Quality Assurance Specialist

Quality Assurance Specialist

• 32 to 40 hours
• €5450 - €7786

Quality begins with the design and doesn't end until a service is decommissioned. As a Senior QA Engineer, you'll dive right into the teams from day one: you'll help write tests, contribute ideas on test strategy, and build from there toward a role where you can lead a team of testers. At SURF, quality isn't about quantity: 100 percent test coverage isn't a goal in itself. It's about testing the right things thoroughly, together with skilled developers who know exactly what they're doing.

Where you will work

SURF is the ICT cooperative for Dutch education and research institutions. Together with them, we work on digital services and complex innovation challenges to improve the quality of education and research.

You will be working in the Open Education and Research unit, which consists of ten different types of teams that operate within the development chain for digital sector-wide services for institutions.

The team you will join

SURF is growing rapidly, and with it, the complexity of the landscape. Whereas much was previously outsourced to external parties, SURF is increasingly building things in-house, using its own developers. A portfolio of interoperable services is emerging: Service A uses features from Service B, and multiple services run on shared platforms and middleware. These dependencies make quality assurance-and end-to-end testing in particular-more urgent than ever.

SURF strives to build everything as open source. This also applies to test code and test infrastructure, and it means that quality is not only felt internally but is also visible to the institutions and communities it serves.

At present, QA is not yet structurally embedded. Testers are hired on a per-project basis. The growing interdependence between services calls for end-to-end testing that has yet to take shape, and teams are seeking guidance on test strategies, code quality, and the Definition of Done.

You'll help change that. You'll join the teams directly, contribute to writing tests, and-based on that hands-on experience-build the necessary structure, not alone, but together with developers, (technical) product managers, platform engineers, and designers. Quality is a true team responsibility, not something imposed from above.

What you will do

As a Senior QA Engineer, you'll be hands-on from day one: you'll write and maintain test code, participate in sprints, and build on that foundation to provide guidance and structure. In this role, you'll grow into a collaborative leader, with the opportunity to advance to lead a team of testers as QA becomes further embedded within SURF.

Other responsibilities:

• Conducting hands-on testing and setting up test automation within teams, with a focus on quality over quantity.
• Collaborating with skilled, independent developers on test strategy, code quality, and testability-not by taking over the testing work, but by strengthening it.
• Investigating how QA is currently organized and what structural changes are needed to sustainably embed quality assurance, including defining quality requirements and testing methods in accordance with ISO 27001 and NIS 2.
• Advising (technical) product managers on testing strategies appropriate to the nature and risk profile of a service, and assisting in formulating a widely supported Definition of Done.
• Collaborating with the Tech Lead on how checks for privacy, security, and accessibility (WCAG) can be automated and ensured within the internal developer platform.
• Reflecting on the usefulness and necessity of end-to-end testing: how dependencies between services are systematically tested, including test code and infrastructure that comply with open-source standards.
• Coordinating with the design team regarding their role in quality assurance, including usability and accessibility testing.
• Exploring the use of AI in quality assurance: where it accelerates testing and where human judgment remains irreplaceable.

Your skills and experience

You're hands-on, practical, and have the ambition to grow into a leadership role once the testing team takes shape. You understand how software is built and how organizations work, and you bridge those two worlds. You win over strong, independent developers through knowledge and collaboration, not through hierarchy.

In addition, you have:

• A college or university level of work and thinking in IT, software engineering, or a related field, with demonstrable hands-on experience in testing and test automation within an agile development organization.
• Knowledge of testing strategies, risk-based testing (quality over quantity), and test automation, including CI/CD integration.
• Experience with API and integration testing in an environment with supply chain dependencies.
• An affinity for non-functional quality aspects such as privacy, security, and accessibility (WCAG).
• A clear, critical perspective on AI tools: you leverage their capabilities without losing sight of their limitations.
• Residence in the Netherlands, within commuting distance of the Netherlands (e.g., in Belgium or Germany), or willingness to relocate to the Netherlands.
• Minimum B2 level of Dutch.

It would be great if you:

• Have experience with quality assurance in an open-source environment, including public documentation and community contributions (a major plus);
• Have a background or experience in software development (a major plus);
• Have experience working in an organization that has transitioned from outsourcing to in-house development;
• Have an affinity for or knowledge of the fields of education and/or open science.

SURF takes pleasure in doing its recruitment itself; acquisition is therefore not appreciated.

Applying for a job at SURF

This is what you can expect

Apply

After submitting your application, you will immediately receive a confirmation e-mail.

Response

After the the closing date, you will receive a response from our recruitment team.

First interview

We invite you to our office, because we want to get to know you.

Second interview

We invite you again for an interview with others who also want to get to know you.

Assessment

We may ask you to do an assignment (assessment).

Are you the right person?

Then you will receive a salary offer from one of our HR advisors.

Welcome to SURF!

You join onboarding activities with other new colleagues.

Location Moreelsepark, 48, 3511 EP, Utrecht Degree HBO/WO Employment Fixed term with permanent employment intention Salary €5450 - €7786 Hours per week 32 to 40 hours Deadline 31 July 2026 Substantive questions

Questions about procedure SURF Recruitment

What we offer

• Extensive training opportunities
• 8.33 % holiday pay
• 8.33 % end-of-year bonus
• 36 holidays per year (based on a 40-hour working week)
• An excellent pension scheme
• An NS Business Card 1st class
• Chair massages
• Home working allowance

Research shows: many people do not apply for a job until they can tick all the boxes. We think talent, commitment and fresh insights are just as important. So do you find this job opening interesting? Don't hold back and apply!

Apply for "Quality Assurance Specialist"

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