Middle Class Jobs in Chicago, IL (NOW HIRING)

Job Title: Quality Assurance Engineer 

Team: Systems

Location: Hybrid in Chicago (IL)

Employment Type: Full-time

FLSA Classification: Exempt

Start Date: ASAP

Braven is a national nonprofit that prepares promising college students to secure a strong first opportunity after college graduation through a career-accelerating program.

We work with higher education and employer partners to offer a life-changing experience that begins with a semester-long course for college students, followed by support that lasts through graduation.  

Together, our ambition is to help rebuild the middle class and revitalize the American Dream.

To learn more, take a look at Braven's Jobs.

In order to achieve its ambition of serving 80,000-100,000 Fellows over the next decade,  Braven is hiring a Quality Assurance Engineer who will ensure our student- and staff-facing software is reliable, accessible, and a joy to use. 

You will be a core partner to Engineering: shaping test plans, expanding automated test coverage, and collaborating with engineers to write effective unit and integration tests. You'll help us balance the agility needed to ship impactful features with the discipline of strong quality practices and continuous improvement.

This role is on the Systems team and reports directly to the Senior Director, Engineering.

Test automation & collaboration with engineers (40%)

• Build and maintain UI and API automation (Playwright preferred).
• Partner with engineers to write/expand unit and integration tests and improve testability.
• Increase automation coverage and reliability (flakiness control, data management).

Test planning & manual execution (35%)

• Design and execute test plans and test cases for web and API features across key integrations (Salesforce, Canvas, Pathify, LinkedIn, Zoom).
• Perform cross-browser/device and accessibility (WCAG) testing; log clear, actionable defects.

CI/CD quality gates, release verification, and bug triage (15%)

• Own quality checks in GitHub Actions/CI; implement sensible gating and fast feedback loops.
• Coordinate regression and release verification for scheduled launches; drive root-cause analysis.

Data validation & process improvement (10%)

• Validate data flows with SQL; use logs/observability to detect regressions.
• Document test cases, patterns, and QA standards; champion pragmatic process improvements.
• Other duties as assigned.

Requirements

• 3+ years in QA/software testing, or 2+ years of professional software engineering experience. At least 1 year working with test automation.
• Tools/Skills: Playwright (or Cypress), API testing, Database, Git/GitHub, GitHub Actions/CI, accessibility testing (WCAG).

Preferred Qualifications 

• Bachelor's Degree in a technical field or equivalent professional experience
• Experience with performance testing, observability (e.g., logs/metrics), and test data management.
• Familiarity with Jira and structured defect triage.
• Familiarity with REST API tools (e.g., Postman).
• Basic experience with Python or Ruby on Rails, and Heroku environments and modern web app architectures.
• Strong organizational and task management skills, with the ability to prioritize work, ensure attention to detail, and make sound technical decisions independently.
• Flexible and solutions-oriented, with strong problem-solving skills and the ability to adapt to changing priorities.
• Excellent communication skills, bridging technical and non-technical teams and managing stakeholder expectations effectively.
• Demonstrated commitment to building strong and welcoming cultures that help to develop others.
• Exemplification of Braven's core values.
• Experience that has informed your belief in Braven's mission and has prepared you to work with, or for, Braven's student Fellow population.

Please know that no one ever meets 100% of the preferred qualifications. If much of this describes you, we encourage you to apply.

Work Demands

• Ability to work in-person in Chicago (IL) at least 3 days per week
• Travel 2-3 times per year

Additional Requirements

• Authorized to work in the U.S.
• Braven doesn't offer employment visa sponsorship

Application & Interview Process

While the interview process may vary slightly, the general process will be:

• Phone screen with Talent Team member
• Performance Task
• Interview with Hiring Manager
• Panel Interview with Key Partners
• Reference Checks

Benefits

Braven offers competitive base salaries based on the midpoint of the market among not-for-profit organizations of similar size, with opportunities for salary growth over time. We believe in compensating staff members fairly in relation to each other, their qualifications, and their impact on behalf of the organization, and take internal and external equity seriously. Given our commitment to equity, Braven does not negotiate salary offers; instead, each salary offer is determined carefully using external and internal benchmarking.

Starting salary within the range is determined by role scope and qualifications, with new hires starting at the lower end to allow for growth with performance. Braven does not base compensation on individual candidate salary expectations and is committed to maintaining internal equity. The starting salary range for this role in Chicago is $92,000-$101,100. This is based on a 50-hour work week. This is a full-time, regular, exempt, and benefits eligible position where you will be working at 100% capacity.  

Braven also provides competitive, comprehensive benefits, recognition, and career development. While Braven reserves the right to change benefits at any time, current benefits include: 

• Unlimited vacation time in addition to org-wide holidays and week-long shutdowns in July and the end of the calendar year (this is a minimum of 19 days per year)
• Braven supports your path to parenthood and beyond with $25,000 in lifetime Carrot benefits for fertility, family-building, and hormonal health
• Match of your 401K contribution up to 5% of your base annual salary, starting your first full month
• Coverage of 85% of health insurance premium for employee and dependents
• 12 weeks of paid parental leave
• A one-month paid sabbatical after 4 years on staff

Please note that Braven is firm in its compensation philosophy; therefore, only candidates who believe that our total rewards package matches what they are looking for in their next opportunity are encouraged to apply. 

Location

We gather in the office 3 days a week (Tuesday through Thursday) and work remotely 2 days a week (Monday and Friday). Therefore, this role requires teammates to live within commuting distance of one of our hubs: Chicago. We believe in the magic, connection, and collaboration that happens when people work together face-to-face, and we believe in giving people flexibility to focus, balance personal priorities, and save themselves two commutes per week.

Braven is an equal opportunity employer and considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected factor.  We encourage talented individuals of all backgrounds to apply.