Lead Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET)

Toyota•Plano, TX

About The Position

Toyota Financial Services is seeking a Lead Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET) as an individual contributor. The role designs, builds, and maintains scalable test automation frameworks and quality engineering solutions to support rapid, reliable software delivery. The SDET works closely with engineering, product, and DevOps teams to improve test strategy, increase automation coverage, and shift quality earlier in the development lifecycle. The position uses AI-powered development tools such as GitHub Copilot and Claude Code to accelerate test-case generation, automate repetitive testing tasks, and create test data and utilities. It also contributes to quality strategy, engineering best practices, and the overall improvement of test automation across the team, while providing technical guidance and code reviews to other engineers and SDETs.

Requirements

7+ years of experience in software quality engineering, test automation, or SDET roles.
Strong programming skills in one or more languages such as Java, Python, and JavaScript/TypeScript.
Hands-on experience building automation frameworks and scalable test suites.
Experience testing APIs, services, and web applications.
Solid understanding of CI/CD pipelines and automation in modern development workflows.
Experience with test data creation, management, and environment readiness.
Ability to work independently as a senior-level individual contributor.
Demonstrated experience using AI coding tools such as GitHub Copilot, Claude Code, or similar tools to improve automation productivity.
Experience with Playwright, Cypress, Selenium, or similar UI testing tools.
Experience with Karate, Cucumber, REST Assured, or similar API testing tools.
Experience with Gatling, k6, jMeter, LoadRunner, or similar performance testing tools.
Experience with cloud platforms, containerized environments, or test infrastructure.
Strong debugging, analytical, and problem-solving skills.
Must have the right to work in the United States without requiring Toyota immigration-related employment support or sponsorship now or in the future.

Nice To Haves

Familiarity with contract, chaos, event, and security testing.
Experience in mobile applications.
Experience using AI-assisted workflows to generate tests, refactor code, or create test utilities.
Background in quality engineering practices such as shift-left testing, risk-based testing, or behavior-driven development.

Responsibilities

Design, develop, and maintain automated test frameworks for UI, API, integration, and regression testing.
Create scalable, reusable, and maintainable test automation solutions.
Partner with developers and product teams to define acceptance criteria and test strategies.
Analyze product requirements and translate them into effective test coverage.
Use AI tools to generate and refine automated test cases, accelerate scripting and framework development, create synthetic or masked test data, and improve debugging and test maintenance productivity.
Build and maintain test data generation utilities and test environments.
Integrate automation suites into CI/CD pipelines.
Identify gaps in test coverage and recommend improvements to quality processes.
Troubleshoot test failures and provide root-cause analysis.
Champion engineering best practices for quality, observability, and reliability.
Mentor other engineers and SDETs through technical guidance and code reviews while remaining an individual contributor.
Contribute to quality strategy and raise the overall bar for test automation across the team.

Benefits

Professional growth and development programs.
Tuition reimbursement.
Team Member Vehicle Purchase Discount.
Toyota Team Member Lease Vehicle Program, if applicable.
Comprehensive health care and wellness plans for the employee's entire family.
Toyota 401(k) Savings Plan with a company match and an annual retirement contribution, if applicable.
Paid holidays and paid time off.
Referral services related to prenatal services, adoption, childcare, schools, and more.
Tax-advantaged accounts, including Health Savings Account, Health Care FSA, and Dependent Care FSA.
Relocation assistance, if applicable.