Manager, Device Testing and Automation

Toast Toast · Enterprise · Boston, MA +1 · R & D : Engineering : Hardware Device Software

Manager of Device Testing and Automation at Toast, focusing on hardware quality and leading a transition to automation. The role involves managing a team, modernizing processes, and collaborating with product and engineering. While AI tools are mentioned for test efficiency, the core function is not AI model development.

What you'd actually do

  1. Ensure Operational Continuity: Lead the day-to-day validation of device software, including the OS and hardware aspects for Toast POS devices and peripherals (printers, scanners, scales), ensuring current release cycles remain on track and meet our high quality bar.
  2. Lead the Automation Journey: In parallel with existing operations, architect and execute a multi-phase transition from functional validation to a sophisticated, automation-first strategy to decrease test cycle times.
  3. Manage & Mentor: Lead a diverse team of SDETs and QA Engineers, providing the steady leadership needed to maintain current standards while upskilling the team for an automated future.
  4. Process Modernization: Systematically convert existing functional test cases into automated scripts, enabling the Device Engineering team to release faster without sacrificing reliability.
  5. Cross-Team Collaboration: Partner with Product and Engineering to validate the entire device stack, ensuring seamless integration between device software, Android-based OS, and physical peripherals.

Skills

Required

  • 5+ years of experience managing QA teams with a dedicated focus on device-specific testing and automation within the hardware or embedded systems space.
  • A strong understanding of the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) and the ability to define appropriate validation strategies at key phases of the process.
  • Sound judgment in defining quality gates and optimizing test coverage.
  • Experience testing Android-based hardware, including familiarity with ADB-based operations.
  • Familiarity with overseeing or implementing automation using Robot Framework, UIAutomator, Python, or equivalent technologies.
  • Proven ability to lead a team through a technical "journey"— transitioning from traditional hardware validation to automation-heavy workflows without disrupting ongoing operations.
  • Familiarity with the unique challenges of testing physical hardware, such POS terminals, networking equipment, printers and peripherals
  • A good understanding on how to leverage AI Tools to increase test efficiency

Nice to have

  • Experience building or scaling physical automation test labs for hardware validation.
  • Experience collaborating with 3rd party vendors to integrate and adopt emerging test frameworks or specialized hardware tooling.
  • A good understanding of AOSP (Android Open Source Project)

What the JD emphasized

  • transition from traditional hardware validation to automation-heavy workflows