Senior Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET)

Far Coder; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 155,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Seven company-paid holidays and family

Front-loaded PTO

401(k) matching and healthcare

Life, dental, and vision insurance

Vacation bonus for consecutive days

Budget for food and groceries

Job summary

Topstep, a real-time futures trading platform, is hiring a Senior SDET for remote US-based work. You will drive test automation across API, UI, and end-to-end paths, building scalable frameworks and leveraging AI-assisted testing to deliver broad, meaningful coverage.

You will partner with product and engineering to define testability requirements, mentor SDETs, and strengthen testing practices across the team. Strong TypeScript skills and experience with Playwright are required.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in software testing with a strong focus on test automation and framework development.
• Expert programming skills; writes production-quality test code in TypeScript.
• Hands-on experience building test automation frameworks from scratch (Playwright preferred; Cypress, Selenium, or similar also relevant).
• Comfort using AI/LLM-assisted tooling to accelerate test creation and verification, with the judgment to validate and curate generated output.
• Strong API and real-time testing: RESTful services and WebSocket/streaming systems, with a solid grasp of backend testing patterns.

Responsibilities

• Drive test automation across API, UI, and end-to-end paths, optimizing coverage vs. execution time and maintenance cost.
• Extend AI-assisted test-generation tooling to produce broad, verification-focused coverage and curate generated output.
• Build and maintain scalable test frameworks and infrastructure that run in CI/CD for real-time paths like order lifecycle and market data streams.
• Collaborate with product and engineering to define testability requirements and quality standards; mentor SDETs in automation patterns and non-functional testing.
• Triages failures, reduces flakiness, and makes quality metrics transparent to engineering.

Skills

Test automation

TypeScript

API testing

UI testing

CI/CD

Playwright

AI-assisted testing

SDET leadership

Tools

Playwright

Cypress

Selenium

GitHub Actions

React

TypeScript

Kubernetes

Terraform

Job description

Topstep is hiring a remote candidate for Senior Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET). This is a full time position. Work location: USA. The role typically involves technologies such as TypeScript, React, Kubernetes, Terraform, CI/CD, Rust.

Summary: Topstep operates a real‑time futures trading platform (TopstepX). Here, correctness isn't cosmetic: a defect in order handling, market‑data delivery, or a balance/P&L calculation can cost a trader real money.

We're hiring a Senior SDET to drive test automation across the platform — building the frameworks, shaping coverage decisions, and raising the quality bar alongside our existing SDETs. We lean heavily on AI‑assisted test generation to produce broad, meaningful coverage at scale, and you'll help extend that capability. You'll partner with product engineering teams to design for testability early, automate the journeys that matter most, and strengthen the testing practice across the group. This role suits a strong technical tester who thinks in systems and can build scalable test infrastructure while mentoring others.

Key Responsibilities Drive test automation across API, UI, and end‑to‑end — shaping where automated coverage delivers the most value against execution time and maintenance cost. Use and extend our AI‑assisted test‑generation tooling to produce and maintain broad, verification‑focused coverage — applying judgment to curate, validate, and prune what the models generate rather than trusting it wholesale. Build and maintain scalable test frameworks and infrastructure that run in CI/CD, including for real‑time paths: order lifecycle, market‑data streams over WebSocket, and financially material calculations. Partner with product and engineering early to define testability requirements and quality standards, rather than validating after the fact. Lead by example on test code quality — clean, maintainable, well‑documented, and a model for the team. Own the signal from the test suite: triage failures fast, keep flakiness low, and make results and quality metrics visible and trustworthy to engineering. Surface and drive resolution of quality gaps, systemic testing weaknesses, and test‑related technical debt. Mentor engineers and SDETs on automation patterns, AI‑assisted testing workflows, non‑functional testing (performance, load, resilience), and a quality‑first mindset.

Required Qualifications and Key Competencies 5 + years in software testing with a strong focus on test automation and framework development. Expert programming skills; writes production‑quality test code in TypeScript. Hands‑ons experience building test automation frameworks from scratch (Playwright preferred; Cypress, Selenium, or similar also relevant). Comfort using AI/LLM‑assisted tooling to accelerate test creation and verification, with the judgment to validate and curate generated output rather than accept it at face value. Strong API and real‑time testing: RESTful services and WebSocket/streaming systems, with a solid grasp of backend testing patterns. Solid grasp of our stack — a React/TypeScript front end and C#/.NET backend services, plus databases and the service architecture behind them — enough to test it deeply. CI/CD experience integrating automated tests into deployment pipelines (GitHub Actions). Proven ability to design test strategies that balance coverage, execution time, and maintenance overhead. Strong debugging across the full stack — frontend, backend, database, and infrastructure. Excellent communication; can advocate for quality and influence engineering practice.

Preferred Non‑functional testing experience: performance, load, and resilience. Familiarity with ArgoCD, Terraform, and Kubernetes. Experience testing trading, fintech, or other low‑latency/financially sensitive systems. Contract / consumer‑driven testing between services. Observability‑driven testing (using logs, metrics, traces to validate behavior).

Company Culture & Perks

• Seven Company‑paid Holidays and generous Family Leave.
• Paid time off is front‑loaded.
• Competitive 401(k) matching, health, dental, and vision insurance are offered for full‑time employees.
• Vacations are encouraged with a bonus for taking 5 consecutive days.
• Topstep offers a food and groceries budget and contributes towards health and wellness.

New Hire Base Salary Range $155,000 - $190,000 annually. The compensation offered will take into account the internal compensation structure and may vary depending on the candidate's geographic region, job‑related knowledge, skills, and experience, among other factors. This position is eligible for a performance‑based bonus as provided by the plan terms and governing documents.

Equal Opportunity Employer Topstep is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where all employees and applicants are valued. All qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, or veteran status, in compliance with applicable federal, state, and local laws.

Skills required for this role

Skills required for this role include TypeScript, React, Kubernetes, and related tools for day‑to‑day development. Seniority level: Senior.