Software Test Engineer

At Element Biosciences, we are passionate about our mission to empower the scientific community with more freedom and flexibility to accelerate our collective impact on humanity. We have built a highly efficient product-driven organization where employees can learn, grow, and thrive in a challenging but encouraging environment. We are committed to scientific integrity, collegiality, honesty, objectivity, and openness.

We are seeking an experienced Senior Software Test Engineer to help ensure the quality, reliability, and usability of software across Element’s sequencing ecosystem. In this hands-on role, you will independently own verification of complex features and workflows spanning instrument software, firmware, hardware, cloud services, and data-analysis interfaces. You will partner with cross-functional teams to translate requirements, user needs, and product risks into clear test strategies and objective evidence. The ideal candidate is passionate about building robust tools for scientists and brings a strong background in software and systems testing, integration troubleshooting, and regulated product development. This role will report to the Senior Manager, Software Test Engineering and is expected to be a San Diego based, daily on-site role.

If you possess the following and want to make a meaningful impact, we invite you to explore this role.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities:

• Independently design, document, and execute verification activities for complex software features and end-to-end workflows used with Element sequencing instruments
• Translate user needs, product requirements, system architecture, and risk controls into traceable test strategies, plans, cases, protocols, and reports
• Perform hands-on functional, integration, regression, and exploratory testing across instrument software, firmware, hardware, cloud services, and data-analysis interfaces
• Configure and maintain representative test environments, including control of software, firmware, hardware, and test-data configurations
• Isolate and troubleshoot defects using logs, command-line tools, database queries, and reproducible test evidence; clearly communicate severity, impact, and risk
• Collaborate with software, systems, hardware, assay, chemistry, product, UX, and quality partners to evaluate coverage, resolve integration issues, and improve the end-user experience
• Create accurate, review-ready test documentation in accordance with Element’s software development lifecycle and applicable design-control processes
• Identify high-value automation opportunities and contribute to maintainable automated tests and supporting tools as products and interfaces mature