Senior QA Automation Engineer, Dispel
$90-120k
+ Equity + Bonus
Secure remote access & data streaming for OT and ICS
Be an early applicant
Secure remote access & data streaming for OT and ICS
101-200 employees
Be an early applicant
$90-120k
+ Equity + Bonus
101-200 employees
Company mission
To provide Zero Trust Access solutions to industrial organizations, specializing in products like Secure Remote Access and Data Streaming.
Role
Who you are
- 5+ years of experience in Software Quality Assurance, Quality Engineering, Software Development Engineering in Test (SDET), or a similar role
- Strong experience designing and developing automated tests for modern web applications
- Hands-on experience with Playwright, preferably using JavaScript or TypeScript, with emphasis on designing scalable automation frameworks rather than solely creating individual test cases (experience with Cypress, Selenium, Jest, or similar is a plus)
- Strong understanding of software testing methodologies, including functional, integration, regression, end-to-end, and negative testing
- Strong experience integrating automated tests with CI/CD pipelines (e.g., GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, CircleCI) and source-control workflows
- Experience testing complex applications involving role-based access controls, permissions, multi-tenant environments, or security policies
- Experience mentoring junior engineers and providing constructive technical feedback through code reviews
- Strong communication skills and ability to work cross-functionally
Desirable
- Familiarity with Docker, Kubernetes, AWS, Azure, or similar technologies
- Experience in security-critical, high-availability, or infrastructure-heavy systems
- Familiarity with API security, authentication flows, and data protection practices
- Experience leading QA initiatives in Agile environments
- Familiarity with security testing tools (e.g., OWASP ZAP, Burp Suite, SAST/DAST)
What the job involves
- We are seeking a Senior QA Automation Engineer to join our Quality Engineering team and help ensure the reliability, security, and overall quality of our cybersecurity products
- You will play a key role in defining, leading, and scaling quality assurance across our platform, with a strong emphasis on test automation
- This is a hands-on senior individual contributor role
- You will lead our web application test automation efforts, designing and evolving automated testing solutions with Playwright and JavaScript, and integrating automated testing throughout the software development lifecycle
- You will also mentor junior QA and automation engineers and influence engineering practices across teams
- Lead the design and execution of QA strategies, frameworks, and automated test plans across multiple products
- Identify high-value opportunities for automation and help define the team's automation strategy and roadmap
- Participate in requirements and design reviews to identify quality risks and testability concerns early in the development lifecycle
- Define meaningful quality metrics and provide visibility into automation coverage, reliability, and product quality
- Continuously evaluate testing tools, techniques, and approaches, and drive improvement of QA processes aligned with engineering goals
- Lead the design, development, and ongoing improvement of our automated testing framework using Playwright and JavaScript
- Develop reliable, maintainable, and reusable automated tests for browser-based cybersecurity applications, with coverage across backend, frontend, and infrastructure components
- Establish and promote automation architecture, coding standards, design patterns, and testing best practices
- Own and enhance CI/CD-integrated testing infrastructure, including quality gates and feedback mechanisms, for consistent validation across environments
- Review existing automation and improve its reliability, maintainability, execution speed, and coverage
- Diagnose and resolve flaky tests, automation failures, and complex application or environment issues
- Analyze test results to distinguish product defects from automation, environment, and test-data issues
- Contribute to our growing suite of automated security checks (e.g., SAST/DAST and dependency scanning) in CI/CD pipelines
- Mentor junior QA and automation engineers, conduct code reviews, and provide technical guidance
- Partner with software engineers, product managers, security teams, and QA engineers to develop effective test strategies for new features and releases
- Advocate for quality engineering practices and help shift testing earlier in the development lifecycle
- Promote a culture of quality and accountability
- What Success Looks Like:
- Success means moving beyond simply increasing the number of automated tests. You will build an automation ecosystem that engineers trust: tests that are reliable, maintainable, appropriately scoped, and give rapid feedback when something goes wrong. You will become a technical leader within the QA organization, helping decide what to automate, how to automate it, and how automation fits into the broader development process, while growing the engineers around you
Our take
Dispel provides secure remote access to industrial control systems (ICS), helping companies connect to critical infrastructure without compromising on cybersecurity. Built around a Zero Trust approach, its platform is designed to go beyond standard protections, giving organizations a safer way to manage and monitor their operational technology environments.
The company focuses on fast, reliable connectivity combined with strong access controls and real-time data visibility. Rather than automating industrial processes themselves, Dispel allows teams to securely access, oversee, and respond to systems more efficiently. While the company was originally founded to reduce operational friction, the platform has evolved alongside growing cybersecurity demands in industrial settings.
As reliance on connected industrial systems continues to rise, Dispel has strengthened its position by expanding both its security capabilities and scalability. Today, it works with large industrial organizations across sectors like manufacturing, energy, and infrastructure, supporting a shift toward more secure, always-connected operations.
Freddie
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
122% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (2 rounds)
Aug 2015
$1.5m
SERIES A
Oct 2014
$1.5m
SEED
Total funding: $3m
Company benefits
- Competitive Salary & Retirement: Dispel offers salaries competitive to market rates, and provides a company-matching 401k retirement plan.
- Health Coverage: Stay healthy. We provide comprehensive coverage for health, vision, and dental
- Generous Vacation & Wellness Time: Unlimited PTO. Fresh minds do better work. Go rock climbing, do archery, and go hiking
- Insurance: Dispel provides life, long-term disability, and short-term disability insurance
- Growth: At Dispel, your professional growth is fueled by real ownership, impactful work, and a culture that prioritizes learning, mentorship, and advancement
- Options: We‘re a tech company with a long-term vision. Dispel has an option pool available for employees
Company HQ
Civic District, Austin, TX
Leadership
Ethan Schmertzler
(Co-Founder & Co-CEO)Previously Lead Frontend Engineer at TripleMint, and served as a Financial Analyst at National Security Equity Partners.
Ian Schmertzler
(Co-Founder & Co-CEO)Previously an Associate at BlackRock Financial Markets Advisory Group.
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