Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for IVVQ Engineer

🎯 Role Definition

An IVVQ Engineer is responsible for planning, executing, and documenting integration, verification, validation, and qualification activities for complex systems and subsystems. The IVVQ Engineer ensures products meet functional, safety, performance and regulatory requirements by developing test strategies, authoring and executing test procedures, establishing traceability from requirements to test results, and coordinating cross-discipline verification campaigns. Typical environments include avionics, embedded systems, medical devices, industrial control systems, and defense platforms.

Key search-optimized responsibilities and skills are included to help hiring managers, applicants, and automated systems (ATS/LLMs) identify alignment with role expectations.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Test Engineer / Test Technician with hands-on lab experience and scripting skills.
Systems Engineer or Integration Engineer who has supported verification activities.
Software/Embedded Developer transitioning into testing, verification, and validation roles.

Advancement To:

Senior IVVQ Engineer / Lead IVVQ Engineer
Systems Engineering Lead or Verification & Validation Manager
Principal Systems Engineer / Principal Test Architect
Certification Authority / Compliance Manager (DO-178, ISO 13485, FDA submissions)

Lateral Moves:

Reliability Engineer
Quality Assurance Manager
Product Validation Manager
Hardware Test Lead

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Develop, maintain and execute comprehensive IVVQ strategies and plans that define verification and validation approaches, criteria for pass/fail, test environments (SIL/HIL/Lab), required resources, schedules, and traceability to system and subsystem requirements.
Author and review detailed test procedures, test cases, acceptance criteria and qualification protocols that are reproducible, version-controlled, and compliant with organizational and regulatory standards (e.g., DO-178/ED-12, ISO 13485, FDA, MIL-STD).
Create and maintain complete requirements traceability matrices (RTMs) that map system, software, hardware, and safety requirements to verification activities and evidentiary test results, ensuring closure of verification items.
Design, build and configure test rigs, harnesses, simulators, and automated test benches (including HIL and SIL setups) to reproduce operational scenarios, edge cases, and fault/injection conditions.
Lead and coordinate system and subsystem integration activities, resolving interface mismatches, software/hardware integration defects, and configuration issues during assembly and test events.
Execute functional, performance, regression, stress, soak, environmental (thermal, vibration), EMC/EMI, and safety tests; capture, analyze and report results with clear anomaly descriptions, reproducible steps, logs, and suggested mitigations.
Develop automated test scripts and frameworks using tools such as Python, LabVIEW, MATLAB, Simulink Test, C/C++ test harnesses, or test automation frameworks and integrate tests with CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins/GitLab CI).
Evaluate test data using statistical methods, signal processing, and instrumentation analysis to identify root causes, trends, and risk areas; use those insights to recommend design or process improvements.
Manage defect lifecycle for verification findings: file reproducible defects in tracking systems (JIRA, Polarion, DOORS Next), prioritize issues, drive cross-discipline triage meetings, and verify fixes through regression cycles.
Ensure configuration control of test artifacts, scripts, data, hardware setups, and test benches; maintain versioning, change logs and baselines in accordance with engineering change and configuration management processes.
Support formal qualification and certification activities by preparing evidence packages, test reports, qualification reports, and compliance documentation required by certification authorities and internal auditors.
Collaborate closely with systems architects, hardware and software engineers, manufacturing, and supply chain to define test interfaces, acceptance criteria, and production test plans to enable smooth production handover.
Perform risk assessments and contribute to failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA), hazard analyses, and safety cases to ensure verification scope adequately covers high-risk items and safety-critical functions.
Mentor junior IVVQ engineers and test technicians, providing guidance on test methodology, instrumentation, scripting practices, and test reporting to build team capability and consistency.
Drive continuous improvement of IVVQ processes, templates, automation coverage, and test repeatability; propose and implement metrics to measure verification completeness and test quality.
Plan and coordinate on-site and off-site lab campaigns including logistics for test hardware, environmental chambers, instrumentation calibration, and vendor test facilities when necessary.
Validate manufacturing test fixtures and acceptance test procedures to ensure products meet field performance and reliability expectations before shipping to customers.
Maintain awareness of relevant regulatory and industry standards (e.g., DO-178C, DO-254, ISO 9001, ISO 13485, IEC 62304, MIL-STD-810, RTCA/DO-160) and translate standard requirements into IVVQ activities and artifacts.
Support software-in-the-loop (SIL) and model-in-the-loop (MIL) testing using Simulink, model-based systems engineering (MBSE) tools, and co-simulation frameworks to validate model behavior against requirements prior to hardware integration.
Lead cross-functional verification reviews, test readiness reviews (TRR), and qualification reviews to ensure stakeholders are aligned on scope, exit criteria, and risk acceptance.
Create high-quality test reports and executive summaries for program stakeholders and certification authorities that clearly articulate scope, methodology, findings, residual risk, and recommended corrective actions.
Plan and execute field trials and acceptance tests with customers or certification bodies, ensuring reproducible test execution, traceability of field data, and secure capture of evidence for qualification.
Implement fault injection campaigns and safety-critical scenario testing to confirm failure detection, safe degradation, and recovery behavior in accordance with system safety requirements.
Work with suppliers and subcontractors to define supplier test requirements, review supplier test evidence, and accept supplier verification results when integrated into higher-level systems.
Manage schedule, cost, and resource estimation for verification and qualification activities; escalate risks that threaten delivery of IVVQ milestones and propose mitigation strategies.
Participate in design reviews and early-stage verification planning to ensure testability, observability, and instrumentation are designed into systems from the outset.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.
Provide occasional on-call support for lab issues, test automation failures, and urgent field verification investigations.
Maintain and calibrate lab instrumentation and coordinate preventative maintenance schedules to ensure test validity.
Assist procurement in specifying test equipment, sensors, and measurement devices required for IVVQ campaigns.
Support knowledge transfer sessions and write technical training materials for production and sustainment teams.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Integration, Verification, Validation and Qualification (IVVQ) planning and execution, with ability to author IVVQ plans, test plans, and qualification reports aligned to product lifecycle and regulatory requirements.
Requirements management and traceability tools experience (IBM DOORS, Polarion, Jama, Atlassian suite) to maintain RTMs and demonstrate closure of verification items.
Test automation and scripting using Python, LabVIEW, MATLAB/Simulink, or C/C++; development of automated test harnesses and data analysis scripts to increase repeatability and coverage.
Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL), Software-in-the-loop (SIL), Model-in-the-loop (MIL) test setup and operation, including experience with real-time targets (dSPACE, NI PXI/DAQ, Speedgoat).
Familiarity with embedded software debugging and instrumentation, serial/ethernet CAN/LIN/ARINC interfaces, oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, spectrum analyzers, and digital multimeters.
Experience with environmental, mechanical and EMC/EMI test methods (thermal cycling, vibration, shock, humidity, EMI/EMC testing) and applicable standards (MIL-STD-810, RTCA/DO-160).
Knowledge of safety standards and system safety analysis (FMEA, FMEDA), and experience executing safety-related verification activities for safety-critical systems.
Strong change and configuration management skills; proficiency with Git, SVN, or Perforce and integration with CI/CD tools like Jenkins, GitLab CI or Azure DevOps for automated regression testing.
Test data acquisition, post-processing and statistical analysis skills using MATLAB, Python (pandas, numpy), R, or comparable tools; familiarity with signal processing and time-series analysis.
Experience preparing evidence packages for certification and compliance reviews (DO-178, ISO 13485, IEC 62304, FDA 510(k) submissions, CE marks).
Familiarity with model-based systems engineering (MBSE) tools (SysML, Cameo, IBM Rhapsody) to align models with verification artifacts and test cases.
Experience with issue tracking and defect management systems (JIRA, Mantis) and test management tools (TestRail, VectorCAST, National Instruments TestStand).
Knowledge of manufacturing test development, acceptance test procedures (ATP), and production test automation to transition verified designs into scalable manufacturing tests.

Soft Skills

Excellent written communication: ability to create clear, concise IVVQ plans, test procedures, and technical reports suitable for engineers and certification authorities.
Strong verbal communication and stakeholder management: able to lead test readiness and verification review meetings and translate technical issues to non-technical stakeholders.
Analytical problem-solving: methodical approach to root cause analysis and corrective action planning.
Attention to detail and process discipline to maintain traceability, version control and compliance artifacts.
Team player and collaborator; works effectively across hardware, software, systems, manufacturing and supplier teams.
Time management and prioritization to deliver high-quality verification artifacts under schedule pressure.
Adaptability and learning mindset to pick up new tools, standards, and test methods as program needs evolve.
Leadership and mentoring for junior engineers and test technicians to raise team capability.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related technical discipline.

Preferred Education:

Master’s degree in Systems Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, or equivalent advanced technical degree.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Systems Engineering
Electrical / Electronics Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Aerospace / Aeronautical Engineering
Computer / Software Engineering
Mechatronics

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

3–10+ years of relevant IVVQ, test engineering, or systems verification experience (program-dependent).

Preferred:

5+ years in a regulated or safety-critical domain (avionics, defense, medical devices, industrial control).
Demonstrated experience preparing certification evidence and communicating with certification authorities.
Hands-on experience with HIL/SIL, test automation, and requirements traceability across multiple projects.

Keywords: IVVQ Engineer, Verification and Validation, integration testing, hardware-in-the-loop, software-in-the-loop, model-in-the-loop, test automation, requirements traceability, DO-178, ISO 13485, MIL-STD-810, LabVIEW, MATLAB, Python, systems engineering, certification, qualification, test bench, HIL, SIL, MBSE.