Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET)

First Resonance•Los Angeles, CA

About The Position

As a Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET), you will be instrumental in ensuring the quality, reliability, and performance of our core platform. You will operate at the intersection of development and quality assurance, architecting and implementing scalable, robust, and maintainable automated testing solutions. This is not a manual QA role; you will be expected to write clean code, design comprehensive test plans, and integrate testing directly into the continuous integration and deployment (CI/CD) pipeline. First Resonance accelerates the speed and reliability of hardware development for companies manufacturing the next generation of hardware products. This includes space exploration, electric airplanes, autonomous vehicles, nuclear reactors, robotics, and more. We are a group of software, hardware, and manufacturing engineers that are bringing the best of modern UX and data science to an industry that has been overly rigid in its innovation. We are removing the barriers preventing radical advancement by providing tools to manufacturing engineers and operators to move information more freely, collaborate with their teams more easily, and use the power of data to predict problems and provide insights that result in better hardware quality and delivery.

Requirements

Experience: 3+ years of professional experience as an SDET, Test Automation Engineer, or a similar role focused on writing automation code.
Coding Proficiency: Strong proficiency in at least one modern programming language (e.g., Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, or Java).
Automation Expertise: Deep, hands-on experience designing and implementing test automation frameworks (e.g., Cypress, Playwright, Selenium, or Pytest).
API Testing: Expertise in testing RESTful and/or GraphQL APIs, including familiarity with tools like Postman or specialized frameworks.
CI/CD: Practical experience integrating automated tests into continuous integration systems (e.g., GitHub Actions, Jenkins, GitLab CI).
Fundamentals: Solid understanding of software development principles, software quality assurance methodologies, and Agile processes.

Nice To Haves

Prior experience in a fast-paced startup or working with complex enterprise SaaS platforms.
Experience with containerization technologies (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes).
Familiarity with monitoring and logging tools (e.g., Datadog, Splunk, Elastic Stack).
Knowledge of cloud infrastructure (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP) and testing in a cloud-native environment.
Experience in the Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM) or Industrial IoT space.

Responsibilities

Framework Development: Design, develop, and maintain automated testing frameworks for API, UI, integration, and end-to-end testing using industry-standard tools and programming languages.
Test Strategy & Execution: Collaborate with Product Managers and Software Engineers to define testing strategies, quality metrics, and test coverage goals for new features and system enhancements.
CI/CD Integration: Implement automated tests as an integral part of our CI/CD pipelines to achieve continuous quality enforcement and rapid feedback loops.
Performance & Reliability: Develop and execute performance, load, and stress tests to ensure the platform scales reliably under high usage.
Defect Management: Investigate, document, and track software defects and verify fixes, providing technical guidance on root cause analysis.
Tooling: Research, evaluate, and implement new testing tools and technologies to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the QA process.