QA & Defect Management Engineer (m/f/d) - Industrial & Automotive Consulting

About the Role As a QA & Defect Management Engineer (m/f/d) at DRIVE Consulting, you will help clients ensure high product quality across digital services and software solutions/platforms (e.g. personalization projects) in the industrial & automotive environment. You will work closely with cross-functional stakeholders to drive testing excellence, optimize defect management processes, and support stable software delivery in complex project landscapes. You will be part of a growing international setup, contributing to the development of our new DRIVE location in Bucharest. Working closely with cross-functional teams, you will help shape scalable processes and deliver high-impact solutions, combining technical expertise with a collaborative, people-centric approach. Your Responsibilities Plan, execute, and document manual and automated software tests based on structured test plans and test cases Perform functional, system, and regression testing across different environments and releases Create and manage test sets in test management tools and consolidate test results into structured reports Own and coordinate defect and ticket management processes across development, QA, and operations teams Validate defect tickets for completeness and quality (logs, reproduction steps, versioning, required fields) and ensure structured resolution processes Analyze defects across the technical system landscape (e.g., frontend/app, backend services, interfaces) and derive structured hypotheses for root cause analysis Monitor defect lifecycle, resolution progress, and escalation risks while supporting prioritization and resolution tracking Define and track defect and quality KPIs (e.g., defect leakage, MTTR, reopen rate) and contribute to quality reporting Support continuous improvement of QA processes, defect management workflows, templates, and documentation standards Collaborate closely with development, product, and operations teams to ensure stable delivery processes Your Profile Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, ideally supported by a strong academic background (top universities, very good results) Background in automotive, Big Tech, software delivery, or other fast-paced digital environments is highly preferred Experience in consulting, client-facing, or project-driven environments is considered a plus Hands-on experience in software quality assurance, defect management, and structured testing activities across complex software systems Strong understanding of software development lifecycles, release management, and quality assurance processes Experience with tools such as Jira, Xray, TestRail, ALM, or comparable QA and defect management solutions Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to understand complex technical systems and structure quality-related topics effectively Strong communication and coordination skills, with the ability to collaborate across technical and non-technical stakeholders Structured and detail-oriented working style combined with a strong sense of ownership and accountability Ability to work effectively in cross-functional and international project environments Fluent in English; German is a plus What We Offer Competitive salary and attractive benefits package Exposure to international, high-impact automotive/industrial projects A dynamic environment with real ownership and visibility Hybrid working model The opportunity to actively contribute to building and scaling a new organization