Sr. SDET Consultant

Gov Services Hub; Illinois; Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Gov Services Hub seeks a Senior SDET to own test strategy, design, and execution. You will extend existing automation frameworks, lead QA teams onshore and offshore, and collaborate with Product Owners to define acceptance criteria.

The role emphasizes API, performance, and end-to-end system testing in a hybrid Chicago environment. The ideal candidate has 10+ years of experience, strong Java and REST API testing skills, and hands-on leadership in automated and manual testing.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in software testing/QA
• Strong experience with test automation frameworks
• Proficient in Java and REST API testing
• Experience leading QA teams (onshore & offshore)
• Familiarity with CI/CD and performance testing

Responsibilities

• Define and own test strategy and plans
• Develop and extend automation frameworks in Java/JavaScript
• Design, implement, and maintain API automation & performance tests
• Lead and mentor QA engineers across onshore and offshore teams
• Collaborate with Product Owners to understand features and acceptance criteria

Skills

Java

Cucumber

JBehave/BDD

REST API testing

SQL

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

JMeter

Karate

Jenkins

Git

Job description

Job Description

We are seeking a highly experienced Senior SDET to extend and enhance existing test automation frameworks. The ideal candidate will take ownership of test strategy, design, and execution while working closely with cross-functional teams to ensure high-quality software delivery.

Role

Location: Hybrid - Chicago, IL

Interview: Virtual

Contract: 12+ months Contract

Client: Caterpillar

Exp: 10+ years required

Visa: Any

Excellent Communication

We are seeking a highly experienced Senior SDET to extend and enhance existing test automation frameworks. The ideal candidate will take ownership of test strategy, design, and execution while working closely with cross-functional teams to ensure high-quality software delivery.

Test Strategy & Ownership

• Understand business requirements and acceptance criteria (ACs)
• Define and own test strategy and test plans
• Develop and execute automated and manual test cases

Automation & Framework Development

• Extend and maintain automation frameworks using Java / JavaScript
• Develop automation test cases using existing frameworks
• Build automation for:
• Continuous Integration (CI)
• Continuous Delivery (CD)
• Systems and infrastructure validation

API & Performance Testing

• Design, develop, and maintain API automation frameworks
• Perform REST API testing
• Develop scenario-based performance testing using JMeter

Hands-on Testing

• Create automated functional scripts using:
• Java
• Karate
• JMeter
• Perform exploratory and manual testing when required

Leadership & Collaboration

• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to QA/test engineers (onshore & offshore)
• Train team members on:
• Automation scripting
• Execution & reporting
• Regression suite maintenance
• Collaborate with Product Owners to:
• Resolve issues
• Understand features and enhancements

Quality & Best Practices

• Implement testing methodologies, standards, and best practices
• Participate in code reviews and CI/CD processes
• Support end-to-end integration and system testing

Team & Work Environment

• Work within a team of 20+ members
• Hybrid work model with onsite presence required from Day 1
• Some interview rounds may be conducted onsite

Required Qualifications

• 10+ years of overall experience
• Bachelor's degree with 8+ years of relevant experience
• Minimum 8 years of experience in test automation framework design
• Strong design & development experience in two or more:
• Java (3 5 years)
• Cucumber (3 5 years)
• JBehave or other BDD frameworks
• Strong experience in Web Services / REST API testing (3 5+ years)
• Experience in:
• Writing test scripts, test cases, and test data
• SQL / relational database querying
• 3+ years of JMeter for performance testing
• Experience with:
• Full-stack testing
• Integration testing with third-party systems
• End-to-end system integration testing

Preferred / Desired Skills

• Hands-on experience with Python
• Experience with AWS Cloud technologies
• Knowledge of:
• TDD (Test-Driven Development)
• Continuous Integration practices
• Code review processes
• Experience with API gateways (Apigee or similar)
• Familiarity with DevOps tools:
• CI/CD pipelines
• Jenkins
• Git
• Minimum 2 years of Agile experience with strong understanding of Agile/Lean methodologies

Key Highlights

• Senior-level role with strong automation + leadership exposure
• Opportunity to work with a large enterprise client (Caterpillar)
• Hands-on + strategic role across automation, API, and performance testing