SPA – Hiring for Software Tester @Alexandria, VA

About Company

Systems Planning and Analysis, Inc. (SPA) is a premier provider of innovative, high-impact technical solutions to the U.S. government and its allies. For over 50 years, SPA has tackled complex national security issues with a focus on objectivity and technical excellence. Joining SPA means working on “Results that Matter” within high-reliability organizations like the Navy Strategic Systems Programs (SSP) and the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center.

Job Details

Job Description

As an Entry-Level Software Tester within the Surety Programs Group (SPG), you will ensure the safety, security, and reliability of software used in “high consequence operations.” This isn’t standard commercial software testing; you are working on tools and simulations that support national defense. You will develop test plans, execute manual and automated tests, and evaluate performance and vulnerabilities within a cross-functional team.

Requirements

• Education: Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science or an Engineering field.
• Security: U.S. Citizenship is mandatory. You must have the ability to obtain and maintain a DoD SECRET clearance.
• Location: This is an Onsite role at SPA Headquarters in Alexandria, VA.
• Technical Foundations (Entry-Level):
• Languages: C# and familiarity with MSBuild.
• Engines: Unity Game Engine (Development or Testing).
• Frameworks: .NET (C#) and Unity Test Framework.
• Tooling: GitLab/Bitbucket (Version Control), Jira/GitLab (Bug Tracking).
• CI/CD: Experience creating and maintaining GitLab CI/CD Pipelines.
• Testing: Knowledge of manual vs. automated testing methodologies and TestRail.

Roles and Responsibilities

• Quality Assurance & Testing: Develop and maintain test cases validating functional, regression, and integration requirements. You will classify bug severity and provide detailed reproduction steps in Jira.Shutterstock
• Automation & CI/CD: Set up and maintain GitLab CI/CD Pipelines to ensure every code commit is automatically validated. You will develop automation scripts to increase test coverage.
• Technical Writing: Create comprehensive test reports, user guides, and technical specifications for both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• System Bring-up & Support: Work with developers to track feature completion and align build outputs with strategic test plans.
• Vulnerability Evaluation: Assess software for potential vulnerabilities to ensure the high-security requirements of government clients are met.

How to Apply?

Role Summary

The core of this role is Mission Assurance. You will act as a gatekeeper for software quality, ensuring that the code powering strategic systems is defect-free and secure. A unique aspect of this position is the focus on Unity Game Engine and .NET (C#) desktop applications, which are often used in high-fidelity simulations for threat analysis and risk management.

Company Culture & Insights

SPA is defined by a “mission-first” mindset. The culture is highly collaborative, technical, and rigorous. Because they work with high-reliability organizations (Navy, Air Force, DOE), the atmosphere is professional and disciplined. You will be surrounded by subject matter experts in data science, modeling, and strategic systems, providing a rich environment for technical mentorship.

Why We Recommend This Job

• Niche Skill Development: Very few QA roles offer the chance to work with the Unity Game Engine in a non-gaming context (simulations). This is a highly specialized and valuable niche.
• National Impact: Your work directly supports the reliability of the U.S. nuclear enterprise and strategic defense programs.
• Clearance Advantage: Gaining a Secret clearance is a major career milestone that significantly increases your long-term marketability in the defense sector.

Career Growth Potential

• Software Test Engineer II/III: Transitioning from entry-level execution to designing complex, automated testing architectures.
• QA Lead / Manager: Overseeing the entire testing lifecycle for the Strategic Division.
• Systems Engineer: Leveraging your knowledge of software reliability to move into broad-spectrum systems design and threat analysis.

Skills You’ll Gain

Salary & Benefits Info

• Estimated Salary: For an entry-level Software Tester with a Secret clearance in Alexandria, the Total Compensation (TC) typically ranges from $80,000 to $105,000 per annum, depending on the specific complexity of your Unity/C# experience.
• Key Perks: SPA is known for excellent retirement plans, professional development reimbursement, and a collaborative onsite environment in a prime Virginia location.

Frequently Asked Interview Questions

1. C# & .NET: “Explain the difference between a value type and a reference type in C#. How does this impact how you test for memory-related defects?”
2. Unity Testing: “How do you perform unit testing on a MonoBehaviour script within Unity? What are the challenges of testing real-time simulations?”
3. CI/CD: “Walk me through a .gitlab-ci.yml file. What stages would you include to ensure a C# build is stable before it reaches production?”
4. Bug Tracking: “A bug is found that only occurs in a production-level environment but not in the development build. How do you approach the reproduction steps?”

Behavioral & Culture Questions

1. Mission Focus: “Why are you interested in working for a company that supports high-consequence national security operations?”
2. Collaboration: “Tell me about a time you had to work with a developer who disagreed with your bug report. How did you advocate for the user/customer while maintaining the relationship?”
3. Integrity: “Software testing in this division has high stakes. Tell me about a time you found a small error that everyone else missed—how did you handle it?”