QA Software Engineer NC Hybrid

Cisco•Research Triangle Park, NC

4d•$128,600 - $184,900•Hybrid

About The Position

The Automation QA Engineer will own the automated testing ecosystem for Cisco’s Circuit platform, the central AI engine powering productivity and process automation across Cisco. The role focuses on keeping the platform reliable, scalable, and production-ready for its 80,000+ monthly users. The engineer will transform regression testing by replacing manual processes with AI-driven automated test suites for new and legacy features. The role designs and maintains end-to-end, API, and performance test automation; builds scalable test frameworks; and integrates them into CI/CD pipelines. It also uses AI-assisted coding tools to generate and maintain tests while validating generated code for stability, correctness, and security compliance. This is a high-visibility, hybrid position that contributes to functional quality, performance, and reduced technical debt.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree with 5+ years, Master's degree with 3+ years, or PhD with 1+ year of related experience in Computer Science, AI/ML, or a related technical field.
Experience in test automation and regression framework development, with a deep understanding of functional quality assurance.
Experience with Playwright (TypeScript/JavaScript) for E2E/UI automation and/or Python with Pytest or Robot Framework; familiarity with Selenium.
Experience with REST API testing and familiarity with API contract testing.
Solid conceptual and practical knowledge of software development lifecycles, CI/CD pipelines such as GitHub Actions or Jenkins, and automated testing best practices.
Experience with AI-assisted coding tools such as GitHub Copilot, Cursor, or Claude Code, and critical thinking and Agile/Git workflows to ensure high-quality, scalable test automation.

Nice To Haves

Experience testing AI/ML-powered web applications, including LLM-based features, chatbots, or AI agent workflows.
Hands-on experience with performance/load testing tools such as k6 or JMeter and AI/LLM performance metrics such as TTFT, inter-token latency, and token throughput.
Experience in AI Ops/MLOps or building and fine-tuning custom LLMs.
Experience with observability and reporting tools such as Splunk, Grafana, or Prometheus.
Familiarity with Docker and Kubernetes for test environment management and with Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
Proven track record of leading technical projects and mentoring junior engineers.
Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to influence cross-functional stakeholders.
Experience building and productizing agentic applications with a focus on evaluation and business acceptance.
GraphQL testing experience.

Responsibilities

Architect, build, and maintain comprehensive automated regression and end-to-end test suites for the Circuit platform using Playwright, TypeScript/JavaScript, Python/Pytest, and Selenium.
Design and automate REST and GraphQL API tests for functional correctness, contract validation, error handling, and performance, including AI/model-serving endpoints under concurrent load.
Plan and execute load, stress, and soak tests using k6 or JMeter; track response-time percentiles, throughput, error rates, Time to First Token (TTFT), and inter-token latency.
Use AI agents and AI-assisted coding tools to generate and maintain regression suites for new and legacy features, and validate generated code for stability and security compliance before merging.
Develop testing approaches for AI/LLM features, including model response quality, behavior consistency, and end-to-end AI agent workflows across reasoning and action layers.
Integrate automated tests into CI/CD pipelines and build dashboards and reports; communicate quality metrics, risk assessments, and defect trends to engineering leadership.
Lead automation initiatives by defining standards, mentoring peers, and collaborating with development, product, and UX teams to embed automation-first testing in the development lifecycle.

Benefits

Medical, dental, and vision insurance, subject to plan eligibility rules.
401(k) plan with Cisco matching contribution.
Paid parental leave.
Short- and long-term disability coverage.
Basic life insurance.
Potential eligibility for Cisco restricted stock unit grants, which vest following continued employment for defined periods.
10 paid holidays per full calendar year, plus one floating holiday for non-exempt employees.
One paid day off for an employee’s birthday, a paid year-end holiday shutdown, and four paid personal wellness days.
Non-exempt employees receive 16 days of paid vacation per full calendar year; exempt employees participate in a flexible vacation time-off program with no defined limit, subject to availability and business limitations.
80 hours of sick time off provided on hire and each January 1st thereafter, with up to 80 unused hours carried forward.
Additional paid time away may be requested for critical or emergency family issues.
Optional 10 paid volunteer days per full calendar year.
For non-sales roles, eligibility to earn annual bonuses, subject to Cisco policies.