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 Sr. Software QA Engineers who will be a part of the Quality Assurance team and will be working in an agile working environment. You will be responsible for designing and documenting test cases based on business requirements, manual and automated test execution including the development of automated test scripts using Selenium WebDriver for Java. You are also expected to contribute to test planning, test report documentation, and peer review sessions. You will also be involved in the continuous development of the test automation framework being used by the QA team as well as expanding the current framework to support business needs.

What You’ll Be Doing:

• Lead a team of Software QA Testers and provide guidance for success in any given project or sub-project
• Design and document BDD test cases based on given business requirements, acceptance criteria and/or wireframes
• Collaborate with team members on mind mapping sessions to create mind maps that would be used for test case analysis
• Participate in agile ceremonies such as daily scrum meetings, sprint planning, and sprint retrospectives with internal teams to identify blockers, requirement gaps, and possible process improvements.
• Conduct peer review on quality assurance deliverables including mind maps, test cases, and other project documentation
• Execute test cases and accurately document test results
• Log clear and complete bug tickets (including summary, detailed steps to replicate, and screenshots or recordings)
• Document test estimations, strategy, and scope in the test plan and coordinate it with the project team including the developers and stakeholders.
• Assess the testing scope and provide test estimations for regression testing or other testing-related tasks and create applicable test suites in Zephyr for JIRA.
• Perform thorough regression tests, white or black box testing of new and existing functionalities.
• Review and collate test execution results and provide daily and monthly (or as needed) updates on project-related tasks to stakeholders
• Track quality assurance metrics, like defect densities and open defect counts.
• Automate manual test scripts using Selenium and Cucumber for Java.
• Conduct code reviews on teammates' pull requests.
• Plan automated suites to support project teams during regression testing.
• Stay up to date with the new testing tools and test strategies.
• Collaborate with teammates to establish internal processes and best practices for Software Quality Assurance.
• Propose and implement process improvements that could benefit not just the QA team, but the project team as well.
• Collaborate remotely with cross-functional teams in the United State and the Philippines, and possibly India and/or Canada.

Other Responsibilities:

• Create and maintain documentation for configurable components or any related functionalities as needed
• Perform sanity testing during in production or live deployments and monitor deployment status
• Provide Knowledge Transfers and guidance for team members to enable them to become a key contributor to testing efforts Participate in agile ceremonies like scrum meetings, sprint planning, project retrospectives and provide personal inputs and updates.

What You Bring to the Table:

• Minimum of 3 years experience as a Software QA Engineer or similar role. Experience in leading projects is a plus.
• Must have experience in using Selenium Web driver for Java (or other similar technologies)
• Must have experience in working in any Database related projects (SQL, Oracle, etc.)
• Must have experience in using APIs and how to control them
• Must have experience writing test plans, test reports, and test cases
• Must have knowledge of software QA concepts and methodology
• Must have experience working as embedded QA exercising AGILE methodologies
• Must have experience working closely with Development and Business teams
• Must be able to communicate and collaborate within the team
• Must have a high proficiency in the English language. Excellent written English is required.
• Must have strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Must be comfortable in working through a task via electronic means (email, chat and task management applications)
• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering or relevant industry is a plus

Location: The Sr. Software QA Engineer 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 live within Metro Manila, Cavite, Rizal, Bulacan or certain parts of Laguna only (Biñan, Cabuyao, Calamba, Los Baños, San Pedro and Santa Rosa)
• Must be willing to attend occasional in-person meetings depending on the status of the pandemic. 
• Must have a dedicated, functional laptop that meets the following specifications:

For Windows users:
• OS: Windows 10 - 64 bit or higher
• Processor: Intel Core i3 or better
• RAM/Memory: 4GB or higher
• Hard Drive: 500GB or higher

For Mac users:
• Processor: 2GHz Intel Core i5
• Memory: 8GB 1600 MHz DDR3
• Start-up Disk: Macintosh HD
• Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 4000 1536MB

• Must have a backup laptop or desktop for use if primary laptop encounters issues
• 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 backup internet connection of the same speed if the primary connection becomes spotty
• Must have licensed MS Office (PowerPoint, Word, Excel) including Outlook

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

Status: Full Time

Benefits & Perks:
• Government-mandated Benefits (SSS, PAG-IBIG, PhilHealth)
• 13th Month Pay
• Paid Leaves 
• Internet Subsidy
• Healthcare Coverage (+ 2 dependents)
• Maternity, Paternity, and Solo Parent Benefit
• Continuous Learning and Professional Development Benefit
• Mental Health Support
• Volunteer Time Off
• Bereavement Leave