QA jobs in San José, Costa Rica
San José sits in the tier c market group for QA hiring in Costa Rica. It has 3 open QA roles, and Costa Rica has 15 in total. It is the busiest listing hub in Costa Rica. A mid-level QA Automation Engineer earns about CRC 33M gross a year here, set from the national median with the C-tier pay index of 100.
Index vs San José = 100. The anchor city for pay and cost in this country. Estimated from tier, not measured.
Open QA roles in San José
3 roles based in San José, newest first. Pay is shown upfront.
Software Tester and QA Analyst Consultant
Quality Assurance Specialist
[8RSC] QA Analyst
What is hiring in San José
Share of the 3 listings in San José.
- Business / Test Analyst2 67%
- Manual QA Tester1 33%
Pay in San José
Mid-level gross pay in CRC, from the Costa Rica median with a pay index of 100.
| Role | P10 | Median | P90 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manual QA Tester | CRC 18M | CRC 23M | CRC 27M |
| QA Automation Engineer | CRC 27M | CRC 33M | CRC 41M |
| SDET | CRC 29M | CRC 36M | CRC 44M |
| QA Lead / Manager | CRC 25M | CRC 30M | CRC 37M |
Country figures: Costa Rica salary snapshot · All salary guides.
Working hours from San José
San José is on UTC-6 (CST). A 09:00-17:00 day here shares 7 h with US West (10:00-17:00 local), 6 h with US East, 7 h with US West, 1 h with London and 0 h with Central Europe.
San José keeps UTC-6 all year, but its US and European clients change their clocks twice a year. Europe moves its clocks on 25 Oct 2026 and the US on 1 Nov 2026. For that week US East and London overlap 4 h on a 09:00-17:00 day, against 3 h today.
San José as a QA market
A Tier C city is an emerging market. We list it so remote and nearby roles are easy to find.
San José has about 335,000 residents (city-proper estimate, GeoNames). It is the 1st largest of the 1 Costa Rica cities we list, so it is the biggest local talent pool in our list.
Population: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). City-proper figures are not comparable across countries.
Employers in Costa Rica hire QA mostly in AI / ML, SaaS, Banking & Insurance. Listings name Jira, Playwright, Python most often. 8 of 15 Costa Rica roles are remote, against 33% of the listings based in San José.
A nearshore QA market with US-aligned time zones, shared-service centres and free-zone employers around San Jose.
Hiring in Costa Rica
- Contracts
- Employment contract, Fixed-term contract, Independent contractor
- Notice
- Statutory notice runs from one week to one month, rising with tenure.
- Paid leave
- Statutory minimum is two weeks per 50 weeks worked.
- Working week
- 48 hours is the legal maximum for day shifts.
Typical values only. Full hiring guide for Costa Rica. Flex work from Costa Rica is limited: how Flex works.
QA jobs in San José: FAQ
How much does a QA automation engineer earn in San José?
A mid-level QA Automation Engineer in San José earns about CRC 33M gross a year, with a p10 to p90 band of CRC 27M to CRC 41M. Junior roles start near CRC 26M and senior roles reach CRC 42M. This applies a pay index of 100 (anchor city = 100) to the Costa Rica median.
How many QA jobs are open in San José?
San José has 3 open QA roles today, 1 of them remote, and Costa Rica has 15 in total. Remote roles in the same time zone are open to candidates here.
How much time-zone overlap does San José have with US and European teams?
On a 09:00-17:00 day in San José (UTC-6 (CST)), the overlap is 6 h with US East, 7 h with US West, 1 h with London and 0 h with Central Europe. San José keeps UTC-6 all year, but its US and European clients change their clocks twice a year.
How does San José compare with other cities in Costa Rica?
San José is the anchor city (index 100) for pay and cost of living in Costa Rica. Tier B cities are set near 88 for pay and 86 for cost, and Tier C cities near 80 and 78. These are tier-based estimates, not measured prices.
Which industries hire QA testers in Costa Rica?
In Costa Rica listings, the most common industries are AI / ML, SaaS, Banking & Insurance. The tools named most often are Jira, Playwright, Python.
How big is San José and how does it rank as a QA talent pool?
San José has about 335,000 residents (city-proper estimate, GeoNames). It is the 1st largest of the 1 Costa Rica cities we list, so it is the biggest local talent pool in our list. Population alone does not set pay: the pay index of 100 comes from the city tier, and the 3 local listings show how much QA hiring is visible today. Remote roles in the same time zone widen the pool for candidates here.
What notice period and paid leave should I expect in Costa Rica?
Statutory notice runs from one week to one month, rising with tenure. Statutory minimum is two weeks per 50 weeks worked. These are typical values, not legal advice.