Hiring QA Engineers in Latin America: Ultimate Guide 2025

Introduction

QA engineers are the backbone of modern software delivery. To hire QA engineers means securing the people who test, validate, and safeguard every release before it reaches users. Their work reduces bugs, ensures performance, and keeps systems reliable across devices and environments.

From building automated testing frameworks to running manual test plans, QA engineers turn business requirements into measurable quality outcomes. They are critical in industries where user experience and system stability directly impact growth.

Yet, finding qualified QA engineers is rarely straightforward. Many teams underestimate the role or hire too late, resulting in costly defects and delayed releases. This guide draws on our experience placing QA engineers across diverse industries in Latin America. 

We will explore their responsibilities, required skills, growth outlook, and how staff augmentation helps companies hire effectively.

Looking for QA engineers ready to join your team? Explore our Staff Augmentation Services today.

What does a QA engineer do?

A QA engineer is responsible for ensuring that software products work as intended before they reach end users. They design and execute test cases, build automated test frameworks, and validate functionality against business and technical requirements.

Unlike developers, whose focus is on building features, QA engineers concentrate on preventing failures. They identify defects early, streamline release cycles, and provide confidence that every deployment meets quality standards. Their role often bridges development, product management, and operations.

The ultimate goal of a QA engineer is to deliver stable, secure, and user-friendly applications while reducing the risk of production issues.

What are the responsibilities of a QA engineer?

Responsibilities vary depending on the company’s product complexity and level of automation, but most QA engineers cover a mix of test planning, execution, and process improvement.

Typical responsibilities include:

• Designing and executing manual test plans for new features
• Building and maintaining automated test suites using tools like Selenium, Cypress, or Playwright
• Collaborating with developers to understand requirements and edge cases
• Running regression, performance, and load testing to ensure scalability
• Identifying, documenting, and tracking defects through issue management systems
• Contributing to continuous integration and deployment pipelines by integrating automated tests
• Ensuring compliance with accessibility, security, and usability standards
• Working closely with product and DevOps teams to reduce release risks

QA engineers ensure that releases meet quality standards, minimize downtime, and provide reliable user experiences across platforms.

What experience level should you expect?

Like other technical roles, QA engineers come at different levels of expertise. Choosing the right profile depends on the maturity of your product and your team’s quality needs.

• Junior QA Engineer (1–2 years): Focuses on executing manual tests and documenting results. They follow established test plans and require mentorship but are valuable for catching basic defects quickly.
• Mid-level QA Engineer (2–4 years): Works independently on both manual and automated testing. They can build test scripts, improve regression coverage, and contribute to CI/CD pipelines. They are often proactive in identifying gaps in quality processes.
• Senior QA Engineer (5+ years): Leads test strategy and automation architecture. Seniors design frameworks that scale with the product, enforce quality standards, and mentor junior testers. They often drive adoption of automation across teams and align QA with product and engineering goals.

The right level depends on your roadmap. For teams scaling rapidly, mid- and senior-level QA engineers are essential. Juniors can add value when paired with strong leadership and defined processes.

QA talent demand and growth outlook in Latin America

The demand for QA engineers is growing rapidly across industries like SaaS, fintech, health tech, and e-commerce. As companies accelerate product releases, the need for structured testing, automation, and quality assurance has become critical. Teams cannot scale without professionals dedicated to preventing defects and ensuring user satisfaction.

Software testing and QA roles continue to rank among the most sought-after technical positions in Latin America. The region’s strong IT education system, rapid adoption of Agile and DevOps practices, and U.S. time zone alignment make it a prime location for companies looking to hire QA engineers.

Latin America’s QA professionals are not only skilled in manual and automated testing but also experienced in collaborating across distributed teams. With global companies outsourcing more testing operations to the region, the QA talent pool is expanding while maintaining competitive quality.

What skills does a top QA engineer have?

To hire QA engineers successfully, you need to evaluate more than whether they can write test cases or run automation scripts. The best QA engineers bring together technical skills, testing strategies, and soft skills that ensure both software reliability and smooth collaboration across teams.

Core technical skills (must-haves)

Every QA engineer should have a solid foundation in testing tools, automation frameworks, and defect management systems to ensure reliable software delivery.

• Strong knowledge of manual testing methodologies and test planning
•  Experience with automation frameworks like Selenium, Cypress, or Playwright
• Ability to design and maintain regression test suites
• Familiarity with CI/CD integration to automate testing pipelines
•  Proficiency with bug-tracking systems such as Jira or TestRail
• Understanding of performance, load, and security testing fundamentals

With these skills, QA engineers can systematically validate new features while keeping existing functionality stable.

Advanced and nice-to-have skills

Advanced skills give QA engineers the ability to handle complex applications and shorten release cycles. These are not always mandatory but often set top performers apart.

• Experience with API testing using tools like Postman or RestAssured
• Knowledge of mobile testing frameworks for iOS and Android
• Familiarity with containerized environments and cloud-based testing platforms
• Strong understanding of shift-left testing practices and test-driven development
• Ability to apply AI-driven testing tools for faster automation coverage

QA engineers with these advanced capabilities help organizations innovate faster while keeping quality high.

Soft skills (equally important)

Technical ability alone does not guarantee success. To hire QA engineers who will thrive in your organization, you also need to assess communication and adaptability.

• Clear communication to report bugs effectively and align with developers
• Analytical mindset to spot edge cases and prevent production issues
• Adaptability to work within Agile sprints and shifting priorities
• Collaboration skills to bridge product, development, and operations teams

QA engineers with strong soft skills ensure quality is not siloed but becomes part of the team culture.

How to interview QA engineers

Interviewing QA engineers should focus on how candidates think about quality, prevent issues before they happen, and collaborate with development and product teams. 

A strong interview goes beyond checking if they know a certain tool. It shows whether they can maintain testing discipline, balance manual and automated approaches, and adapt to shifting requirements.

What should you evaluate during the interview?

Look for signs of ownership and accountability. Strong QA engineers can explain how they built test coverage for a release, identified a critical defect, or improved a testing process. 

Pay attention to how they reason through trade-offs between speed and coverage, and whether they anticipate risks rather than only reacting to them.

Technical reasoning

Rather than asking which automation tool they prefer, frame questions around how they apply testing in real contexts. You might ask how they ensure quality in a project with frequent hotfixes or what their process is for validating integrations across multiple services. 

Their answers should reveal whether they balance thorough testing with the realities of release deadlines.

Soft skills and communication

Technical testing skills matter, but soft skills are often the deciding factor. 

A good QA engineer communicates clearly with developers, product managers, and even customers when necessary. They should be able to explain issues without blame, give structured feedback, and translate quality concerns into actionable insights.

Positive signs include clear explanations, active listening, and examples of cross-functional collaboration. Red flags include vague answers, defensive communication, or difficulty articulating why quality standards matter to the business.

Red flags to watch for

Some signals indicate a poor fit when hiring QA engineers:

• Focus only on executing test cases without understanding broader quality goals
• Struggles to explain past testing decisions or trade-offs
• Disregard for documentation, test reporting, or structured processes
• Difficulty describing how they resolved conflicts with developers or product managers

The best QA engineers combine strong technical reasoning with communication and adaptability. Look for candidates who explain their thought process clearly, balance testing coverage with delivery speed, and show evidence of improving quality in real-world projects.

Why recruiters usually fail at building good QA teams

Building a QA team comes with its own challenges. QA roles sit between product, development, and operations, which often leads to mismatched expectations. 

Many companies underestimate how strategic the QA function is, treating it as a late-stage checkbox instead of a core part of the delivery pipeline. That mistake often results in unstable releases, higher defect costs, and teams that fail to keep up with release cycles.

Here are the most common mistakes we see and how to avoid them.

1. Treating QA as an afterthought

Too many companies bring QA engineers in late, after features are already built. This results in rushed testing, missed defects, and unstable releases.

How to avoid it: Involve QA engineers from the start of the development cycle. Give them a role in defining acceptance criteria and shaping requirements, so quality is built in rather than bolted on.

2. Expecting one QA engineer to do everything

QA spans manual testing, automation, performance validation, and compliance. Expecting a single engineer to cover all these areas often leads to shallow coverage and increased risk.

How to avoid it: Define your priorities early. If automation is your main gap, hire QA engineers with that focus. For complex products, build a team with complementary strengths instead of relying on one “do-it-all” tester.

3. Overlooking communication skills

A QA engineer may identify defects but struggle to report them clearly. Poorly written bug reports or vague communication slow development and lead to misunderstandings.

How to avoid it: During interviews, ask candidates to walk through past bug reports or how they explained a defect to developers. Look for structure, clarity, and the ability to adapt explanations to different audiences.

4. Confusing junior profiles with senior responsibilities

Junior QA engineers add value with manual testing and well-defined tasks, but they are rarely equipped to design automation frameworks or lead test strategy. Hiring juniors for senior roles often leads to poor coverage and delays.

How to avoid it: Match experience level to your needs. Use juniors for execution under guidance, and invest in mid- or senior-level QA engineers for strategy, automation, and critical releases.

5. Ignoring automation strategy

Some teams hire QA engineers who can write scripts but lack a broader testing approach. This results in brittle test suites, slow pipelines, and gaps in coverage.

How to avoid it: When you hire QA engineers, evaluate how they approach automation at a strategic level. Look for candidates who understand balance between manual, automated, and exploratory testing.

6. Skipping onboarding and quality standards

Even skilled QA engineers cannot succeed without clear processes. If defect reporting, environments, or regression cycles are undefined, teams fall into reactive firefighting.

How to avoid it: Build a simple onboarding plan that includes your test strategy, reporting workflow, and environment setup. Setting expectations early prevents wasted time and inconsistent results.

Hiring QA engineers requires clear role definitions, structured onboarding, and a balance of skills. By avoiding these six mistakes, you can build QA teams that reduce risk, improve collaboration, and deliver stable releases on time.

Where to hire good QA engineers

Latin America has rapidly become a hub for QA talent as more companies adopt Agile and DevOps practices. Countries like Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia are producing a steady pipeline of QA engineers through universities, ISTQB certifications, and specialized bootcamps. 

According to Statista (2023), Brazil alone had more than 500,000 professional developers, many of whom list software testing and automation as core skills. In Mexico, tech associations such as AMITI report consistent annual growth in QA and test automation roles, reflecting rising demand from global companies outsourcing to the region.

The CNCF has also highlighted rapid growth in Latin America for certifications tied to modern testing environments. They saw double-digit increases in Kubernetes and cloud-related credentials over the past three years. These skills align directly with QA roles that now require test automation in containerized, distributed systems.

But the challenge is not finding QA engineers; it is securing the right ones. Highly skilled QA professionals who can lead test strategy, build automation frameworks, and integrate into CI/CD pipelines are competitive and often hired quickly. Traditional recruiting cycles can take months, leaving critical testing gaps.

This is where staff augmentation adds real value. Instead of chasing resumes, companies gain access to vetted QA engineers with proven expertise who can integrate into teams immediately. With U.S. time zone alignment and cultural compatibility, onboarding is faster and collaboration smoother.

Why choose staff augmentation for QA engineers

Staff augmentation has become the go-to model for companies needing to scale quality assurance without slowing down delivery. A 2023 IDC report highlighted that over 60% of enterprises in the Americas are turning to flexible staffing models to meet software testing and automation needs.

The advantages are clear. Speed lets you hire QA engineers in weeks instead of months. Flexibility allows you to scale your QA team up or down with product release cycles. 

Risk reduction comes from pre-screened engineers who bring both technical depth and collaboration skills. Most importantly, staff augmentation keeps your in-house team focused on strategic growth while testing coverage stays strong.

To hire QA engineers effectively, staff augmentation provides the speed, flexibility, and assurance that traditional recruiting cannot match.

Why choose Bertoni Solutions

At Bertoni Solutions, we combine Swiss precision with Latin American adaptability. Our vetted network of more than 3,000 engineers includes QA specialists experienced in manual and automated testing, test strategy, regression coverage, and CI/CD integration.

What sets us apart is our hands-on support throughout the process:

• We define the role clearly with you before presenting candidates.
• We match you with QA engineers who align both technically and culturally.
• We guide onboarding and integration, ensuring engineers adopt your workflows and standards from day one.
• We provide ongoing check-ins and performance reviews so your QA team stays aligned and productive.

With Bertoni, you do not just hire QA engineers. You gain a trusted partner who ensures your releases are reliable, your processes efficient, and your customers satisfied.

Final thoughts

QA engineers are critical to modern software delivery, ensuring that every release is tested, reliable, and ready for production. Latin America’s fast-growing QA ecosystem offers companies the perfect mix of technical skills, time zone alignment, and cultural fit.

The real barrier is not finding QA engineers but securing them quickly and integrating them seamlessly. Staff augmentation solves this by reducing hiring delays and connecting you with experienced QA engineers who can contribute from the start.

If you need a partner to simplify the process, Bertoni Solutions can help you build a QA team that delivers from day one. Book a consultation now.