About Phaidra

Phaidra is building the future of industrial automation.

The world today is filled with static, monolithic infrastructure. Factories, power plants, buildings, etc. operate the same they've operated for decades — because the controls programming is hard-coded. Thousands of lines of rules and heuristics that define how the machines interact with each other. The result of all this hard-coding is that facilities are frozen in time, unable to adapt to their environment while their performance slowly degrades.

Phaidra creates AI-powered control systems for the industrial sector, enabling industrial facilities to automatically learn and improve over time. Specifically:

• We use reinforcement learning algorithms to provide this intelligence, converting raw sensor data into high-value actions and decisions.
• We focus on industrial applications, which tend to be well-sensorized with measurable KPIs — perfect for reinforcement learning.
• We enable domain experts (our users) to configure the AI control systems (i.e. agents) without writing code. They define what they want their AI agents to do, and we do it for them.

Our team has a track record of applying AI to some of the toughest problems. From achieving superhuman performance with DeepMind's AlphaGo, to reducing the energy required to cool Google's Data Centers by 40%, we deeply understand AI and how to apply it in production for massive impact.

Phaidra is based in the USA but 100% remote; we do not have a physical office. We hire employees internationally with the help of our partner, OysterHR. Our team is currently located throughout the USA, Canada, UK, Norway, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Japan, Singapore, and India.

**Please only apply to one opening. If you are a better fit for another opening, our team will move your application. Candidates who apply to multiple openings will not be considered.**

*We are seeking a team member located within one of the following areas: 

Responsibilities

The ideal candidate will have a strong background in manual testing methodologies and will be responsible for ensuring the quality and functionality of Phaidra’s software products through rigorous testing and analysis. At Phaidra, you will:

• Execute manual test cases to verify the functionality, performance, and stability of software applications.
• Identify, document, and report defects, inconsistencies, and issues found during testing.
• Collaborate with Product, Development and QA teams at Phaidra to understand requirements and provide feedback on testability and quality.
• Develop, maintain, and enhance test cases, test scripts, and test plans based on product requirements and specifications.
• Perform regression testing to ensure that existing functionalities are not affected by new changes.
• Participate in requirement and design review meetings to provide input from a testing perspective.
• Assist in the preparation and execution of test plans and test strategies.
• Track and follow up on issues to ensure they are resolved in a timely manner.
• Ensure that testing activities are conducted in accordance with established standards and procedures.
• Contribute to the improvement of QA processes and methodologies at Phaidra.

Onboarding

In your first 30 days...

• You will be immersed in an onboarding program that introduces you to Phaidra and our product.
• You will spend time in the Engineering org, learning how the teams operate, interact, and approach problems.
• You will read various parts of our handbook and familiarize yourself with the documentation culture at Phaidra.
• You will set up your development environment and start working on an onboarding exercise that will introduce you to various parts of our code base.
• You will learn about how we use agile and be able to navigate our sprint boards and backlogs.
• You will learn about various team standards and development & release processes.
• You will start to learn about our system architecture and infrastructure.
• You will start picking up few good “first-tasks” to get yourself accustomed to the end to end release flow.

By your first 60 days...

• You will have a solid understanding of what Phaidra does and how we do it.
• You will have met with team members across Phaidra and started building relationships that will help you be successful at your job.
• You will have completed the onboarding exercise and will be on your way to completing your first production task.

By your first 90 days...

• You will have been fully integrated in the team and with team members across the company.
• You will get a more in-depth understanding of our system architecture and infrastructure.
• You will have completed your first on-call experience helping monitor and improve our production environments.
• You will have become an expert with our tooling.
• You will have started to contribute to knowledge sharing throughout Phaidra.

Key Qualifications

• 3-5 years of work experience.
• Bachelors or Masters in Computer Science, or equivalent experience.
• Experience with frontend testing frameworks such as Selenium or Cypress.
• Experience testing React, Angular or similar JavaScript applications.
• Demonstrated experience in test planning, test design, test strategy, and test execution.
• Proficiency in using task & test management tools such as Shortcut, Tuskr, or similar.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively within a team.
• Basic understanding of automated testing tools and practices is an advantage.
• Share our company values: curiosity, ownership, transparency & directness, outcome-based performance, and customer empathy.

Bonus

• Strong expertise in Python and Javascript.
• Experience with automated testing and testing frameworks.
• Experience testing AI or data analytics tools.

Our Stack

• Languages - (Backend) Python, Go; (Frontend) JavaScript/TypeScript, React; Customer SDK & Clients - C# .NET
• PyTorch
• Cypress
• Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform & Kapitan
• Custom Kubernetes Operators (with kopf)
• Gitlab CI, ArgoCD, Atlantis, Vercel
• GCP - GKE, PubSub, CloudSQL, BigTable, Postgres, etc.
• Ray.io
• REST & gRPC micro-services
• Pantsbuild

General Interview Process

All of our interviews are held via Google Meet, and an active camera connection is required.

1. Initial screening interview with a People Operations team member (30 minutes)
2. Meeting with the Hiring Manager (30 minutes)
3. Manual Testing and QA Practices Technical Interview 1 (75 minutes)
4. Automation Testing and Tools Technical Interview 2 (75 minutes)
5. Meeting with the VP of Engineering and Product (45 minutes)
6. Culture fit interview with Phaidra’s co-founders (30 minutes)

Base Salary

• UK Residents: £60,800 - £91,200/year

Salary ranges for other countries (Italy, Spain, Portugal, Norway, Ireland) will vary based on the market rate for the location.

This position will also include equity.

These are best faith estimates of the base salary range for this position. Multiple factors such as experience, education, level, and location are taken into account when determining compensation.

Benefits & Perks

• Fast-paced and team-oriented environment where you will be instrumental in the direction of the company.
• Phaidra is a 100% remote company with a digital nomad policy.
• Competitive compensation & equity.
• Outsized responsibilities & professional development.
• Training is foundational; functional, customer immersion, and development training.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance (exact benefits vary by region).
• Unlimited paid time off, with a minimum of 20 days off per year requirement.
• Paid parental leave (exact benefits vary by region).
• Home office setup allowance, coworking space stipend, and company MacBook.

*Please note that Phaidra’s benefits and perks listed above do not apply to temporary employees such as interns.

On being Remote

We are thoughtful about remote collaboration. We look to the pioneers - like Gitlab - for inspiration and best practices to create a stellar remote work environment. We have a documentation-first culture and actively practice asynchronous communication in everything we do. Our team stays connected through tools like Slack and video chat. Most teams meet daily, and we have dedicated all-hands meetings weekly to build strong relationships. We hold virtual team building events once per quarter - and even hold virtual socials to watch rocket launches! We have had all-company summits in locations like Seattle, Athens, Goa, and Barcelona.

Equal Opportunity Employment

Phaidra is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Phaidra is governed on the basis of merit, competence, and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability, or any other legally protected status. We welcome diversity and strive to maintain an inclusive environment for all employees. If you need assistance with completing the application process, please contact us at hiring@phaidra.ai.

E-Verify Notice

Phaidra participates in E-Verify, an employment authorization database provided through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Social Security Administration (SSA). As required by law, we will provide the SSA and, if necessary, the DHS, with information from each new employee’s Form I-9 to confirm work authorization for those residing in the United States.

Additional information about E-Verify can be found here.

#LI-Remote

WE DO NOT ACCEPT APPLICATIONS FROM RECRUITERS.