At NinjaOne, quality isn’t just a checkpoint. It’s part of our DNA! It’s what allows us to consistently bring new products to market, deliver frequent updates, and ensure every customer interaction and interface with our platform feels seamless. None of that happens without our phenomenal Quality Assurance team, who are on the front lines testing, validating, and refining every aspect of our product before it ships to production.
One of the leaders helping drive that work forward is Beth Hopper. A proud Ninja of over 8 years, Beth has been instrumental in growing our QA organization while keeping quality (and people!) at the heart of everything we do. Let’s get to know Beth.
Hi Beth! Tell us about yourself. What do you do at NinjaOne?
I am a Senior Quality Assurance (QA) Manager here at NinjaOne – in charge of leading the End-of-Line team. We essentially act as chaos agents – emulating our users as best as possible and performing negative, edge-case, and potentially disruptive scenarios while working with the development team to identify and correct issues before they ship to production (whether they be bugs or user experience-related). It’s an incredibly fun role. Who doesn’t love a little chaos 😉
What first drew you to quality assurance, and what keeps the work meaningful for you?
I was actually interviewing for a Junior Web Developer position at the time, and based on my feedback, the hiring manager thought I would be a great fit for a QA role. That was well over 25 years ago. I am a bit of a natural-born agent of chaos, so the role suited me perfectly and it became a personal interest as well as a career. I get most of my enjoyment from collaborative efforts, and working within a team and celebrating each little victory keeps my work meaningful and continues to bring me much joy.
How do you balance speed and quality when the team is under pressure?
There are a few things: Making sure that the work is scoped properly and that the team is not wasting cycles or energy on unnecessary tasks is incredibly important. Also, allowing the team to leverage tooling to make repetitive tasks easier, lighter, or make the work more creative is key. To avoid burnout, I think it’s important to distribute tasks and make sure the team is taking advantage of breaks to keep refreshed. In any organization, when a team is well cared for, team members remain happy, and they make better, higher-quality progress as a result. You want pressure to be motivating, not overwhelming.
In your experience, what defines a successful QA engineer?
Someone who is curious and strays from the obvious paths. When I am asked by candidates during interviews, “What advice would you give a new employee on how to be successful as a QA at NinjaOne?”, I say to them: “Ask questions. Ask lots of questions. Do not be afraid to reach out. There is no dumb question, only an unasked one.” We are very fortunate to have a remarkably curious and collaborative culture here at NinjaOne, and we’re very protective of that culture. Our fellow Ninjas are always so happy to lend a hand. So, I encourage our QAs to take advantage and contribute to this culture. Never be afraid to ask questions, and don’t hesitate to help out when you see someone who could use some support. There is true and lasting power in partnership.
How does a strong QA culture shape engineering outcomes, customer satisfaction, and overall business success?
A strong QA culture that is embraced by the entire organization will lead to better processes, earlier issue detection, and, as a result, less time spent cycling between QA and development. This, in turn, leads to a higher quality product that will make our customers happier. The happier the customers, the longer they’ll stick with us and the more likely they are to share their positive experiences with others in the market.
What is the most important thing you’ve learned at NinjaOne?
The majority of my career I spent working as an IC (independent contributor). But being a Manager at NinjaOne has brought with it many new positive experiences and required me to learn a whole new set of skills while sharpening others I didn’t even know I possessed. Learning how to empower and support people has been incredibly rewarding. Our employees are human and need support on many levels. Much like flowers, providing care and a healthy environment allows them to flourish and bloom. Also, learning how to ensure our incredible culture remains protected and is primed for growth as new Ninjas join our ecosystem has been key in my managerial role. As our team expands, it is important to ensure that our growth incorporates others who are equally passionate, collaborative, and eager to help others.
What are you passionate about outside of your career?
Outside my fixation on testing, I enjoy genealogy and researching history. It fosters a constant state of discovery and learning. “Reality is always stranger than fiction,” they say. In my research journeys, I have found that to be quite true. I enjoy watching period-pieces and I like to paint glass with watercolors when the time is available. I love to garden and grow plants. I enjoy a good stroll through a cemetery or graveyard (lots of history and stories nestled in, and sometimes some distant relatives to discover. The inhabitants don’t seem to mind. They don’t complain too terribly often. And I like to spend most of my off time with my kids and my pets. I have a son, a daughter, 2 cats (Maximus and Lola), and my best bud, Jax – a Keeshond. He’s the goodest and handsomest boy ever.
That wraps up this Patch Notes: People Edition! If you have an inquisitive spirit and enjoy working closely with a team that cares deeply about quality and growth, head over to www.ninjaone.com/careers to explore our open positions! With culture carriers like Beth helping new team members put down roots and flourish, NinjaOne is a place where people and careers are always in bloom.
