QA Engineer
Gaming? Check. Esports? Check. Hardware? Check. Software? Check. We could go on and on. The point is we've been helping gamers get better since 2001. In fact, Esports pros have won more money using SteelSeries products than any other brand and we're just getting started. Esports and Gaming are multi-billion-dollar industries, and we're going to continue supporting them through innovative gear and software gamers need and love. We believe in being true to the gaming community, which means being true to ourselves. We create products that help the best of the best be better, and products that help the not-so-good feel not-so-bad. Most of us are gamers, but you don't have to be, we promise! Just don't be surprised if you become one within a few weeks of starting!
ABOUT YOU
We are looking for a Senior QA Engineer who believes in collective product ownership and in building solutions that truly solve problems for gamers. You are comfortable mentoring and being mentored, and you enjoy collaborating with engineers, designers, and product managers to improve both our products and the way we work.
You have a deep understanding of PC audio architecture and can navigate across OS audio stack, drivers, and customer platform constraints to trace and explain complex issues. You’re motivated by challenging technical problems, and you like going beyond “it doesn’t work” to “why it doesn’t work, under which conditions, and how we can prevent it next time”.
If you’re excited by the idea of stretching yourself, learning new skills, and helping shape high‑performance audio experiences for millions of gamers worldwide, this might be the place for you.
WHAT YOU WILL DO
As a Senior QA Engineer, you’ll play a key role in ensuring the quality and performance of our PC audio software products, working across multiple teams to support a global ecosystem of gaming gear and companion software. Your work will directly impact the experience of millions of gamers by helping us deliver robust, high‑performance, and reliable audio solutions.
You will:
- Own end-to-end QA activities for selected product lines within the PC audio domain.
- Design, execute, and report driver test activities, including isolated testing of audio driver behavior and performance.
- Reproduce, validate, and document client-reported issues, ensuring accurate logging and efficient handover to engineering teams.
- Perform end-to-end testing across drivers and applications to validate overall solution quality, stability, and user experience.
- Own test planning and QA delivery management, including scope definition, prioritization, risk identification, and status reporting.
- Design and drive test strategies covering the full end to‑ ‑end audio paths, from the OS audio stack and APOs to the behavior of our software and drivers on customer devices.
- Investigate, reproduce, and document complex audio issues, providing clear symptom descriptions, reproduction conditions, logs, and root cause hypotheses for engineering teams.
- Collaborate closely with software and driver engineers to diagnose issues across components and propose mitigation or regression prevention strategies.
- Collaborate with distributed test teams across France and Singapore, aligning on test scope, sharing insights, and reviewing test results together.
- Contribute to the continuous improvement of QA processes, tools, and test automation for audio validation.
NECESSARY SKILLS
- 4–6+ years of experience in QA, test automation, or software validation, ideally including work on audio solutions or driver-level.
- Strong knowledge of PC audio architecture, including several of the following:
- Windows audio stack and APOs (Audio Processing Objects).
- Intel ISST (Intel Smart Sound Technology).
- AMD LPAP or equivalent low‑power audio pipelines.
- Microsoft audio architecture (WASAPI, audio endpoints, audio driver models, etc.).
- Solid understanding of Windows application and platform concepts:
- Basic knowledge of UWP (Universal Windows Platform) applications.
- Experience testing UWP products.
- Proven ability to analyze, reproduce, and describe complex bugs:
- Able to narrow down conditions, capture relevant logs/traces, and document bugs in clear, well‑structured reports.
- Skilled at isolating the most likely failure layer (OS, driver, or application) based on symptoms and collected data.
- Excellent communication skills, with strong, clear English (spoken and written):
- Able to explain complex technical issues to both technical and nontechnical stakeholders.
- Able to lead bug triage discussions and drive decisions based on evidence.
- Experience with Agile methodologies (Scrum, Kanban) and the ability to define and implement a test strategy in Agile/Lean teams.
- Proficient in designing, writing, and maintaining clear and effective test cases, test plans, and test reports.
- Comfortable logging high quality bug reports and following them through their lifecycle using tools such as JIRA, YouTrack, or similar.
- Experience analysing logs from Windows Event Viewer, ETW traces, or vendor specific logging tools to support root cause discussions.
- Hands on experience with manual and automated testing; experience with desktop software / “heavy clients” is a plus.
- Ability to work independently and to coordinate with distributed testing teams.
- Passion for gaming, audio, or consumer technology.
GOOD TO HAVE
- Experience automating UI, integration, or end‑to‑end tests for desktop applications and/or drivers.
- Knowledge of scripting languages (e.g., Python, JavaScript) for building test tools, log parsers, or automation helpers.
- Familiarity with tools like Jenkins, GitHub, SquashTM or equivalent for CI, version control, and test management.
- Experience with performance, latency, or load testing in audio contexts (e.g., glitching, dropouts, crackling, buffer underruns).
- Ability to evaluate audio features on/off differences through structured listening and judge whether the resulting sound quality is acceptable.
WITHIN 1 MONTH YOU WILL
- Get familiar with our QA processes, tools, audio stack, and supported platforms.
- Understand our audio architectures across APOs, drivers and applications.
- Contribute to test execution and validation of upcoming audio features and fixes.
- Collaborate with developers to understand systems under test and current pain points.
WITHIN 3 MONTHS YOU WILL
- Design and maintain test plans for key audio product lines, including regression and exploratory test coverage.
- Independently drive test case creation, execution, and reporting for audio features and bugfixes.
- Take ownership of complex audio defects: reproduce, narrow down, document, and follow them through to resolution.
- Proactively identify and help fix product issues and quality gaps in the audio domain.
WITHIN 9 MONTHS YOU WILL
- Be a trusted QA owner for one or more audio product lines, from client applications through drivers and audio processing components.
- Lead test efforts across cross‑functional teams (software, driver, QA, product) for major releases.
- Help define and evolve our audio QA strategy, tools, logs, and automation, making it easier to catch and diagnose complex issues earlier.
- Mentor other QA engineers and offshore teams in audio testing practices and bug analysis.
FUN STUFF:
We offer competitive pay, great benefits, and an awesome workplace with people who love gaming and technology.
