Lead Performance Engineer

Role: Lead Performance Engineer / Performance Engineering Lead
Location: Charlotte, NC
Work Arrangement: Hybrid - 3 days per week onsite

Key Responsibilities
Lead end-to-end performance engineering and performance testing activities.
Gather and define NFRs, SLAs, SLOs, KPIs, workload models, and performance acceptance criteria.
Develop performance test strategies, test plans, scenarios, and workload models.
Design and execute load, stress, endurance, scalability, and capacity tests.
Develop and maintain performance scripts using LoadRunner and Apache JMeter.
Perform advanced correlation, parameterization, data handling, error handling, and scripting.
Analyze application, middleware, infrastructure, database, and network performance.
Identify and troubleshoot performance bottlenecks involving:
CPU and memory utilization
JVM heap and Garbage Collection
Thread and connection pools
Database/SQL performance
Network latency
API and microservice dependencies
Use monitoring and observability tools such as AppDynamics, Splunk, Dynatrace, Grafana, or similar tools for root-cause analysis.
Partner with development, architecture, DevOps, infrastructure, and database teams to resolve performance issues.
Provide actionable performance tuning and optimization recommendations.
Support performance testing for Java/.NET applications, REST APIs, microservices, batch systems, and distributed applications.
Develop performance dashboards and analyze test results and trends.
Drive capacity planning and performance forecasting based on business growth and usage patterns.
Integrate performance testing into CI/CD pipelines where applicable.
Support applications running on Kubernetes/OpenShift and cloud environments.
Participate in resilience and Chaos Engineering testing when required.
Lead production performance issue investigations and provide root-cause analysis.
Prepare detailed performance test reports, findings, risks, and recommendations for technical and business stakeholders.
Mentor junior performance engineers and establish performance engineering best practices.

Required Skills & Experience
8+ years of experience in Performance Testing / Performance Engineering, with experience in a lead capacity.
Strong hands-on experience with LoadRunner and JMeter.
Strong understanding of performance testing methodologies and workload modeling.
Experience defining performance strategy and NFRs.
Strong experience with Load, Stress, Endurance, Scalability, and Capacity testing.
Experience with AppDynamics and/or Splunk.
Strong troubleshooting and bottleneck-analysis skills.
Experience with Java-based applications, REST APIs, microservices, and distributed systems.
Strong understanding of APIs, SQL, databases, JVM performance, and application architecture.
Experience with performance monitoring and analysis across application, database, infrastructure, and network layers.
Strong analytical, communication, and leadership skills.
Ability to work independently and drive performance initiatives from requirements through final recommendations.