is consistent with the auction rules, passes a wide range of tests, and has a user interface that works on a variety of platforms.  We often perform analysis using software such as Gurobi or Matlab, contribute to the Java-based Selenium testing platform, assist with project documentation, and help with auction training.  There are opportunities for strong candidates, once established, to perform additional roles within the organization, such as on-site auction support for clients in the US, and possibly abroad.

Required Qualifications and Skills

• Degree in computer science, mathematics, or economics; or a related field
• Minimum GPA: 3.2
• Solid oral and written English communication skills and ability to express complex ideas clearly and succinctly in writing
• Enthusiasm to work in a fast-paced and dynamically changing environment
• Proven ability to multi-task
• Able to work autonomously with minimal supervision
• Ability and patience to pay attention to detail
• US citizens preferred

Desired Experience

• Experience with testing modern Web Applications, both manual and automated
• Knowledge of quality assurance principles, inspection techniques and testing procedures
• Strong working knowledge of cross platform/browser compatibility testing methodologies
• Selenium experience
• Exposure to technologies such as Java, Ruby on Rails, HTML/CSS, and Ajax/javascript is helpful
• Background in Operations Research and experience with Gurobi or Matlab is helpful
• Classes in microeconomics, especially game theory, are a plus

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Last updated on Aug 27, 2022