Copy of Senior Software QA Engineer at PDW
Huntsville, AL
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Jul 13, 2026
Huntsville, AL
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A senior individual contributor role focused on validating software and integrated systems for unmanned aerial vehicles. Day-to-day work spans designing test strategies, writing Python-based automation, executing tests across simulation and flight environments, analyzing defects, and supporting CI/CD pipelines. Suits an experienced QA or systems validation engineer comfortable in embedded or robotic contexts, ideally with UAV platform knowledge.
Senior level · 5+ years · Huntsville, AL · Secret clearance · Full-time
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
We read this from the posting text with AI. Skim the description below before ruling yourself out.
How this req sits in the market our data
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $107,932 (middle half $92,000–$137,233).
Estimated from BLS employment for this occupation and area, per-skill prevalence across our listing corpus, and published wage benchmarks — as of Jul 28, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (7)
Clearance gate: the JD states candidates 'must have the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Security Clearance' but does not specify the level. Given the defense/UAV context and Huntsville, AL location, a Secret clearance is the most common baseline; the actual level may be higher.
ULog is listed in the Requirements section as an example log/telemetry format ('e.g., ULog') — the hard gate is on log/telemetry analysis capability broadly, but ULog is the only named tool and is marked required accordingly.
PyTest and Playwright are presented as interchangeable examples ('such as PyTest, Playwright, or similar') within the Requirements section; PyTest is listed first and Playwright captured as an alternative.
PX4 and QGroundControl appear together as a single preferred item ('PX4/QGroundControl-based platforms'); both are captured under one skill with QGroundControl as the alternative.
SITL and HITL are listed together as a preferred item; SITL is the primary name with HITL as the alternative.
No compensation figures are provided in the posting.
Requires a Secret clearance — the cleared population is a small fraction of this occupation, so the real candidate pool is materially smaller than the estimate below, which does not model clearance.
Read the full posting
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