Company Description

Balsam Brands is a multi-brand eCommerce retailer with roots in holiday and home décor. Based in Silicon Valley, the company operates market-leading website such as www.BalsamHill.com. We strive for excellence in everything we do and have been honored to receive the following awards as a result:

• Forbes: America’s Best Small Companies (2016)
• Inc. 5000: America’s Fastest Growing Private Companies (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015)
• San Francisco Business Times: Fast 100 – Fastest Growing Bay Area Companies (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015)
• Silicon Valley Business Journal: 75 Fastest Growing Private Companies (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015)

The company’s outward focus on building trusted consumer brands along with its internal focus on excellence and being a great place to work have propelled it to consistent, rapid growth.

In 2021, Balsam International, our Regional Operating Headquarters in the Philippines received the Great Place To Work recognition which is a testament to the People First culture that we have built over the years. Functioning remotely since 2010, our team of hard-working, passionate professionals contributes significantly to the company's success. The team in the Philippines enjoy full employee benefits including mandatories (SSS, PAG-IBIG, PhilHealth), 13th month pay, healthcare coverage +2 dependents, internet subsidy (after regularization), continuous learning benefits, access to counseling sessions, paid time off including volunteer days and holiday breaks. The meal subsidies, company trips, and other perks are just cherry on top of the work-from-home setup.

Job Description

Balsam International is looking for a Software QA Tester who will be responsible for doing software testing and Quality Assurance. Our ideal candidate must be a hardworking and trustworthy individual with keen attention to detail, excellent time management skills, and proactive communication practices.

What you’ll be doing:

• Write and document BDD test cases.
• Execute test cases and or scripts.
• Collaborate with teammates during mind mapping sessions.
• Raise defects with detailed information and replication steps including screenshots or recordings as proof.
• Perform thorough regression tests and white or black box testing of new and existing functionalities.
• Collaborate with internal teams (e.g. Developers, Product Managers) to identify or refine system requirements.
• Collaborate remotely with cross-functional teams in the United States, Philippines, and India.
• Review business requirements, acceptance criteria, and technical designs to provide timely and meaningful feedback.
• Create a recording of user documentation of configurable components or any related functionalities for business users or as needed.
• Review and collate test execution results and report it to the project teams.
• Conduct peer review on test cases.
• Collaborate with teammates to establish internal processes and best practices for Software Quality Assurance.
• Participate in agile ceremonies like scrum meetings, sprint planning, and project retrospectives and provide personal inputs and updates.
• Attend in production or live deployments and monitor deployment status after performing sanity testing.
• Tracking quality assurance metrics, like defect densities and open defect counts.
• Performs other duties that may be assigned from time to time.

What you bring to the table:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or relevant industry is a plus.
• Minimum of 1-year experience as a Software QA Tester or similar role.
• Experience writing test cases, test reports, and test plans.
• Knowledge of Software QA concepts and methodology.
• Experience working as embedded QA exercising Agile methodologies.
• Experience working closely with Development and Business teams.
• Ability to communicate and collaborate within the team.
• Must have high proficiency of the English language. Excellent written English is required.
• Must have strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Comfortable in working through a task via electronic means (email, chat and task management applications).

Location: The Software QA Tester  position is a remote working position for Balsam International Unlimited Philippine ROHQ in Manila. Team members in the Philippines are located within Metro Manila, Cavite, Rizal, Bulacan or certain parts of Laguna only (Biñan, Cabuyao, Calamba, Los Baños, San Pedro, and Santa Rosa).

Our Must-haves:

• Must attend occasional in-person meetings depending on the status of the pandemic. For 2022, all in-person gatherings in Balsam are suspended until further notice.
• Must have a fast, reliable DSL, Fiber, or Broadband connection (not mobile or broadband stick) as the primary internet connection with a minimum actual speed of 10MBPS.
• Must have a back-up internet connection of the same speed, if primary connection becomes spotty.

Note: An online assessment will also be part of the recruitment process.

Status: Full-time

Hardware Provision: Company-issued laptop will be provided on the first day.

What we offer team members:

• Government-mandated Benefits (SSS, PAG-IBIG, PhilHealth)
• 13th Month Pay
• Paid Leaves. We use time off to rest, go on vacation, or just sleep in! Our paid time off is flexible to our needs.
• Internet Subsidy. With internet allowance, we are set up for success.
• Healthcare Coverage (+ 2 dependents). We worry less about rising medical costs with flexible quality healthcare benefits.
• Maternity, Paternity, and Solo Parent Benefit. We make sure parents are supported while they navigate work and family life.
• Continuous Learning and Professional Development Benefit. Our professional and personal development are fully supported. Whether it be online courses, workshops or books!
• Mental Health Support. We manage work and life's challenges through Mental Health Day breaks, 24/7 professional counselling, and curated webinars.
• Company Incentive. An additional cash-based perk for all our Brandits based on company's performance.
• Meeting & Team Building Allowance. Happy tummies make our meetings more fun and productive!
• Shutdown Week. We can spend more time on things that matter with an additional one week paid time off on top of paid leaves.
• Volunteer Time Off. With two paid days off, we are able to volunteer for advocacies we believe in.
• Bereavement Leave. We get additional paid leaves when a loved one passes to grieve and provide immediate support to our families.