Software Quality Assurance (SQA) Engineers are responsible for assessing a product during every phase of the software development process to ensure that the outcomes of each phase and the final product possess the desired qualities. In general, a great SQA engineer needs to have a different set of abilities from development engineers to effectively oversee the entire product development process from beginning to end. Recent empirical studies identified important attributes of software engineers and managers, but the quality assurance role is overlooked. As software quality aspects have become more of a priority in the life cycle of software development, employers seek professionals that best suit the company's objectives and new graduates desire to make a valuable contribution through their job as an SQA engineer, but what makes them great? We addressed this knowledge gap by conducting 25 semi-structured interviews and 363 survey respondents with software quality assurance engineers from different companies around the world. We use the data collected from these activities to derive a comprehensive set of attributes that are considered important. As a result of the interviews, twenty-five attributes were identified and grouped into five main categories: personal, social, technical, management, and decision-making attributes. Through a rating survey, we confirmed that the distinguishing characteristics of great SQA engineers are curiosity, the ability to communicate effectively, and critical thinking skills. This work will guide further studies with SQA practitioners, by considering contextual factors and providing some implications for research and practice.

翻译：软件质量保证（SQA）工程师在软件开发过程的每个阶段负责评估产品，确保各阶段成果及最终产品具备预期质量。总体而言，优秀的SQA工程师需要具备与开发工程师不同的能力组合，才能有效监督整个产品开发流程。近期实证研究识别了软件工程师和管理者的重要特质，但质量保证角色却被忽视。随着软件质量在开发生命周期中日益成为优先考量，企业亟需寻找最契合公司目标的专业人才，而应届毕业生也期望通过SQA工程师的岗位做出有价值贡献——但究竟什么特质能造就卓越的SQA工程师？我们通过对全球不同企业的软件质量保证工程师开展25次半结构化访谈及363份问卷调查，填补了这一知识空白。基于收集的数据，我们提炼出一套被认为关键的综合特质体系。访谈结果识别出25项特质，并将其归为五类：个人特质、社交特质、技术特质、管理特质和决策特质。通过评级调查，我们证实优秀SQA工程师的显著特征包括：好奇心、高效沟通能力以及批判性思维。本研究将结合情境因素，为SQA从业者的后续研究提供指导，并为研究与实践领域带来启示。