Principal Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET)

Title: Principal Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET)Location: Hamilton, NJDuration : ContractJob Description:✅ 10+ years in SDET / Test Automation / Quality Engineering ✅ Proven Principal level influence across teams and platformsAbout the RoleWe are seeking a Principal Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET) to lead and modernize quality engineering across UI, API, services, and data layers. This is a hands on and strategic leadership role, responsible for defining automation standards, building scalable test frameworks, enabling continuous testing in Azure DevOps, and embedding AI assisted quality practices across teams.You will partner closely with Engineering, Product, DevOps, and Business stakeholders to drive quality by design, reduce production risk, and ensure reliable, high confidence releases in complex, data driven systems—preferably within wealth management or financial services domains.Key ResponsibilitiesUI & Backend Automation LeadershipArchitect, design, and maintain enterprise grade automation frameworks for:UI/Web applications (Playwright, Selenium, Cypress) APIs and backend services (REST / GraphQL, microservices) Establish automation best practices, coding standards, and framework guidelines Embed automation into Azure DevOps CI/CD pipelines with robust quality gates Drive test stability improvements, reduce flaky tests, and optimize execution time Partner with engineering teams to improve testability, observability, and quality by design Mentor and coach SDETs, raising the overall automation maturity of the organization Data Quality & Backend Validation (Core Expectation)Lead the design and automation of data quality validation frameworks across:DatabasesData pipelinesSystem to system integrationsValidate and automate checks for:Data completeness, accuracy, consistency, and reconciliation ETL / ELT transformations Batch jobs, scheduled processes, and file based integrations (CSV / JSON / XML) Build reusable data validation utilities using SQL and Python / Java Implement automated reconciliation for financial or transactional data where applicable Integrate data quality tests into CI/CD pipelines or scheduled automation runs with actionable reporting Proactively identify data anomalies and quality risks before production releases Azure, DevOps & Platform EnablementDrive quality engineering practices within Azure environments Design and govern test execution strategies in Azure DevOps Define test stages, quality gates, and reporting standards across pipelines Ensure traceability across requirements, tests, defects, and releases AI Driven Quality EngineeringChampion the use of AI assisted tools (GitHub Copilot, Copilot agents, AI assistants) to:Accelerate test case generationImprove automation code quality and maintainability Analyze test failures, logs, and quality trends Define guardrails and best practices for responsible AI usage in QA Drive adoption of AI enabled productivity patterns across QE teams Required QualificationsTechnical & Engineering Expertise10+ years of experience in SDET / Test Automation / Quality EngineeringStrong hands on coding expertise in Java, Python, or TypeScript/JavaScript Proven depth in:UI automationAPI / backend automationAutomated data quality testingAdvanced SQL skills with deep experience validating backend data and transformations Experience testing distributed systems and microservices Strong CI/CD experience using Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, Jenkins, or similar tools Leadership & InfluenceAbility to operate at a Principal level:Set automation and quality standardsInfluence architecture and design decisions Mentor senior and junior SDETs Strong stakeholder management and cross team collaboration skills Ability to translate business risk into actionable quality strategies Domain Experience (Strong Advantage)✅ Wealth Management / Financial Services experience, including:Investment platformsClient onboarding / account openingFinancial data validation and reconciliation Regulatory or compliance driven systemsSkills: Digital : Python~Playwright~Core Java~Selenium Experience Required: 10 & Above