Python Developer

Python Developer

Location: Charlotte, NC (2X a week on-site)

Position Type: Contract to hire

Job Summary:

The meeting focused on intake requirements for four mid-level Python automation engineers to support QA automation in a fixed income sales and trading platform environment. While final approval is still pending, the main roadblock has been removed, and approval is expected within 1–2 weeks. The team plans to begin sourcing candidates now so they can move quickly once approved. The roles require strong Python skills plus deep recent fixed income/swaps domain expertise, as the hires will assess and potentially rebuild dysfunctional UI and API automation suites tied to the internal Polaris platform.

Required Skills and Experience:

• Python is mandatory

• Candidates must have fixed income domain expertise, especially in:

• interest rate swaps
• caps/floors
• swaptions
• basis swaps
• cross-currency products
• inflation swaps
• related OTC derivatives

• Candidates must understand:

• how trades/deal tickets are structured
• business validations for automated testing
• fixed income workflows in sales and trading systems

The most important differentiator is recent hands-on fixed income experience. Candidates who have been out of the space for 1.5–2 years are unlikely to be a fit. H1B candidates are not being considered.

Technical Environment and Assessment:

Existing and future frameworks are Python-based. Technical screening will use CoderPad. Interview test includes:

• writing a Python program
• troubleshooting/debugging a pre-made program

Technical test is about 1 hour. Interview process after approval:

• automation architect technical review
• final screening by hiring manager and colleague
• no in-person final interview currently planned

Key Topics:

Hiring Status and Timing:

• No roles have been officially approved yet

• Approval is expected in about 1–2 weeks

• A prior blocker has been removed, and leadership will brief the new stakeholder

Role Scope:

• Hiring for 4 automation engineers

• Main responsibilities:

• Review existing UI and API automation suites
• Determine whether current automation is:
• salvageable
• partially reusable
• or should be fully replaced
• Analyze both:
• UI automation framework
• API automation framework
• Support a broader QA transformation effort

Business Context:

• Work is tied to Polaris, a homegrown internal platform for swaps trading

• Platform quality is currently a major issue:

• Monthly releases are followed by 6–8 patch releases
• Production bugs are slipping through due to automation gaps

• Parallel workstreams are planned:

• Manual testing improvements
• Automation suite remediation/rebuild

Contract Details:

• Contract duration: up to 18 months

• Possible conversion to full-time

• Conversion discussions typically begin after 9 months

• Location: Charlotte

• Current in-office expectation: Monday and Thursday minimum

• Team expects office attendance may increase in the future

Candidate Profile Guidance:

• Strong comparison profiles may come from similar sales and trading platform environments

• Examples of comparable prior hires were shared for sourcing calibration

• Relevant background may include firms such as Wells Fargo

Key Insights:

• Domain expertise is more critical than pure technical strength

• These are not standard automation roles; hires must be able to interpret complex fixed income products and testing scenarios

• The automation team will function like a SWAT team, quickly taking ownership of the existing automation repo and deciding how to remediate it

• Current API test volume is large (~10,000 tests) but many are permutations of a smaller core set

• There are approximately 500–600 UI automated test cases to review

Decisions Made:

• Begin candidate sourcing immediately ahead of formal approval

• Target candidates with:

• Python automation experience
• recent fixed income/swaps expertise
• ability to evaluate and triage existing automation frameworks

• Use CoderPad-based Python assessment as part of the screening process

• Submit candidates first through resumes/profiles and write-ups; move them into Fieldglass once narrowed for interview alignment

Next Steps:

• Hiring manager / leadership:

• Meet with the new stakeholder and push for approval of the 4 roles
• Expected timeline: within 1–2 weeks

• Recruiting team:

• Start sourcing candidates immediately
• Focus on profiles with:
• Python automation
• fixed income/swaps knowledge
• recent relevant domain immersion
• Review backgrounds similar to the example hires shared

• Recruiting team and hiring manager:

• Once approval is granted, align selected candidates to the appropriate Fieldglass requisitions
• Begin technical screening and interview process quickly

• Hiring team:

• Run technical assessments through CoderPad
• Conduct final screening after technical review