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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Verification and Validation Engineer

💰 $ - $

EngineeringQuality AssuranceSoftware TestingEmbedded Systems

🎯 Role Definition

The Verification and Validation (V&V) Engineer is responsible for planning, designing, executing, and reporting verification and validation activities across systems, hardware, and software to ensure products meet requirements, safety standards, and customer expectations. This role emphasizes requirements-based testing, test automation, model-based design verification (MIL/SIL/HIL), traceability, and collaboration with cross-functional teams including systems engineering, software development, hardware design, quality, and regulatory affairs.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Test Engineer or Test Technician transitioning to systems-level verification and validation.
  • Embedded Software Engineer moving into V&V to specialize in test strategy and automation.
  • Systems Engineer or Integration Engineer focusing on requirements verification and systems-level testing.

Advancement To:

  • Senior Verification and Validation Engineer / Lead V&V Engineer
  • Principal Systems Engineer or Principal V&V Engineer
  • Test Automation Lead or V&V Manager
  • Director of Systems Verification, Quality, or Regulatory Affairs

Lateral Moves:

  • Safety Engineer (ISO 26262/IEC 61508)
  • Reliability Engineer
  • Test Automation Engineer
  • Embedded Software Engineer
  • Product Validation Architect

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Develop and maintain comprehensive verification and validation plans, strategies, and schedules that map system and software requirements to verification activities, ensuring full requirements traceability using tools such as IBM DOORS, Jama, or Polarion.
  • Design, implement, and execute automated test frameworks and test harnesses (Python, C/C++, Robot Framework, pytest, Jenkins) to enable continuous integration and continuous testing for embedded software and system integration.
  • Create detailed, requirements-based test cases and test procedures for unit, integration, system, acceptance, regression, and performance testing; maintain test case repositories and link results back to requirement artifacts.
  • Lead system integration and verification activities including functional integration testing, regression testing, and smoke testing for hardware-software integrated products and embedded systems.
  • Architect and execute model-in-the-loop (MIL), software-in-the-loop (SIL), and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) test campaigns using MATLAB/Simulink, dSPACE, NI VeriStand, or similar platforms to validate model-based designs and controller logic.
  • Plan and perform structural and dynamic verification on electronic control units (ECUs), PCBs, FPGAs, and embedded processors, including electrical and timing analysis, to validate system performance under realistic operating conditions.
  • Implement and manage test benches, lab infrastructure, and automated test equipment (ATE), including scripting for test orchestration, data capture, telemetry, logging, and results analysis.
  • Execute verification for safety-critical software against industry standards (DO-178C, ISO 26262, IEC 62304, IEC 61508), support certification artifacts, and prepare evidence packages for regulatory audits and safety cases.
  • Develop and maintain verification metrics and dashboards (test coverage, pass/fail rates, defect trends), and present quantitative V&V status and risk assessments to engineering leadership and program stakeholders.
  • Perform requirements analysis and participate in design reviews to identify verification requirements, potential ambiguities, and implementable testable criteria; feedback into requirements refinement and acceptance criteria.
  • Lead fault injection, robustness, stress, and negative testing to evaluate system behavior under fault conditions, environmental extremes, and unexpected inputs; document anomalies and track corrective actions.
  • Collaborate with software and hardware engineers to reproduce, debug, isolate root causes, and verify fixes for failures identified during verification; use oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and protocol analyzers for hardware-software troubleshooting.
  • Integrate automated regression testing into CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, GitLab CI, Azure DevOps) to ensure repeatable verification of code commits and releases, reduce manual test effort, and shorten iteration cycles.
  • Create and maintain test data sets, simulation models, and synthetic inputs to validate edge cases and realistic operational scenarios across multiple configurations and variants.
  • Validate firmware and embedded software through static and dynamic analysis tools (coverity, Klocwork, PC-lint) and unit test frameworks (Unity, Google Test), ensuring conformance to coding standards and security best practices.
  • Perform protocol and bus-level testing for automotive and industrial networks (CAN, CAN-FD, LIN, FlexRay, Ethernet/IP, EtherCAT), including message timing, fault tolerance, and interoperability tests using Vector CANoe/Canalyzer or similar tooling.
  • Define and execute performance, latency, and resource utilization tests for real-time systems and RTOS-based applications to verify timing determinism and meet non-functional requirements.
  • Prepare clear, actionable verification reports, anomaly reports (bug tickets), test summaries, and traceability matrices; ensure all verification artifacts are version-controlled and audit-ready.
  • Mentor junior V&V engineers and test engineers, provide guidance on test design, debugging techniques, and best practices for creating maintainable and scalable verification assets.
  • Support cross-functional validation including system validation with customers, production validation, and beta testing activities; coordinate field trials and collect operational feedback for product improvement.
  • Maintain up-to-date knowledge of verification methodologies, test automation tools, regulatory changes, and industry best practices; recommend process improvements and tooling upgrades to improve V&V efficiency and quality.
  • Manage supplier and subcontractor verification activities when applicable; review supplier test artifacts, perform independent verification, and ensure delivered components meet system-level requirements.
  • Ensure configuration management and change control processes are followed for V&V artifacts, test environments, and software baselines in accordance with quality management systems (ISO 9001, AS9100).
  • Lead risk-based verification prioritization for high-risk features, coordinate mitigation strategies, and ensure traceable verification closure criteria for release decisions.
  • Support investigations for customer issues and field returns by reproducing failures in lab conditions, collecting evidence, and proposing corrective and preventive actions (CAPA).

Secondary Functions

  • Support cross-functional teams by providing testability input during requirements and design phases to reduce downstream defects and simplify verification.
  • Contribute to creation and maintenance of reusable verification libraries, test fixtures, and simulation models to accelerate future testing iterations.
  • Participate in process improvement initiatives to enhance test coverage, reduce cycle time, and increase automation across verification & validation workflows.
  • Assist in procurement and specification of test equipment and lab tooling to ensure test capability aligns with program verification objectives.
  • Provide subject matter expertise in verification planning for new product introductions, pilot builds, and production ramp-up to ensure design for testability and manufacturability.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Requirements-based testing and traceability matrix creation (IBM DOORS, Jama, Polarion) to ensure every system requirement is verified.
  • Test plan and test case development for unit, integration, system, regression, performance, and acceptance testing.
  • Test automation development using Python, C/C++, Robot Framework, pytest, or proprietary test frameworks for scalable continuous testing.
  • MIL/SIL/HIL test development and execution using MATLAB/Simulink, dSPACE, NI VeriStand, Vector tools, and hardware simulation platforms.
  • Familiarity with safety and regulatory standards such as DO-178C (avionics), ISO 26262 (automotive), IEC 62304 (medical), IEC 61508, and FDA validation practices.
  • Embedded systems testing, firmware verification, RTOS behavior analysis, and hardware-software integration testing.
  • Version control and CI/CD tooling experience (Git, Jenkins, GitLab CI, Azure DevOps) for automated regression and nightly test runs.
  • Static and dynamic code analysis tools and unit test frameworks (Coverity, Klocwork, PC-lint, Unity, Google Test).
  • Protocol and bus testing (CAN/CAN-FD, LIN, FlexRay, Ethernet, TCP/IP) and experience with Vector CANoe/Canalyzer or similar tools.
  • H/W lab instrumentation expertise: oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, spectrum analyzers, signal generators, and ATE system configuration.
  • Test data management, logging, telemetry capture, and post-test analysis (MATLAB, Python pandas, Jupyter).
  • Test management and issue tracking tools (JIRA, TestRail, qTest) and experience producing audit-ready verification artifacts.
  • Performance, stress, and latency testing methodologies for real-time and distributed systems.
  • Scripting for test orchestration and environment provisioning (Bash, PowerShell, Python).
  • Familiarity with model-based design and simulation validation techniques.
  • Experience creating safety cases, verification matrices, and certification packages for regulatory submissions.
  • Knowledge of hardware design basics (PCB, FPGA, ADC/DAC) to collaborate with hardware engineers during root cause analysis.

Soft Skills

  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills to produce clear test reports, verification summaries, and to present V&V status to stakeholders.
  • Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to isolate defects across software, firmware, and hardware boundaries.
  • Attention to detail and meticulous documentation practices to support traceability and regulatory audits.
  • Collaboration and teamwork orientation to work across multi-disciplinary teams and suppliers.
  • Time management and prioritization skills to balance multiple verification activities against project milestones.
  • Customer-focused mindset to align validation activities with product requirements and end-user expectations.
  • Adaptability and continuous-learning attitude to adopt new tools, standards, and verification methodologies.
  • Mentoring and leadership skills to coach junior engineers and lead small verification project teams.
  • Risk assessment and decision-making skills to prioritize testing for high-impact features and release readiness.
  • Process-oriented thinking to define and improve V&V workflows, templates, and automation pipelines.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related technical discipline.

Preferred Education:

  • Master's degree in Systems Engineering, Computer Science, Mechatronics, or a related field.
  • Certifications or coursework in safety standards (DO-178C, ISO 26262), test automation, or model-based design.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Electrical or Electronic Engineering
  • Computer Science or Software Engineering
  • Systems Engineering
  • Mechatronics or Controls Engineering
  • Mechanical Engineering (for hardware integration roles)

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 3–8 years for mid-level V&V Engineer roles; 8+ years for senior/principal positions.

Preferred:

  • Demonstrated experience executing verification and validation for safety-critical or regulated products (automotive, aerospace, medical devices, industrial controls).
  • Proven track record of designing automated test frameworks, MIL/SIL/HIL testbeds, and contributing to certification or compliance artifacts.
  • Hands-on experience with embedded software, test lab instrumentation, and CI/CD-integrated automated testing.
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