Software Test Engineer

We are looking for a hands-on Software Test Engineer to ensure the quality and reliability of software solutions used in real-world sensing and data processing systems. Optics11 is a deep-tech company developing advanced fiber-optic sensing technologies for challenging environments and applications in energy and underwater security. Our systems enable high-performance sensing and monitoring through advanced photonics, signal processing, and data-driven intelligence. We are expanding our R&D team with a Software Test Engineer who is passionate about quality, structured validation, and delivering robust software in complex engineering environments. As a Software Test Engineer, you will be responsible for defining and executing practical software tests to validate software components (including algorithms, cloud back-end, and user interfaces) that process sensor signals generated by fiber-optic sensing systems. You will work closely with data scientists, signal processing specialists, back-end developers, and software architects to ensure that products meet functional and non-functional requirements. This role requires a hands-on professional with a proactive mindset, a structured approach to software testing, strong attention to detail, and the ability to understand complex technical systems and translate requirements into effective test strategies. Key Responsibilities Perform functional, integration, regression, system, and end-to-end testing across edge devices, cloud services, APIs, databases, and graphical user interfaces.Define test strategies, test plans, test cases, acceptance criteria, and automated test scripts for an edge and cloud software platforms.Identify, document, and track software defects, ensuring clear reproduction steps and proper follow-up.Collaborate with product owners, developers and engineers to understand system requirements and ensure test coverage.Contribute to the development and maintenance of automated test frameworks and pipelines.Test edge–cloud behaviour under interrupted connectivity, delayed or duplicated messages, device restarts, software updates, and synchronization failures.Validate software performance, reliability, and stability under different operating conditions.Support testing of software running on edge hardware, including hardware–software integration in laboratory and field environments.Analyse test results and provide clear, actionable feedback to development teams.Ensure traceability between requirements, test cases, and test results.Integrate automated tests into GitLab CI/CD pipelines and help define appropriate quality gates.Contribute to continuous improvement of testing processes, tools, and quality standards.Participate in release readiness reviews and ensure software meets quality benchmarks before deployment.Join one of Europe’s most promising deep-tech scale-ups.Shape the future of a rapidly growing multidisciplinary R&D organization.Competitive salary and benefits package.Enjoy regular team activities and company events.Fresh team lunches provided 3 times/week. Requirements: Technical skills Familiarity with test management and bug tracking tools (e.g., Jira, TestRail).Programming or scripting skills (e.g., Python, C++, Javascript or similar).Experience developing automated tests using tools such as Pytest, Playwright, Cypress, Selenium, or comparable frameworks.Experience testing web-based graphical user interfaces.Experience testing REST APIs, back-end services, or distributed software components.Experience with Docker, AWS, Gitlab , Linux and CI/CD pipelines.Ability to design structured, maintainable, and reproducible automated tests.Familiarity with behaviour-driven development and Gherkin specifications. Qualifications: A degree in computer science, software engineering, embedded systems, or a related technical discipline or equivalent practical experience.Proven experience in software testing or quality assurance.Strong understanding of software testing methodologies and lifecycle.Experience with both exploratory/manual testing and automated testing.Experience testing integrated systems rather than only isolated software components.Proactive in identifying risks and gaps in requirements and investigating failures across multiple system components.Pragmatic and hands-on when working with hardware, software, test environments, and imperfect real-world data. Able to work independently while collaborating closely with different engineering disciplines. Able to communicate technical problems and quality risks clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders. Nice to Have: Experience with AWS or another cloud platform.Experience testing data-driven or signal-processing systems.Knowledge of embedded systems and hardware–software integration. Experience testing unreliable-network, offline, reconnection, synchronization, and recovery scenarios.Experience in high-tech, industrial, or defense-related environments.Experience with LabVIEW Security & Compliance: You'll be working with clients in the defense and security sectors, obtaining a Certificate of No Objection issued by the AIVD (Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service) is mandatory. This means you will need to undergo a security screening. For more information, please refer to details on security screening.