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Vehicle Test Driver Jobs in Virginia (NOW HIRING)

LifeWise Academy

Vehicle Driver

Bedford, VA · On-site

Overview As a LifeWise vehicle driver, you will provide safe and reliable transportation for public ... Drug testing will be conducted for pre-employment, annual random tests and following traffic ...

LifeWise Academy

Vehicle Driver

Bedford, VA · On-site

Overview As a LifeWise vehicle driver, you will provide safe and reliable transportation for public ... Drug testing will be conducted for pre-employment, annual random tests and following traffic ...

LifeWise Academy

Vehicle Driver

Falls Church, VA · On-site

Overview As a LifeWise vehicle driver, you will provide safe and reliable transportation for public ... Drug testing will be conducted for pre-employment, annual random tests and following traffic ...

LifeWise Academy

Vehicle Driver

Emporia, VA · On-site

Overview As a LifeWise vehicle driver, you will provide safe and reliable transportation for public ... Drug testing will be conducted for pre-employment, annual random tests and following traffic ...

LifeWise Academy

Vehicle Driver

Williamsburg, VA · On-site

Overview As a LifeWise vehicle driver, you will provide safe and reliable transportation for public ... Drug testing will be conducted for pre-employment, annual random tests and following traffic ...

LifeWise Academy

Volunteer Vehicle Driver

Yorktown, VA · On-site

Overview As a LifeWise vehicle driver, you will provide safe and reliable transportation for public ... Drug testing will be conducted for pre-employment, annual random tests and following traffic ...

LifeWise Academy

Volunteer Vehicle Driver

Bedford, VA · On-site

Overview As a LifeWise vehicle driver, you will provide safe and reliable transportation for public ... Drug testing will be conducted for pre-employment, annual random tests and following traffic ...

LifeWise Academy

Volunteer Vehicle Driver

Emporia, VA · On-site

Overview As a LifeWise vehicle driver, you will provide safe and reliable transportation for public ... Drug testing will be conducted for pre-employment, annual random tests and following traffic ...

LifeWise Academy

Volunteer Vehicle Driver

Bedford, VA · On-site

Overview As a LifeWise vehicle driver, you will provide safe and reliable transportation for public ... Drug testing will be conducted for pre-employment, annual random tests and following traffic ...

LifeWise Academy

Volunteer Vehicle Driver

Yorktown, VA · On-site

Overview As a LifeWise vehicle driver, you will provide safe and reliable transportation for public ... Drug testing will be conducted for pre-employment, annual random tests and following traffic ...

LifeWise Academy

Volunteer Vehicle Driver

Emporia, VA · On-site

Overview As a LifeWise vehicle driver, you will provide safe and reliable transportation for public ... Drug testing will be conducted for pre-employment, annual random tests and following traffic ...

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All JobsVehicle Test Driver JobsVehicle Test Driver Jobs in Virginia

Vehicle Test Driver information

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How much do vehicle test driver jobs pay per hour?

As of Aug 31, 2026, the average hourly pay for vehicle test driver in Virginia is $18.97, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $15.24 and $19.09 per hour, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is a vehicle test driver?

Vehicle test drivers are professionals who operate automobiles, trucks, or other vehicles in controlled or real-world environments to evaluate their performance, safety, and reliability. They follow specific test procedures and report on factors such as handling, braking, acceleration, and comfort. Their feedback helps manufacturers identify potential problems and improve vehicle design before products reach the market.

What does a vehicle test driver do?

As a vehicle test driver, you operate a vehicle and perform a test drive to check systems on a test track or open road. Your feedback helps assess safety factors, provide reports for fuel economy, and identify issues before production. You may work with a prototype, pre-production, or a finished vehicle and are often expected to inspect and review every part of the car, from tires to brakes to turn signals to engines. Your duties include completing scientifically designed tests and creating reports on your findings to improve the speed and safety of vehicles.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a vehicle test driver, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Vehicle Test Driver, you need a valid driver’s license, strong driving skills, mechanical aptitude, and often a background in automotive technology or engineering. Familiarity with diagnostic tools, data logging systems, and vehicle testing protocols is typically required. Attention to detail, clear communication, and the ability to follow precise instructions are crucial soft skills in this role. These competencies ensure accurate vehicle assessments, reliable data collection, and the safe execution of test procedures.

What challenges might I face as a vehicle test driver, and how can I prepare for them?

As a Vehicle Test Driver, you'll often encounter varying road conditions, tight schedules, and the need to meticulously document your observations. Adapting quickly to different vehicles and maintaining focus during long or repetitive test drives are common challenges. Strong communication skills are essential, as you'll regularly collaborate with engineers and technicians to relay performance feedback and safety concerns. Preparing by staying up to date on vehicle technologies and practicing defensive driving techniques can help you excel in this role.

What is the difference between Vehicle Test Driver vs Vehicle Quality Inspector?

AspectVehicle Test DriverVehicle Quality Inspector
Required CredentialsValid driver's license, driving experience, sometimes specialized trainingQuality control certifications, attention to detail, inspection training
Work EnvironmentTest tracks, manufacturing plants, vehicle testing facilitiesInspection stations, manufacturing lines, quality assurance labs
Employer & Industry UsageAutomotive manufacturers, testing agencies, R&D departmentsAutomotive plants, quality assurance companies, certification bodies

While both roles involve working with vehicles, Vehicle Test Drivers focus on driving and evaluating vehicle performance, whereas Vehicle Quality Inspectors concentrate on inspecting vehicles for defects and quality standards. The roles often overlap in automotive testing environments but serve different primary functions.

How much does a vehicle test driver earn?

Vehicle test drivers typically earn between $40,000 and $70,000 annually, depending on experience, location, and the complexity of testing tasks. Some positions may offer additional compensation for overtime or specialized skills such as vehicle diagnostics or safety testing.

Is there a job where you test drive vehicles?

A vehicle test driver is a job that involves driving new or prototype vehicles to evaluate their performance, safety, and handling. These roles often require a valid driver's license, good driving skills, and sometimes specific knowledge of vehicle mechanics or safety standards. Test drivers typically work in controlled environments or on designated test tracks and may be employed by automakers, suppliers, or testing agencies.
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The top searched job categories for Vehicle Test Driver jobs in Virginia are:

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Cities in Virginia with the most Vehicle Test Driver job openings:

Vehicle Test Driver jobs near you
Infographic showing various Vehicle Test Driver job openings in Virginia as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 1% As Needed, 68% Full Time, 28% Part Time, and 3% Contract. Highlights an 98% Physical, and 2% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $39,466 per year, or $19 per hour.

Sr. Test Engineer

American Association Of Motor Vehicle Admin.

Arlington, VA • On-site

Other

Re-posted 11 days ago

Job description

Why Join Us
At AAMVA, your testing protects systems that millions of people rely on every day - the driver licensing and motor vehicle records that help keep roads safer and identities secure. You'll work hands-on with a modern, automation-first toolset, including AI-assisted test engineering that takes the busywork out of test design, and you'll partner directly with the state and federal jurisdictions and partners implementing our systems. It's a place to deepen your craft, see the real-world impact of your work, and grow toward technical leadership.
Position Overview
The Senior Test Engineer is an experienced member of the AAMVA Quality Assurance Department within the IT Division, responsible for designing and executing comprehensive, automation-first testing of AAMVA applications and the REST services and microservices that compose them, and for coordinating extensive testing efforts with state and federal jurisdictions and commercial/third-party data consumers on motor vehicle administration and driver licensing systems. This senior-level role requires a proficient QA professional who works independently with external customers, delivers exceptional service to government agencies and partners, and serves as a trusted technical advisor and testing partner to both internal teams and the jurisdictions implementing AAMVA solutions. The role includes mentoring junior team members, promoting modern testing practices, and providing technical guidance on complex testing initiatives.
About AAMVA
The IT Division develops and operates information systems for state and federal agencies conducting business related to motor vehicle and driver license administration. Our systems support critical government functions across multiple jurisdictions. We are modernizing toward a cloud-native, microservices architecture on Azure with REST interfaces across all internal and external integrations, and we are investing in automation-first, AI-assisted test engineering. Our in-house test platform abstracts much of the underlying infrastructure, so we value strong test-design judgment, data and integration testing depth, and learning agility over pre-existing mastery of any single platform technology.
Key Responsibilities
Testing & Quality Assurance
  • Design, implement, and maintain comprehensive test plans and automated tests for AAMVA applications and their underlying REST services and microservices.
  • Conduct functional, integration, system, regression, and end-to-end testing in alignment with AAMVA's business and technical specifications.
  • Build, maintain, and optimize automated test scripts across UI, API/REST, service, and data layers, and integrate them into CI/CD pipelines.
  • Perform API and contract testing of RESTful services - request/response and schema validation, status codes, authentication/authorization, and conformance to contract specifications.
  • Test microservices in isolation using service virtualization and mocking of dependent services and third-party interfaces; manage test data (create/modify/reset) so tests are atomic and repeatable.
  • Validate data integrity and behavior across relational and NoSQL data stores (Azure SQL, Cosmos DB), and across service-to-service and external integrations.
  • Apply AI-assisted testing techniques to accelerate test design, debugging, and reporting, and evaluate AI/ML approaches to improve defect prediction and testing analytics.
  • Document test results with thorough defect analysis, root-cause identification, and full traceability to business and technical requirements.
  • Mentor junior team members on testing best practices, automation techniques, and quality assurance methodologies.

Defect & Issue Management
  • Track and manage defects throughout their lifecycle, ensuring timely resolution and accurate documentation in established tracking systems (e.g. Jira, Azure DevOps).
  • Analyze defect trends and test metrics, providing clear insights and status updates to Technical Leads and Managers.
  • Determine whether a failure originates in the application, the test data, the mock/virtualized dependency, or an intervening platform layer, and drive issues to the right owner.
  • Conduct root-cause analysis on critical defects and recommend actionable solutions to prevent recurrence.

Customer Engagement & Support
  • Provide expert-level customer service and lead testing sessions with state and federal jurisdictions and commercial/third-party consumers (e.g. DLDV, consumer-access, and CDLIS third-party customers) implementing new or enhanced applications.
  • Serve as a trusted technical advisor, addressing complex testing scenarios and providing guidance on best practices.
  • Conduct customer outreach including surveys, scheduling, consultations, and technical presentations, and support the onboarding of new jurisdictions and partners.
  • Develop and nurture strong, lasting relationships with internal and external customers in a collaborative environment.

Collaboration, Knowledge Transfer & Continuous Improvement
  • Conduct meetings on testing schedules, concerns, reviews, and documentation changes, and collaborate with developers, business analysts, project managers, and external agencies to integrate quality objectives throughout project lifecycles.
  • Review and provide technical guidance on testing documentation, procedures, and standards.
  • Maintain strong expertise in AAMVA applications through continuous learning, and research new tools and approaches that improve testing efficiency and effectiveness.
  • Analyze testing processes and metrics, recommending enhancements that improve quality, accuracy, and cycle times.

Formal Education
Four-year degree from an accredited college or university; equivalent work experience may be substituted for the degree.
Experience & Technical Skills
The skills below are described by the depth we expect. "Strong / expert / hands-on" indicates required, working depth. "Familiarity / conceptual understanding" indicates that awareness is sufficient - our test tooling abstracts much of the underlying platform, and the ability to learn quickly matters more than deep prior expertise in those areas.
  • 6+ years of software quality assurance and testing experience with a comprehensive understanding of the software development lifecycle.
  • Strong test-design ability - proven track record of independently designing and executing test plans for complex applications, including edge, negative, and boundary cases.
  • Strong analytical and problem-solving skills and learning agility - able to reason about complex system behavior and pick up new tools and technologies quickly. *(Non-negotiable.)*
  • Strong background in system, integration, and automated testing, with REST/API testing and contract validation.
  • Strong, hands-on knowledge of databases and data validation, including the nuances of relational and NoSQL/document stores (Azure SQL, Cosmos DB) - query behavior, consistency models, and partitioning - sufficient to set up and validate test data and to judge whether a result reflects correct system behavior.
  • Hands-on experience with automated testing frameworks and tools (Selenium, Postman, Playwright, or similar) and with test management / defect tracking tools (Jira, Azure DevOps, or similar).
  • Experience using service virtualization / mocking to test components and services in isolation, and managing test data for atomic, repeatable tests.
  • Familiarity with the Azure platform components that sit in the request path - API Management (APIM), Application Gateway, and Web Application Firewall (WAF) - sufficient to recognize when a failure originates in those layers rather than the application (e.g. a blocked payload, throttling, or a gateway timeout).
  • Conceptual understanding of cloud-hosted, microservices environments (asynchronous communication, eventual consistency); deep platform or orchestration expertise is not required.
  • Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines, and exposure to AI-assisted testing for test generation, debugging, or reporting.
  • Exposure to legacy SOAP/XML web services is a plus during the transition to REST.

Communication & Customer Service
  • Excellent written and verbal communication, articulating complex technical concepts to technical and non-technical audiences.
  • Proven ability to deliver exceptional customer service to internal teams and external jurisdictions and partners.
  • Experience leading meetings, testing sessions, and technical discussions, and conducting knowledge transfer with junior team members.
  • Ability to build rapport and establish credibility as a trusted technical advisor.

Professional Attributes
  • Self-motivated, able to work independently with minimal supervision.
  • Strong organizational and time-management skills; able to manage multiple priorities simultaneously.
  • Strong adaptability to new technologies and concepts, and effective collaboration within a team.

Preferred Qualifications
  • Knowledge of AAMVA applications, systems, and standards.
  • Experience with government or public-sector IT systems in motor vehicle administration or driver licensing.
  • Experience extending testing into data analytics and BI pipelines (e.g. Synapse, Power BI) - building coverage for analytics solution chains.
  • Experience with SQL Server and Azure Tables specifically.
  • Understanding of / experience with white-box testing.
  • Familiarity with scripting languages (JavaScript, PowerShell, Python, or similar).
  • ISTQB Advanced Level or other relevant QA certifications.

Salary Range: $114,134 to $172, 985 Annually
The expected hiring range for this position has been provided. Actual pay will be determined based on the candidate's experience, qualifications, specific skill sets, and geographic work location.
AAMVA is an Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled

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