Manager of Software Quality Engineering

Description

At Whisker, we’re on a mission to make life with your pets endlessly better. As the makers of Litter-Robot, Feeder-Robot, and Litterbox.com, we’re leading the pack in pet tech and pet accessories—creating smarter, cleaner, and more thoughtful solutions for pet parents everywhere.

We believe pet care should keep up with the way people actually live. Whether it’s automating litter box chores, unlocking more intelligent insights into your cat’s routine, or helping pets develop more routine eating habits, we’re here to revolutionize what is possible for your life with pets.

We work onsite 4+ days a week, with our team based in Auburn Hills, Michigan, and Juneau, Wisconsin. Our team of 700+ passionate pet people thrives on collaboration, innovation, and the occasional office cameo from a four-legged friend.

At Whisker, we know life with pets is already pretty great, but we’re here to make it even better.

What You’ll Do:

We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced Quality Engineering Manager to lead and expand our quality engineering efforts across software quality assurance (QA), firmware SDETs, system integration, performance and security testing domains. This is a pivotal leadership role, responsible for driving the strategic vision of quality engineering within Whisker and ensuring the delivery of scalable, secure, and seamless products that meet the highest industry standards.

Summary:

As the Quality Engineering Manager at Whisker, you spearhead quality initiatives across a diverse range of platforms, including cloud-based applications, mobile apps, embedded firmware systems, and integrated hardware-software ecosystems. You also play a key role in fostering a culture of excellence and collaboration within cross-functional teams.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

This list of duties and responsibilities is not all-inclusive and may be expanded to include other duties and responsibilities as deemed necessary.

• Defines and implements a comprehensive quality strategy that spans Software Quality Assurance, Firmware Quality Engineering, integration testing, performance and security testing
• Builds, mentors, and inspires a high-performing team of Quality Engineering / SDET professionals to achieve technical excellence and continuous improvement
• Drives the adoption of advanced testing methodologies, tools, and automation practices to accelerate development cycles while maintaining quality
• Aligns quality engineering initiatives with organizational objectives and advocates for quality best practices across engineering and product teams
• Oversees the end-to-end testing lifecycle for web, mobile, and backend systems, including functional, regression, and exploratory testing
• Collaborates with software engineers to embed quality into the development lifecycle through code reviews, unit tests, and test-driven development (TDD)
• Establishes rigorous testing protocols for embedded systems, focusing on reliability, performance, and compatibility with hardware
• Partners with firmware engineering team to validate system-level functionality and ensure robust integration with software components
• Ensures seamless interoperability across complex hardware, software, and third-party systems through comprehensive integration testing
• Develops automated integration test frameworks to validate real-world use cases and edge conditions
• Leads initiatives to identify and address latency issues or bottle necks through data-driven performance testing
• Leads initiatives to identify and address security vulnerabilities through penetration testing, secure code analysis, and risk assessments
• Partners with security and compliance teams to ensure adherence to regulatory standards such as GDPR, or similar
• Collaborates with product management, engineering, and operations teams to define clear quality benchmarks and acceptance criteria
• Act as a quality advocate, bridging communication gaps between stakeholders and ensuring alignment on quality priorities
• Partners with Whisker DevOps teams to enhance CI/CD pipelines and integrate automated quality checks, enabling rapid and reliable releases
• Leads the evaluation, selection, and implementation of testing tools and frameworks suitable for cloud, mobile, and embedded platforms
• Drives advancements in test automation across all layers of the technology stack to increase coverage and efficiency
• Continuously refines QA processes to adapt to evolving business and technological needs, ensuring agility in fast-paced development cycles
• Defines, measures, and reports key performance indicators (KPIs) for quality, such as defect escape rates, test