Junior Programmer -Software Quality Assurance

Job Overview

Shasta QA is looking for a Junior Programmer to join our software quality assurance team. This is a great opportunity for a recent college graduate or early-career programmer who wants to build practical software development and testing experience while working on real-world applications.

We’re looking for someone with a foundation in programming and computer science fundamentals, but previous professional QA or test automation experience is not required. A degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field is preferred but not required.

Depending on project needs and your skills and interests, your work may include software test automation, manual software testing, or a combination of both. You’ll work alongside experienced QA professionals and learn how software is tested throughout the development lifecycle.

This role is particularly well suited to someone who enjoys programming, troubleshooting, investigating why things don’t work as expected, and learning new technologies.

What You'll Be Doing

• Develop automated tests for web, desktop, mobile, and other software applications
• Convert existing manual test cases into automated tests
• Debug failing automated tests and investigate unexpected software behavior
• Maintain and improve existing test automation frameworks
• Learn how automation frameworks are designed and built
• Review requirements and translate them into test scenarios and procedures
• Perform exploratory and structured manual testing when required by project needs
• Identify, document, and communicate software defects
• Verify new features, bug fixes, and application changes
• Work with developers, QA engineers, and manual QA testers to investigate issues
• Learn new programming languages, frameworks, tools, and technologies as projects require

Qualifications

* We’re looking for a solid foundation rather than expertise in a specific technology stack.

You should have

• Programming experience in at least one general-purpose language such as C#, Java, JavaScript/TypeScript, Python, C++, or a similar language
• An understanding of fundamental programming concepts, including variables, functions, data structures, control flow, and object-oriented programming
• Experience debugging your own code and working through technical problems
• Familiarity with source control concepts and tools such as Git
• The ability to learn new technologies using technical documentation and other resources

Experience with any of the following is helpful, but not required

• HTML, XML, JSON, or YAML
• SQL and relational databases
• Unit or automated testing frameworks such as pytest, MSTest, NUnit, JUnit, Mocha, or similar
• Web browser developer tools
• REST APIs
• XPath or CSS selectors
• Regular expressions
• CI/CD tools or concepts
• Selenium, Playwright, Appium, or other test automation technologies

QA Skills You’ll Develop

Previous professional QA experience is not required. We’ll help you develop skills including:

• Detecting patterns and identifying outliers
• Creating clear, reproducible bug reports
• Interpreting test results and investigating failures
• Verifying new features and bug fixes
• Identifying gaps in test coverage
• Thinking about software from an end user’s perspective
• Prioritizing testing based on risk, deadlines, and project requirements
• Distinguishing software defects from expected behavior
• Asking effective questions when requirements or behavior are unclear

What We’re Looking For

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• A keen eye for detail
• Clear and concise written and verbal communication
• Curiosity about how software works—and why it sometimes doesn’t
• The ability to work independently while knowing when to ask for help
• Comfort receiving feedback and learning from more experienced team members
• Good judgment and a willingness to raise concerns when something doesn’t seem right
• Dependability and follow-through
• An interest in continually developing your technical skills
• The ability to collaborate effectively with both technical and non-technical teammates

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Computer Information Systems, or a related technical field preferred
• Recent graduates are encouraged to apply
• Relevant coursework, internships, personal projects, open-source contributions, or other programming experience may substitute for professional programming experience
• Previous professional software testing or QA experience is not required

About the Role

This position is designed to provide room to grow. Some Junior Programmers may spend most of their time developing and maintaining automated tests, while others may work across both automation and manual testing depending on their abilities and the needs of our client projects.

Our goal is to develop someone who can understand software at a technical level while also thinking critically about its quality from the perspective of the people who use it.

We offer benefits such as paid vacations and holidays, insurance plans including health, dental and vision, and 401(k) plans with employer matching. We are committed to creating jobs in Iowa, so we are looking for applicants local to the Iowa City area. Applicants from out of the area will be rejected.

*All applicants are subject to a background check. Background checks will include, at a minimum, SSN verification, county criminal, federal criminal, sex offender registry, and government watch list. The background check must be completed before employment begins except when employment begins prior to the completion of the background check as a conditional offer. Once the background check is complete hiring authority and human resources will inform the conditional employee of hire based on the outcome of the background check. Shasta QA complies with California, Iowa, Louisiana, and Federal employment compliance laws.*

Pay: $30,000.00 - $35,000.00 per year

Benefits

• 401(k)
• 401(k) matching
• Dental insurance
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Retirement plan
• Vision insurance

Work Location: Remote