QAEnterprise

Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET)

We are looking for a Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET) to build and maintain our test automation infrastructure. Unlike a traditional QA role, this is a software engineering position focused on creating scalable test frameworks, custom tooling, and CI/CD integrations that enable the entire engineering organization to ship with confidence. You will write production-quality code — but your product is quality itself.

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Key Responsibilities

Design, build, and maintain scalable test automation frameworks used across multiple engineering teams
Develop automated test suites at every level: unit, integration, API, end-to-end, and performance
Create custom test tooling and utilities to reduce test authoring time and improve test reliability
Integrate automated tests into CI/CD pipelines with intelligent test selection and parallelization
Define and enforce code quality standards for test code, including code reviews for test contributions
Analyze test results, identify flaky tests, and maintain high test suite reliability
Partner with platform and DevOps teams to optimize test infrastructure (test environments, data seeding, parallel execution)

Required Skills & Experience

4+ years of software engineering experience with at least 2 years focused on test automation
Strong programming skills in Java, Python, TypeScript, or C# — able to write production-quality code
Experience designing and building test automation frameworks from scratch (not just using existing ones)
Deep knowledge of testing patterns: page object model, data-driven testing, contract testing, fixture management
Proficiency with CI/CD systems (Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI) and test pipeline optimization
Experience with API testing and contract testing tools (Postman, Pact, REST Assured)
Strong understanding of software architecture and how it impacts testability

Nice-to-Have

Experience with performance and load testing frameworks (k6, Gatling, Locust)
Knowledge of visual regression testing tools (Percy, Chromatic, Applitools)
Experience building test data management solutions
Contributions to open-source testing tools or frameworks
Experience with mobile test automation (Appium, Detox, XCUITest)

Tech Stack

PlaywrightCypressJestJUnitPytestGitHub ActionsDockerk6PactTypeScript

What We Offer

Competitive salary and equity at [Company Name]
Opportunity to build test infrastructure used by the entire engineering org
Annual learning budget for conferences and certifications
Flexible remote work with optional in-office collaboration days
Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance
Generous PTO, parental leave, and sabbatical program

Interview Process

1Recruiter phone screen (30 min)
2Technical conversation with QA/Test Engineering lead — discuss framework design experience (45 min)
3Coding exercise: build a small test automation solution for a sample application (90 min, take-home or live)
4System design round: design a test automation architecture for a microservices application (60 min)
5Culture and values conversation with hiring manager (30 min)

Hiring for this role? You might also need:

Interview Scorecards

Phone Screen

Recruiter Phone Screen (Universal)

General-purpose recruiter screen covering motivation, experience fit, and logistics.

Hiring Manager

Hiring Manager Final Round

Final evaluation by hiring manager: team fit, role alignment, and leadership potential.

Culture & Values

Culture & Values Interview

Behavioral interview scorecard covering collaboration, ownership, and growth mindset.

Email Templates

Sourcing

Cold Outreach — Passive Developer

A personalized first-touch email to engage passive developers who aren't actively job hunting.

Sourcing

Cold Outreach Follow-up

A concise follow-up email for candidates who didn't respond to your initial outreach.

Sourcing

Cold Outreach — Break-up Email

A final follow-up email that politely closes the outreach sequence while leaving the door open.

Related Templates

QA Engineer

Ensure product quality through manual and automated testing strategies across the development lifecycle.

Backend

Backend Developer

Design and implement server-side logic, APIs, and database integrations.

DevOps

DevOps Engineer

Automate infrastructure, streamline CI/CD pipelines, and improve deployment reliability.

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Common Screening Mistakes

Treating SDET as identical to a QA Engineer — an SDET is a software engineer who builds test infrastructure and frameworks, not someone who primarily writes test cases or does manual testing
Not assessing coding skills rigorously enough — SDETs should be evaluated at the same coding bar as software engineers; if they cannot design classes and write clean code, they are not an SDET
Focusing only on which test tools they know instead of asking how they designed and built test infrastructure — the architectural thinking matters more than specific tool experience

Red Flags

Cannot describe a test framework they architected or explain the design decisions behind it — the core SDET skill is building frameworks, not just using them
Coding skills are significantly below the bar you would set for a software engineer at the same level — SDET is an engineering role first
Only talks about test execution and coverage numbers without discussing test reliability, flakiness management, or test suite maintainability

What Good Looks Like

A strong SDET candidate can whiteboard the architecture of a test framework they built — explain trade-offs in their design (e.
g.
, why they chose Playwright over Cypress), and quantify the impact (e.
g.
, 'reduced test suite runtime from 40 minutes to 12 minutes through parallelization' or 'our framework is now used by 8 teams across the org').

Key Tech to Listen For

Test Framework Design
Playwright
CI/CD Integration
Contract Testing
Page Object Model
Test Parallelization