Lead SDET
At a glance
Senior QA & Test role at Wispr Flow. San Francisco · full-time · $130,000–$170,000 base.
techroles summary, based on the employer's posting.
What you'll do
- Create and maintain automated checks for important journeys spanning desktop, mobile, services and integrations
- Choose coverage across unit, integration and end-to-end tests, then wire checks into CI and release gates
- Explore voice use in changing permissions, devices and networks, including cross-app behavior and usability problems
- Assess failures using risk, telemetry, test outcomes and customer effects, then recommend whether a release is ready
- Set testing standards and coach QA teammates while coordinating coverage and remaining directly hands-on
What you bring
- You have led quality work on complex software and built or maintained automated test suites teams rely on
- You can write readable test code, create fixtures and harnesses, debug failures and keep CI checks reliable
- You understand how clients, APIs, operating systems and integrations interact, including when real-device checks matter
- You can turn vague reports into repeatable bugs and use logs or other evidence to find their cause
Who this fits
This senior, hands-on lead position suits an experienced quality engineer who wants to guide a QA team while testing and investigating directly. The role is onsite in San Francisco. Experience with native apps, audio, speech recognition or AI-output evaluation is a plus.
From the employer
About Wispr
Wispr is an AI research and product company building the voice interface for computing. AI can now reason, code, and act. Yet, humans still do the work of the interface. We think that’s backwards.
Our first products are Flow, which lets you speak naturally in any application, and Notetaker, which builds context across conversations. We’re building toward an interface that can perceive, understand, and take action with earned trust. That means solving hard problems across models, systems, and product - and caring about the final human experience as deeply as the technology underneath it.
We’re a talent-dense team that holds strong opinions, tests them quickly, and builds technology that sparks joy. Our goal is to build the first voice interface used every day by a billion people.
About the role
We’re looking for a Lead Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET) to build the quality practice behind Flow. You’ll own test strategy, write automation, and personally investigate the product while helping our QA team grow.
What you'll do
Build reliable automation. Develop and maintain automated tests for critical journeys across desktop, mobile, backend services, and integrations. Choose the right mix of unit, integration, and end-to-end coverage.
Make regression testing continuous. Partner with engineering to run automated checks against internal builds, integrate them into CI/CD, and establish dependable release gates.
Test beyond the happy path. Personally explore real-world voice workflows, permissions, device and network changes, cross-app behavior, and updates. Catch usability and consistency issues as well as functional bugs.
Own release confidence. Prioritize testing by risk, investigate failures, and use test results, telemetry, and customer impact to make clear release recommendations.
Bring quality into development. Work with engineering, product, design, and support from planning through launch. Turn requirements, incidents, and escaped defects into better coverage.
Lead through doing. Set standards, coach our QA team and testing partners, and coordinate coverage while remaining hands-on and driving testing yourself.
Who you are
An experienced quality engineer. You’ve owned testing for complex software and built or maintained automated suites that teams rely on.
A capable programmer. You can write readable test code, build fixtures and test harnesses, debug failures, and keep automation reliable in CI.
A systems thinker. You reason across clients, APIs, operating systems, and integrations. You know where mocks help and where real devices and end-to-end checks are essential.
An incisive investigator. You turn vague reports into reproducible bugs, use logs and other evidence to isolate causes, and distinguish product failures from test or environment failures.
Product-minded and detail-oriented. You care about usability, responsiveness, accessibility, and trust, and know which risks matter most to users.
A hands-on leader. You communicate clearly, coach others, and build useful processes in a fast-moving team. Experience with native apps, audio, speech recognition, or AI output evaluation is a plus.
Get to know us
Logistics
We sponsor H1B, O1, EB1, L1, STEM OPT, and more. We can't guarantee sponsorship for every role, but if we make you an offer we'll make every reasonable effort, with help from our immigration law firm.
We strongly encourage you to apply even if you don't meet every qualification. The strongest candidates we meet rarely do, so don't exclude yourself prematurely. We're rethinking how humans interact with AI, and doing that well demands diversity of perspective and experience.
We're committed to a fair and accessible interview process. If you need any accommodations or adjustments, please let us know.
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