Sr. Quality Engineer

Sr. Quality EngineerLocation: Chicago, IL 60607, United States Contract: 12+ Months (Long Term Contract) Working Mode: HybridResponsibilities: Design, develop, execute, and maintain scalable automated test frameworks, test plans end to end and test suites across functional, regression, API, integration, end-to-end, performance, and non-functional testing. Own automation engineering for assigned applications, including framework standard adoption, reusable components, coding practices, test utilities, test environment, test data, and long-term maintainability. Analyze requirements, user stories, acceptance criteria, technical designs, API contracts, and data flows to identify quality risks and improve testability early in the SDLC with TDD/BDD approaches. Integrate automated testing, performance validations, quality checks, and release readiness controls into CI/CD pipelines to enable continuous testing and faster feedback. Develop and support performance, load, and reliability testing practices, including scripting, execution, analysis, bottleneck identification, and trend reporting. Manage test data and backend validation needs, including SQL validation, data setup, reusable test data patterns, synthetic/masked data usage, and data quality checks. Support test environment readiness by validating environment configuration, dependencies, access, integrations, test data, and pipeline execution stability. Use IaC, ephemeral and containerization to eliminate environment bottlenecks. Partner with Product, Engineering, Architecture, Infrastructure, Operations, and Security teams to drive shared ownership of quality, automation, environment readiness, and defect prevention. Execute risk-based test strategies, optimize regression coverage, troubleshoot complex defects, perform root-cause analysis, and improve automation effectiveness. Support DevSecOps, audit, and release readiness expectations by validating quality gates, test evidence, security-related findings, and compliance-aligned controls. Track and communicate automation coverage, test effectiveness, performance results, environment issues, defects, quality trends, and delivery risks using Azure DevOps, GitHub, ServiceNow, and related platforms. Mentor less experienced QA/QE team members and contribute to automation standards, CI/CD testing patterns, performance testing approaches, test data practices, and modern QE improvements.Education & Experience: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Engineering, or a related technical discipline; equivalent experience may be considered. 6+ years of experience in Quality Engineering, Test Automation, Software Testing, Software Engineering, or related technology roles. Hands-on experience as SDET designing, developing, and maintaining automated tests or test frameworks using modern automation tools and coding practices. Strong hands-on programming or scripting experience using C#, JavaScript/TypeScript, Python, or similar languages. Experience with modern automation tools and frameworks such as Playwright, Selenium, SpecFlow/Cucumber, Postman, API automation frameworks, and related testing libraries or platforms for emulation. Experience with CI/CD practices and tools such as GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps pipelines, Jenkins, or comparable platforms. Integrating automated tests, quality checks, performance validations, and release readiness controls into CI/CD pipelines with DevSecOps / secure SDLC practices is preferred. Experience with GitHub, Azure DevOps, source control, pull requests, branching strategies, test management, and defect tracking workflows. Strong understanding and use of KPIs for quality, defect, DORA or similar. Working knowledge of relational databases and SQL for backend validation using platforms such as PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server, MS Access, or similar. Experience testing web applications, APIs, databases, cloud-based applications, batch processes, and integrated enterprise systems, CRM, ERP. Experience with performance testing tools such as Artillery.io, JMeter, Gatling is required k6 or similar tools is plus. Experience supporting test environment readiness, including configuration validation, dependencies, integrations, access, service availability, and pipeline execution stability. Test Environment Engineering, IaC, Containers and Ephemeral Test Environments Experience with cloud platforms such as AWS or comparable environments, microservices and Event based architectures, domain model understanding. Professional certifications such as ISTQB, CSTE, CSQA, Certified Agile Tester, AWS, Azure, or equivalent experience are preferred. Experience in banking, financial services, or another regulated environment is preferred.Required Technical Experience: C#, TypeScript, (optional – Java Script/Python) Playwright, Selenium, Specflow API Automation & Testing -Postman, Swagger/OpenAPI GitHub, Azure DevOps, CI/CD Pipelines, (plus - GitHub Actions) PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server AWS and/or comparable cloud solutions & architectures. Performance Testing - Artillery, Gatling, JMeter Test Environment/Data Management -Tonic.ai or equivalent Security Testing and DevSecOps Tooling GitHub Copilot and AI-assisted engineering toolsKnowledge & Abilities: Must have excellent communication (verbal, written) & people-focused skills Strong hands-on abilities of modern Quality Engineering principles, including shift-left testing, automation-first delivery, continuous testing, risk-based testing, exploratory, manual testing, and defect prevention. Strong hands-on coding, scripting, and automation framework development capabilities and Test Environment capabilities, IaC, Containers and Ephemeral Test Environments Working knowledge of SDLC, Agile, DevOps, DevSecOps, CI/CD, and modern engineering delivery practices. Ability to embed automated quality checks, test coverage, release readiness criteria, and quality gates into delivery pipelines and processes. Strong analytical, troubleshooting, SQL/data validation, defect analysis, and root-cause identification skills. Ability to communicate quality risks, technical issues, test results, and delivery impacts clearly to technical and business stakeholders. Strategic Thinking beyond day to day testing. Strong collaboration skills across Product, Engineering, Architecture, Security, Operations, and business teams. Ability to plan, prioritize, estimate, and execute work effectively in a fast-paced delivery environment. Knowledge of banking, financial services, audit, regulatory, and risk-control expectations is preferred. Demonstrated mentoring, collaboration, and continuous learning, continuous improvement mindset.