QA Automation Engineer / SDET Recruiters

No upfront fee
Pay only if you hire
Technology only
We reach engineers who aren't on job boards
Replacement guarantee on standard searches

Software Development Engineer in TestTest Automation EngineerQuality EngineerSoftware Development Engineer in TestTest Automation EngineerQuality Engineer

What this hire really comes down to

QA Automation Engineers and SDETs at our firm ensure the stability of our high scale software platforms by building reliable testing infrastructures. Your hire will design, develop, and maintain automated test suites that integrate directly into our CI pipelines to catch regressions before they reach production. We focus on engineers who view testing as a form of architectural governance for code quality.

Working across diverse sectors, you will tackle challenges ranging from fintech transaction security to complex enterprise workflows. Our QA strategy relies on code first approaches where automation is treated with the same rigor as feature development. We prioritize candidates who can identify bottlenecks in deployment cycles and engineer automated solutions that significantly increase the speed and reliability of our releases.

What we check before you see anyone

Modern Automation Frameworks
Candidates must have hands on experience with modern web automation tools such as Playwright, Cypress, or Selenium. We expect you to demonstrate how you structure tests to be resilient to UI changes. Showing the candidate's ability to write clean, maintainable code within these frameworks is essential. We look for evidence that you understand the trade offs between these tools for different application contexts.
reliable API Testing
Beyond UI automation, we require expertise in testing backend services and APIs. You must demonstrate how you validate endpoints, handle authentication, and verify data consistency across distributed systems. We need to see that you can write automated scripts that ensure our service layer is stable and performant under load. Understanding how to integrate these tests into broader integration suites is critical.
CI Pipeline Integration
A key responsibility is ensuring that all tests run seamlessly within our CI/CD pipelines. You must demonstrate experience with platforms that orchestrate builds and deployments. We look for candidates who have optimized pipeline speeds by implementing parallel execution or sharding. Your work must enable developers to get immediate feedback on their code changes without creating bottlenecks in the development process itself.
Programming Language Proficiency
Candidates should be comfortable coding in Java, TypeScript, or Python. We require more than just scripting ability; you should demonstrate strong software engineering fundamentals, including modularity, clean code, and effective use of design patterns. We need to verify that your test code is as reliable and easy to maintain as the production code it tests. Solid software engineering skills are mandatory here.
Test Strategy Development
We look for engineers who think strategically about what to test and when. You must demonstrate how you define the pyramid of tests to ensure optimal coverage without wasting resources. Explain your approach to smoke testing, regression suites, and end to end testing within a complex architectural stack. We want to see how you balance thoroughness with the need for rapid deployment.
Quality Advocacy Mindset
Your hire will be a quality advocate who influences how the entire engineering team approaches testing. Candidates must show experience working with developers to ensure features are testable from the start. We look for evidence of how you have coached others to write their own unit tests or improve the reliability of their code. Influencing the engineering culture toward quality is a major goal.

An SDET writes software that tests software and improves how the team builds. Unlike traditional testers, they operate as software developers whose primary product is the testing infrastructure itself. They are integrated into the engineering workflow, often contributing code that identifies design flaws early and facilitates rapid, high-confidence deployment of new features across complex service architectures.

Engineers with real software skill who choose quality as a specialty are a small population. These individuals possess a unique hybrid skillset that blends deep development knowledge with a ruthless focus on stability. We identify talent that understands both the creation of features and the mechanisms needed to verify that those features perform reliably under various load conditions.

The SDET toolkit is rooted in test framework development and CI integration. We look for engineers who build platforms that allow other team members to test their own code effectively. This requires a strong grasp of software patterns and a commitment to making testing a coordinated part of the developer experience rather than a separate, bottlenecked process.

Performance testing and API contract testing are essential capabilities for any modern SDET. We assess candidates on their ability to build systems that scale alongside the primary application. A successful candidate demonstrates a deep understanding of backend internals and provides the data necessary for teams to optimize their code and improve latency before the product reaches the user.

Code level debugging serves as a litmus test for an SDET. We examine how candidates approach root cause analysis when automated tests fail. They must be able to peel back the layers of a service to determine whether a failure is a genuine product defect or a signal of a poorly configured or unreliable testing environment needing refactoring.

High performing SDETs contribute directly to the speed of the development lifecycle. By building reliable automation, they reduce the time developers spend waiting for feedback. We seek individuals who prioritize developer productivity as much as software correctness. Their work serves as a force multiplier, enabling the entire engineering team to ship code with greater frequency and certainty.

The title can mean a test automation script writer or a senior engineer, and the difference is large. We avoid the common mistake of interviewing candidates who only know how to use record and playback tools. Instead, we target those with backgrounds in full stack engineering, ensuring they understand the software lifecycle well enough to design scalable testing solutions.

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Where we find them

We reach out to engineers who contribute to popular testing libraries on platforms like GitHub and participate in specialized engineering communities focused on software reliability. We target professionals who have spent time in high stakes environments where automated testing is critical to operational success. These individuals are often found within sophisticated engineering teams where testing is a first class citizen.

Our sourcing also includes implementation consultancies where engineers are exposed to diverse tech stacks and high quality requirements. We look for those who have built complex automated infrastructures from scratch. By focusing on engineers who specialize in CI/CD pipeline optimization, we find the talent needed to keep our deployment processes fast, reliable, and secure for our global client base.

Mistakes we see

Treating a credential as the answer
Do not let modern automation frameworks become a keyword filter. We look for evidence that you understand the trade offs between these tools for different application contexts.
Leaving the actual scope out
Put the responsibility for reliable api testing in the brief, including who helps the hire and who decides. Beyond UI automation, we require expertise in testing backend services and APIs.
Waiting until the offer to discuss the work
Discuss what the person will own in ci pipeline integration before the interview loop. Your work must enable developers to get immediate feedback on their code changes without creating bottlenecks in the development process itself.

The search in three steps

Agree the brief
The selection process starts with a technical assessment focused on the candidate's ability to design a testing strategy for a given software architecture. We examine your code samples to ensure you write maintainable test automation. This initial conversation covers your approach to handling flaky tests and your process for maintaining large suites over time in a fast moving production environment.
Find and speak with people
In the final stage, you will collaborate with our engineering team to discuss how you would integrate automated testing into a real world build pipeline. We explore the candidate's ability to debug failures, optimize test performance, and educate developers on quality standards. This phase confirms that you possess both the deep technical skills and the soft skills required to drive engineering excellence.
Introduce the people who fit
We send a written brief on each person you meet, including why the work fits and the questions still worth asking about quality advocacy mindset. You decide who to interview. We help with the conversations through the offer.

A red flag in our screening is a candidate who cannot articulate the architectural decisions behind their previous testing frameworks. We look for engineers who justify their tool choices based on performance, maintainability, and scalability. Hiring a true SDET means finding someone who can hold their own in code reviews with senior application developers and influence their coding standards.

When we interview prospective SDETs, we pose questions about their approach to asynchronous testing and state management. We want to see how they handle the challenges of testing distributed systems where race conditions and network instability are constants. We look for candidates who approach these problems with the same rigor and creativity that application engineers apply to product development.

We recruit from a variety of companies ranging from high scale distributed platforms to niche SaaS applications. Our focus is on finding candidates who have owned a substantial portion of a testing platform. They must demonstrate clear ownership of their code and a track record of improving engineering efficiency within their previous organizations, regardless of the company size.

Our recruitment model is exclusively nationwide direct hire contingency. We provide companies with high caliber candidates who are ready to own their testing initiatives from day one. By rejecting the model of contract or offshore sourcing, we help clients build long-term internal capability that supports their technical roadmap and maintains their competitive edge in a fast-paced market.

Fees are only charged upon the successful hiring of a candidate. This structure encourages us to be highly selective in our outreach and assessment. We operate with clear agreements regarding exclusivity and guarantees, ensuring that the process is focused entirely on finding the right long-term match for your engineering team, without the distraction of temporary or interim solutions.

The impact of a strong SDET extends throughout the entire organization. By automating the validation of critical paths, they free up engineering resources to focus on innovation and feature development. We help firms identify candidates who are not just technicians, but partners in the product vision, capable of shaping how the team delivers software to their end customers.

Our ultimate goal is to facilitate the placement of engineers who will improve your internal engineering culture. We look for those who naturally share knowledge and mentor other developers on testing best practices. This peer-to-peer influence is what builds a mature, stable, and highly productive engineering organization over the long term, ensuring reliable software delivery as you grow.

Questions about this search

When will we see a shortlist?

We agree the search plan after checking your requirements for modern automation frameworks and reliable api testing, rather than promising a date before the brief is clear. Candidates must have hands on experience with modern web automation tools such as Playwright, Cypress, or Selenium.

What if a candidate gets a counteroffer?

We ask what would make someone leave work involving modern automation frameworks, and what could make them stay. Before you invest in interviews, we discuss whether your offer changes the problem they want to leave, including the responsibility for quality advocacy mindset.

Should this role be remote or on site?

Experience with modern automation frameworks and reliable api testing does not settle the location question. Tell us what access and supervision the work needs, including who owns decisions about quality advocacy mindset, so we approach people who can accept the arrangement.

How will you check fit before we interview?

Candidates must have hands on experience with modern web automation tools such as Playwright, Cypress, or Selenium. We expect you to demonstrate how you structure tests to be resilient to UI changes. Beyond UI automation, we require expertise in testing backend services and APIs.

How does the fee work?

No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire. Agree the fee and the responsibilities covering modern automation frameworks and reliable api testing in the recruiting agreement before the search proceeds.

What if the hire does not work out?

We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement. Make sure the agreed scope includes what you expect of quality advocacy mindset, rather than leaving that discussion until after the start.

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