Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Companies, Workers Compensation Division, has an opening for a Quality Assurance Architect in its Walnut Creek Office. This technical professional will work closely with development, operations, and security teams to design and implement scalable, automated testing solutions, ensuring product quality at every stage of the software development lifecycle (SDLC), and will define the testing frameworks, tools, and processes necessary to ensure that products meet the highest standards of reliability, security, and performance. This requires a deep understanding of quality engineering principles, modern software development methodologies, and emerging testing technologies.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
QA STRATEGY & FRAMEWORK DESIGN
- Executes a comprehensive Quality Assurance strategy, incorporating automation, performance, security, and scalability testing.
- Architects advanced test automation frameworks for functional, regression, performance, and load testing.
- Standardizes QA processes across projects, ensuring uniformity, best practices, and integration with the CI/CD pipeline.
- Collaborates with DevOps to integrate QA tools into CI/CD pipelines and establishes continuous testing practices.
TEST AUTOMATION & TOOLING
- Leads the design, development, and maintenance of scalable test automation frameworks and reusable test scripts.
- Chooses, configures, and deploys appropriate tools for test automation, performance testing, and defect tracking (e.g., Selenium, Appium, JMeter, LoadRunner, Jenkins, GitLab).
- Implements automated testing for API, UI, and backend services, ensuring test coverage across all system layers.
- Ensures test automation frameworks are scalable, maintainable, and adaptable to changing requirements or technologies.
PERFORMANCE, LOAD, AND SECURITY TESTING
- Defines and implements performance and load testing strategies to ensure that applications meet scalability and availability requirements.
- Collaborates with the security team to ensure integration of security testing practices, including vulnerability scanning and penetration testing, into the QA process.
- Analyzes performance test results, identifies bottlenecks, and recommends optimizations for performance and scalability.
COLLABORATION WITH DEVELOPMENT & OPERATIONS TEAMS
- Works closely with software architects, developers, and Operations teams to understand technical requirements, system design, and performance goals.
- Provides technical guidance to development teams on best practices for code quality, unit testing, and test-driven development (TDD).
- Collaborates with DevOps teams to implement continuous integration and deployment pipelines with built-in quality gates for automated testing.
QUALITY METRICS & REPORTING
- Establishes and monitors quality metrics, including defect density, test coverage, and mean time to detect/fix defects.
- Generates detailed quality reports providing insights into system stability, performance, and quality risks.
- Creates dashboards and automated reporting systems for real-time visibility into test execution, results, and defect trends.
GOVERNANCE AND COMPLIANCE
- Ensures that QA processes adhere to relevant industry standards and regulatory requirements (e.g., ISO, GDPR, HIPAA).
- Develops and maintains test documentation, including test plans, test cases, test scripts, and test data management.
- Implements processes to ensure traceability of test cases to requirements and automated defect tracking/reporting.
MENTORSHIP
- Mentors and guides QA engineers and automation testers, ensuring adherence to best practices in automation, performance, and security testing.
- Carries out training and upskilling initiatives for the QA team on the latest automation tools, frameworks, and testing methodologies.
- Reviews and provides technical feedback on test designs, test scripts, and automated test implementations.
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT AND INNOVATION
- Stays updated on the latest trends, tools, and technologies in software quality engineering and testing.
- Identifies and drives opportunities for improving QA processes, tooling, and infrastructure to enhance quality, efficiency, and automation.
- Advocates for a shift-level testing approach, embedding quality assurance practices early in the SDLC to catch defects early.
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
- EDUCATION: A minimum of a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field required.
- CERTIFICATIONS: One or more of the following highly preferred: ISTQB Advanced Test Manager, Certified Agile Tester, AWS Certified DevOps Engineer, or relevant certification.
- EXPERIENCE: Required: A minimum of 10 years of experience in software quality assurance, with a minimum of 5 years in a QA leadership or architecture role. Strong experience in designing and implementing test automation frameworks using tools like Selenium, Appium, TestNG, JUnit, Cucumber, or similar. Extensive experience in performance testing and monitoring using tools such as JMeter, LoadRunner, or Gatling. Hands-on experience with modern DevOps tools and practices, including Jenkins, Git, Docker, Kubernetes, and cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud). Preferred: Experience with cloud-native application testing, containerization (e.g., Docker), and orchestration (e.g., Kubernetes).
TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS
- Solid knowledge of APT testing (e.g., Postman, SoapU) and microservices testing strategies.
- Expertise in integrating QA into CI/CD pipelines and enabling continuous testing with tools such as Jenkins, Bamboo, or Gitlab CI.
- Proficient in scripting and programming languages used in test automation (e.g., Python, Java, JavaScript, Ruby, or Shell scripting).
- Strong understanding of software development practices such as TDD, BDD, and Agile methodologies.
- Knowledge of security testing tools (e.g., OWASP ZAP, Burp Suite) and best practices for secure software development.
- Familiarity with monitoring tools such as Prometheus, Gradana, or Datadog, and understanding of how to integrate them into the QA process.
- Strong knowledge of enterprise-level applications, high availability systems, and large-scale distributed systems testing.
WHAT WE OFFER
- Work-Life Balance
- Work From Home Program (up to 2 days per week upon eligibility)
- Modern Office Setting
- Free On-Site Fitness Facility
- Free downtown shuttle route
- Two-minute walk from Walnut Creek BART Station
- Three-minute car ride from CA-24 and I-680
- Free On-Site Garage Parking
BENEFITS
- Paid Time Off
- Paid Holidays
- Retirements Savings Match
- Group Health Insurance (Medical, Dental, and Vision)
- Life and AD&D Insurance
- Long Term Disability Insurance
- Accident and Critical Illness Insurance
- Flexible Savings Accounts
- Paid Community Volunteer Day
- Employee Assistance Program
- Tuition Reimbursement Program
- Employee Referral Program
- Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Program
ABOUT US
With more than 50 years in business, BHHC has grown from a regional organization to a national insurance group, offering insurance products from coast to coast. Relationships are the cornerstone of our culture, and we believe in doing the right thing. That means we invest in our business in every way possible to deliver on our mission and demonstrate that people are what powers our success. Our commitment to financial strength and integrity means our customers can rest assured that we will be there when it counts.
At BHHC we embrace diversity and foster an environment where our people can be their authentic selves. Our differences make us stronger and better together, which fosters a harmonious workplace—something we truly value. We’ve created an approachable and collaborative atmosphere. Here you’ll find a welcoming workplace where everyone can feel valued, supported, and inspired to do great work. Together, we raise the bar by being curious, remaining customer-focused, and operating with integrity.
