Sr. Software Development Engineer in Test

Cognichip; Toronto; Hybrid; CAD 85,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation and equity

Office snacks

Company events

Prime location in Toronto

Job summary

Cognichip is looking for a Senior Software Development Engineer in Test in Toronto. The ideal candidate will help shape the automated testing strategy across their AI-native chip design systems. Responsibilities include developing automation frameworks, collaborating with engineering teams, and ensuring the quality of both backend services and frontend tools. Candidates should have extensive experience in software testing, automation testing, and coding in Python, Bash, and TypeScript. The role also offers a hybrid working model and competitive compensation.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in software testing and delivery.
• 3+ years of frontend and backend automation testing experience.
• Track record of owning and delivering QE infrastructure in a fast-paced environment.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end evaluation for cloud backend services and IDE frontend.
• Develop and maintain automated test scripts using Playwright.
• Analyze test coverage and drive improvements across the engineering lifecycle.

Skills

Software testing and delivery

Frontend automation testing

Backend automation testing

Python

Bash

TypeScript

GitHub Actions

API testing

Performance/load testing

Collaboration with engineering teams

Tools

Playwright

Selenium

Checkly

Grafana

Locust.IO

JMeter

Job description

Sr. Software Development Engineer in Test

Job Description

About The Job

• We're looking for a Senior SDET to join us as part of our growing team. This person will help build the foundation of a robust, automated testing strategy across our cloud-native backend and developer IDE. Our company is developing an AI-native chip design system that leverages proprietary models, advanced agentic and knowledge workflows, all integrated with semiconductor design tools. We work within pipelines that combine LLM-based reasoning and multi-agent orchestration on top of horizontal autoscale.
• As a Quality Engineer you will work closely with engineering, product, and DevOps teams to ensure the quality, performance, and resilience of our systems. You'll be responsible for defining our test strategies, developing automation frameworks, and scaling our testing infrastructure as we grow.

Core Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end evaluation for our cloud backend services and IDE frontend
• Contribute to automated monitoring test development
• Develop and maintain automated test scripts using tools such as Playwright
• Write test plans and test cases that ensure full coverage of product features
• Implement load and performance testing for backend services
• Analyze test coverage and drive improvements across the engineering lifecycle
• Collaborate with developers to design testable features and resolve issues quickly
• Partner with DevOps to integrate test automation into pre-deployment workflows
• Contribute to team growth and mentor future quality engineers

Required Skills & Experience

• 5+ years of experience in software testing and delivery
• 3+ years of frontend automation testing
• 3+ years of backend automation testing
• Strong development skills, understanding of git source control, professional standards of software development
• Strong understanding of GitHub Actions, self-hosted runners, platform matrix builds (Linux x64/arm64/el8, macOS, Windows)
• Hands-on experience with modern automation frameworks such as Playwright, Selenium, Checkly, Qase, Grafana
• Strong coding skills in Python, Bash, and TypeScript — both with and without agent
• Experience with API testing, test coverage analysis, and performance/load testing
• Tools such as Locust.IO or JMeter
• Track record of owning and delivering QE infrastructure in a fast-paced environment
• Experience collaborating across engineering, product, and DevOps functions
• Excellent communication, documentation, and organizational skills

Nice to Have

• Startup experience or experience building test infrastructure from scratch
• Familiarity with cloud environments, especially AWS
• Experience testing IDEs, developer tools, or complex interactive UIs
• Strong understanding of using Agentic AI systems
• Electron development, testing, and deployment experience

What We Offer

• Opportunity to shape the QE strategy for a company from the ground up
• A high-impact role in a deep-tech AI + semiconductor SaaS startup
• A collaborative, ownership-driven culture where your voice matters
• Competitive compensation and equity
• Office snacks, company events, and a prime location in Toronto
• Hybrid model - in-office 4 days a week