Pros
Much of this is specific to my role with my leadership, so these might not be true for all roles like it. - Remote work, flexibility with time - Opportunities for on-the-job-learning - Solid benefits package - Working with open source technologies day-to-day - Friendly and supportive coworkers
Cons
- Test code is closed source; your contributions may not be open as a QE - QE management seems to be trapped in a waterfall mentality that struggles to grasp an agile mindset - Emphasis on fulfilling internal QE objectives (reporting, internal tooling, etc) sometimes overrides working on testing customer deliverables - International organization - be prepared for lots of meetings, especially in the mornings and occasionally late evenings - Somewhat adversarial relationship between QE and development orgs at times. Each has their own areas of focus and they don't always align - Working as an individual contributor, sometimes the decision making from levels above is opaque and initiatives show up as a surprise - Skill levels among QEs vary widely; be prepared to need to train yourself or engage in training others on a regular basis.