Software Test Engineering Manager

Caterpillar Inc.•Chicago, IL

5d•$128,470 - $208,770

About The Position

The Software Test Engineering Manager leads a System Integration Testing team supporting programs within Caterpillar’s Platform Engineering organization. The role owns integration test strategy, focusing primarily on back-end testing of APIs, services, data pipelines, and system interfaces, and sets quality standards for end-to-end data flow across system boundaries. The manager oversees test automation frameworks, environments, and schedules to support timely releases, and partners with software engineering, product, and architecture teams to assess release readiness. The position also hires, mentors, and develops test engineers and reports quality, risk, and test coverage to stakeholders. The role is based in Chicago, Illinois. Relocation assistance and visa sponsorship are not available. Any employment offer is conditional on successfully completing a drug screen.

Requirements

Knowledge of organizational leadership concepts and ability to enlist others in setting, embracing, and achieving objectives.
Knowledge of the software development life cycle and ability to use a structured methodology for delivering and managing software products.
Knowledge of software quality assurance and testing, including applying appropriate processes, tools, and techniques to assure software and systems quality.
Knowledge of software integration processes and functions, including the ability to design, develop, and maintain interfaces and linkages to alternative platforms and software packages.
Strong people leadership skills and experience leading, mentoring, and developing test engineers and automation specialists across multiple programs.
Experience reviewing test strategies, test plans, and release readiness to ensure quality standards are met.
Experience managing automated pipeline health and test triage, and working with engineering leads to identify and reduce flaky tests and false positives.
Strong quality leadership skills, including defining testing priorities and aligning quality strategy with product, engineering, and business goals.
Strong communication skills to report quality risks and test metrics to engineering and product leaders and influence release decisions.
Understanding of Gen AI capabilities and development tools, with the ability to identify opportunities to improve engineering productivity, automation, and team efficiency.
Must be based in Chicago, Illinois.

Responsibilities

Lead, mentor, and develop a team of test engineers, including hiring, performance management, and training.
Define and own test strategy, test plans, and quality standards across the software development life cycle.
Oversee the design, development, and maintenance of automated test frameworks, including regression, integration, performance, and system-level testing.
Partner with software engineering, product, and architecture teams to define requirements, acceptance criteria, and release readiness.
Build and manage test schedules, estimates, and resource plans, and report status, risks, and quality metrics to stakeholders.
Drive CI/CD test integration, test environments, and tooling to speed up feedback and improve release quality.
Oversee defect triage and root-cause analysis, and drive continuous improvement in test coverage and efficiency.
Ensure compliance with company standards, safety and security requirements, and industry best practices.