About Rock River Laboratory
Founded in 1976 as a family-run soil testing lab in Watertown, Wisconsin, Rock River Laboratory has grown into an international agricultural testing network. Today we analyze soil, feed, forage, and more for customers across the agriculture industry, with labs in Wisconsin, California, New York, Iowa, Indiana, and Ohio.
About the role
Rock River Laboratory is hiring a QA Software Engineer to own the quality of our codebase as an independent contributor. You'll study our code in depth, checking it for completeness against requirements, logic errors, defects, and risky patterns, and report clear findings to the engineering team.
Reporting to the Director of Software Engineering, this role is hands-on with no direct reports. You'll help set your own priorities, work closely with developers and Product, and be the go-to person for whether our software is ready to ship.
Quality here has real consequences. Farmers, nutritionists, and agronomists use our soil, feed, and forage results to make decisions about crops and herds. The software that receives samples, records results, and delivers reports has to be correct, complete, and dependable every time.
Location: Remote
Reports to: Director of Software Engineering
Employment type: Full-time
What you'll do
Review source code line by line for logic errors, edge cases, error handling gaps, and security weaknesses.
Verify that code fully implements its requirements and specifications, and flag missing or incomplete functionality.
Run and interpret static analysis and code quality tools, and separate real issues from noise.
Design and execute test cases, including unit, integration, regression, and exploratory tests, to confirm suspected defects.
Write clear, reproducible defect reports with root-cause analysis and suggested fixes.
Assess code against our coding standards for readability, maintainability, and consistency.
Recommend process and tooling improvements that prevent classes of defects from recurring.
A typical week
Most of your time goes to deep, focused review of code and test results. A typical week might include:
Reviewing new pull requests and recent changes before they reach production.
Working through one area of the codebase in depth, such as sample intake, results calculation, or report generation, and documenting gaps or defects.
Checking that calculated results and reports match the lab's methods and expected values.
Writing or extending automated tests for the defects you find, so they stay fixed.
Meeting with developers to walk through findings and agree on fixes and priorities.
Your first 90 days
First 30 days: Learn our systems, codebase, coding standards, and how lab data flows from sample receipt to customer report. Shadow developers and lab staff to understand how the software is used day to day.
Days 31–60: Complete a first full review of one priority area of the codebase. Deliver a written report of defects, completeness gaps, and risks, ranked by impact.
Days 61–90: Set up or expand static analysis and automated testing for the areas you've reviewed. Propose a repeatable review process and quality metrics the team can track going forward.
Our technology
You'll work across the software that supports our laboratory operations and customers, including laboratory information management system, customer results portal, instrument data integrations. Our stack includes C# ASP.NET, Windows Forms, React, Java Spring Boot, and Blazer.
What you bring
5+ years in software quality assurance, software development, or code review.
Strong ability to read and reason about code in at least one language we use (for example Java, Python, JavaScript, or C#).
Experience with static analysis and code quality tools such as SonarQube, ESLint, Coverity, or similar.
Hands-on experience writing automated tests with frameworks such as Nunit, MS Test, JUnit, pytest, Selenium, or Playwright.
Sharp attention to detail and the discipline to work through large codebases methodically and independently.
Solid grasp of the software development lifecycle, version control (Git), and pull-request workflows.
Experience with defect tracking tools such as Jira or Azure DevOps.
Clear written communication: you can explain a defect and its impact so developers can act on it quickly.
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
Nice to have
ISTQB or similar QA certification.
Familiarity with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP) and containerized environments like Docker and Kubernetes.
Experience with laboratory software, such as a LIMS, or with systems where calculation accuracy and data integrity are critical.
A background in agriculture, food science, or analytical chemistry is a plus, but not required. We'll teach you the lab side.
What we offer
Competitive salary
Medical, dental, and vision insurance
401(k) with company match
Paid time off plus company holidays
Remote/hybrid work options