Senior SDET

Overview
We are looking for a highly technical Senior SDET (Software Development Engineer in Test) to join a long-term enterprise project focused on building scalable, high-quality applications and distributed systems. This role is ideal for engineers with a strong Computer Science foundation who can contribute beyond traditional QA automation, including framework architecture, debugging, code reviews, and occasional development work.

We are specifically looking for candidates who have hands-on experience designing and improving scalable automation frameworks, applying software engineering principles, and integrating automated testing into CI/CD pipelines within enterprise environments.

This is not a traditional QA role — we are seeking engineers who think like developers and deeply understand software quality, maintainability, and system design.

• Location: Lake Forest, CA (Hybrid)
• Employment Type: Full-time W-2
• Compensation: Competitive, based on experience

Company Description

WITS (Wistron ITS) is a global IT services provider with 32+ years of experience and offices across the U.S. and Asia-Pacific. We partner with Fortune Global 500 companies to deliver scalable, high-quality software solutions across cloud, enterprise, and emerging technologies. At WITS, we focus on long-term projects, strong engineering culture, and real business impact.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, develop, maintain, and improve scalable automation frameworks and testing infrastructure
• Build componentized, reusable, and maintainable test solutions for UI, API, backend, and end-to-end validation
• Review automation and application code to identify maintainability, performance, reliability, and quality issues
• Debug complex issues across frontend, backend, APIs, environments, and CI/CD pipelines
• Collaborate closely with software developers, DevOps engineers, and product teams throughout the SDLC
• Contribute to software development tasks and engineering initiatives beyond test automation when needed
• Design and execute automated testing strategies for enterprise-scale distributed systems
• Integrate automated tests into CI/CD pipelines for continuous testing and faster feedback cycles
• Perform backend validation using APIs, SQL, logs, and system monitoring tools
• Participate in architecture discussions, technical reviews, and engineering best practices
• Mentor junior engineers and contribute to improving overall engineering quality standards
• Participate in Agile ceremonies including sprint planning, standups, retrospectives, and code reviews

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related technical field
• 7+ years of experience in software engineering, SDET, or QA automation roles
• Strong Computer Science fundamentals including object-oriented design, clean code principles, and software architecture concepts
• Hands-on experience designing, building, or improving automation frameworks from scratch
• Strong experience with Playwright, Cypress, Selenium, or similar modern automation tools (using TypeScript, Java, C#, Python)
• Experience applying software design patterns and engineering principles beyond basic Page Object Model (POM)
• Strong debugging and root cause analysis skills across UI, API, backend, and distributed systems
• Experience performing code reviews and identifying maintainability, scalability, and quality concerns
• Experience testing and validating REST APIs, backend services, and database layers
• Strong SQL and backend validation experience
• Experience integrating automated tests into CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps, etc.)
• Experience working in Agile/Scrum environments
• Strong communication and technical articulation skills

Nice to Have / Preferred

• Experience contributing to production application code or development tasks
• Experience with cloud platforms such as AWS or Azure
• Familiarity with Docker, Kubernetes, or containerized testing environments
• Experience with distributed systems, microservices, or cloud-native applications
• Experience with performance testing tools such as JMeter or LoadRunner
• Experience with monitoring/logging tools such as Grafana, Datadog, Splunk, or Kibana
• Experience with AI-assisted testing or automation workflows
• Experience mentoring engineers or leading technical initiatives

What We’re Looking For

We are looking for engineers who:

• Think like software engineers, not just test engineers
• Have strong coding, debugging, and problem-solving abilities
• Can design scalable, maintainable, and componentized automation frameworks
• Understand software architecture, design patterns, and clean engineering practices
• Are comfortable reviewing and improving code quality
• Can work across frontend, backend, APIs, databases, and cloud systems
• Take ownership and communicate technical decisions clearly
• Are comfortable wearing multiple hats across development and quality engineering