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

About us

DRIVE Consulting GmbH is a management consultancy headquartered in Aachen, with additional offices in Munich, Berlin, Beijing, and Shanghai, and a newly established location in Bucharest. Our passion lies in technical consulting projects with a focus on the automotive and industrial sectors. Our clients include German premium OEMs, emerging automotive manufacturers, as well as large and mid-sized industrial companies.

Our name reflects our clear focus on the mobility sector while also representing our spirit - because we are a team in which every individual has DRIVE.

We support our clients as pioneers into the unknown and as catalysts for innovation. We firmly believe that only those who have the courage to explore new paths can create truly unique success stories.

We build bridges between small idea labs and large corporations, as well as between management and technology experts.

Through close and collaborative partnerships with our clients, we develop tailored and customized solutions. A key factor in our success is our unique partner network across industry and research. Thanks to our close ties with renowned universities such as RWTH Aachen, we combine academic excellence with practical application.

Enthusiasm is at the heart of everything we do and shapes our daily work—because it is the strongest driving force.