Associate Principal A, Software Engineering: Software Development Test (SDET)

The OCC • Chicago, IL

16h • Hybrid

About The Position

The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) is seeking a skilled and motivated Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET) to join our Quality Engineering team. In this role, you will design and champion automation strategies that keep our mission-critical financial systems stable, performant, and continuously deliverable. You will partner closely with developers, product owners, and platform engineers to embed quality throughout the software lifecycle — from sprint planning through production release.

Requirements

• Proven hands-on experience designing and maintaining test automation frameworks with Selenium WebDriver, Cucumber BDD, TestNG/JUnit, and Rest Assured.
• Familiarity with test environment deployments and scaling using Harness and Rancher.
• Experience integrating automated test suites into Jenkins CI/CD pipelines, including generating quality metric reports through SpiraTest and Splunk.
• Solid understanding of software testing lifecycle (STLC), Agile methodologies, and defect management workflows.
• Proficiency with Java, JavaScript, Gherkin, Gradle, XPath, YAML, and JSON in a testing context.
• Hands-on experience with Git and GitHub (or a comparable version control platform such as GitLab or Bitbucket), including branching strategies, pull request workflows, and code review practices.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Computer Information Systems, or a closely related field
• A minimum of five (5) years of professional experience as a Software Test Engineer or equivalent role.

Nice To Haves

• Familiarity with AI-assisted development tools, particularly Claude Code, for accelerating test authoring and analysis.
• Background in financial services or regulated industry environments.
• Experience with contract or schema-based API testing.
• Relevant certifications (e.g., ISTQB, AWS, or vendor-specific tool certifications) are a plus.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain scalable UI and API test automation frameworks using Selenium WebDriver, Cucumber BDD, TestNG/JUnit, and Rest Assured.
• Author clear, maintainable Gherkin feature files and Java step definitions that serve as living documentation for the team.
• Leverage Docker containers to ensure consistent, reproducible test environments across local, CI, and staging contexts.
• Evaluate and pilot emerging tools — including Playwright — to continuously improve automation speed and reliability.
• Integrate Claude Code (Anthropic's AI-powered coding assistant) to accelerate test generation, reduce boilerplate, and assist in root cause analysis of test failures.
• Integrate automated test suites into Jenkins CI/CD pipelines, ensuring tests run reliably on every build and deployment, with source code managed in Git/GitHub (or equivalent version control system).
• Manage service deployments, scaling, and operation of test environments using Harness and Rancher.
• Maintain and improve pipeline configurations written in YAML/Groovy to support fast, reliable feedback loops.
• Design and execute REST API tests using Postman and Cucumber BDD to validate service contracts and edge-case behaviors.
• Conduct performance and load testing with JMeter to validate system scalability under realistic trading-day volumes.
• Track defects and test results in SpiraTest and Jira, maintaining clear traceability from requirements through test execution.
• Generate test metric dashboards via SpiraTest and Splunk to surface quality trends and support data-driven release decisions.
• Participate actively in Agile ceremonies — sprint planning, daily stand-ups, and retrospectives — as an embedded quality advocate.
• Mentor teammates on automation best practices and support a culture of shared ownership over quality.
• Conduct testability reviews and risk assessments during design and code review phases to catch issues early.
• Recommend improvements to test design for reduced redundancy and greater coverage efficiency.

Benefits

• A hybrid work environment, up to 2 days per week of remote work
• Tuition Reimbursement to support your continued education
• Student Loan Repayment Assistance
• Technology Stipend allowing you to use the device of your choice to connect to our network while working remotely
• Generous PTO and Parental leave
• 401k Employer Match
• Competitive health benefits including medical, dental and vision

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior