TEST ENGINEER – Linux/Bash- 8+ yrs of Experience - TS/SCI w/Poly clearance is required - RC
Halogen Engineering Group, Inc · Columbia, MD
$191,000–$196,000
Jul 15, 2026
Columbia, MD
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A test engineering role focused on building and maintaining automated test solutions for REST APIs and web UIs, using Python/Pytest, Docker/Podman, Jenkins, GitLab CI/CD pipelines, and Linux/Bash scripting. The position also involves government test and evaluation documentation, performance analysis planning, and migrating legacy Robot Framework implementations to modern alternatives. Suited to experienced test engineers holding an active TS/SCI with polygraph.
Senior level · 8+ years · Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD · TS/SCI clearance · Full-time
Pay in the description: $191,000–$196,000
“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
Rare in this occupation — lead with these, and say what you built with them.
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $132,736 (middle half $104,315–$164,234). This posting is about at that midpoint.
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)
The role requires an active TS/SCI clearance WITH a polygraph — this is a hard gate explicitly stated in the posting.
The degree requirement is effectively waived: the JD states 4 years of additional TE experience may be substituted for a bachelor's degree, so the degree requirement is set to None.
Robot Framework and Selenium are listed under Required Skills with 'familiarity' language, but they appear in the hard-requirements section alongside firmly-gated skills, so they are treated as required.
SQL Developer appears in the required section as an example tool ('SQL and tools such as SQL Developer'), so SQL is the hard gate; SQL Developer is captured separately as preferred since it is offered as an illustrative example.
Playwright (and Robot Framework AIO) appear only under Desired Skills as migration targets — marked preferred accordingly.
The role blends hands-on test automation engineering with formal Government T&E program support (T&E Master Plans, Evaluation Reports, etc.), making it a genuine QA/test engineering role; 15-1252 is noted as a runner-up given the depth of automation framework development work.
Requires a TS/SCI 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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