Contract Emulation Engineer Jobs in Chicago, IL (NOW HIRING)

RESPONSIBILITIES
Design, develop, execute, and maintain scalable automated test frameworks, Test plans End to End and test suites across functional, regression, API, integration, end-to-end, performance, and non-functional testing. 
Own automation engineering for assigned applications, including framework standard adoption, reusable components, coding practices, test utilities, test environment, test data and long-term maintainability. 
Analyze requirements, user stories, acceptance criteria, technical designs, API contracts, and data flows to identify quality risks and improve testability early in the SDLC with TDD/BDD approaches. 
Integrate automated testing, performance validations, quality checks, and release readiness controls into CI/CD pipelines to enable continuous testing and faster feedback. 
Develop and support performance, load, and reliability testing practices, including scripting, execution, analysis, bottleneck identification, and trend reporting. 
Manage test data and backend validation needs, including SQL validation, data setup, reusable test data patterns, synthetic/masked data usage, and data quality checks. 
Support test environment readiness by validating environment configuration, dependencies, access, integrations, test data, and pipeline execution stability. Use IaC, ephemeral and containerization to eliminate environment bottlenecks. 
Partner with Product, Engineering, Architecture, Infrastructure, Operations, and Security teams to drive shared ownership of quality, automation, environment readiness, and defect prevention. 
Execute risk-based test strategies, optimize regression coverage, troubleshoot complex defects, perform root-cause analysis, and improve automation effectiveness. 
Support DevSecOps, audit, and release readiness expectations by validating quality gates, test evidence, security-related findings, and compliance-aligned controls. 
Track and communicate automation coverage, test effectiveness, performance results, environment issues, defects, quality trends, and delivery risks using Azure DevOps, GitHub, ServiceNow and related platforms. 
Mentor less experienced QA/QE team members and contribute to automation standards, CI/CD testing patterns, performance testing approaches, test data practices, and modern QE improvements. 
EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Engineering, or a related technical discipline; equivalent experience may be considered. 
6+ years of experience in Quality Engineering, Test Automation, Software Testing, Software Engineering, or related technology roles.Hands-on experience as SDET designing, developing, and maintaining automated tests or test frameworks using modern automation tools and coding practices. 
Strong hands-on programming or scripting experience using C#, JavaScript/TypeScript, Python, or similar languages. 
Experience with modern automation tools and frameworks such as Playwright, Selenium, SpecFlow/Cucumber, Postman, API automation frameworks, and related testing libraries or platforms for emulation. 
Experience with CI/CD practices and tools such as GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps pipelines, Jenkins, or comparable platforms. Integrating automated tests, quality checks, performance validations, and release readiness controls into CI/CD pipelines with DevSecOps / secure SDLC practices is preferred. 
Experience with GitHub, Azure DevOps, source control, pull requests, branching strategies, test management, and defect tracking workflows. Strong understanding and use of KPIs for quality, defect, DORA or similar. 
Working knowledge of relational databases and SQL for backend validation using platforms such as PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server, MS Access, or similar. 
Experience testing web applications, APIs, databases, cloud-based applications, batch processes, and integrated enterprise systems, CRM, ERP. 
Experience with performance testing tools such as Artillery.io, JMeter, Gatling is required k6 or similar tools is plus. 
Experience supporting test environment readiness, including configuration validation, dependencies, integrations, access, service availability, and pipeline execution stability. Test Environment Engineering, IaC, Containers and Ephemeral Test Environments 
Experience with cloud platforms such as AWS or comparable environments, microservices and Event based architectures, domain model understanding. 
Professional certifications such as ISTQB, CSTE, CSQA, Certified Agile Tester, AWS, Azure, or equivalent experience are preferred. 
Experience in banking, financial services, or another regulated environment is preferred. 
Required Technical Experience 
• C#, TypeScript, (optional – Java Script/Python) 
• Playwright, Selenium, Specflow 
• API Automation & Testing -Postman, Swagger/OpenAPI 
• GitHub, Azure DevOps, CI/CD Pipelines, (plus - GitHub Actions) 
• PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server 
• AWS and/or comparable cloud solutions & architectures. 
• Performance Testing - Artillery, Gatling, JMeter 
• Test Environment/Data Management -Tonic.ai or equivalent 
• Security Testing and DevSecOps Tooling 
• GitHub Copilot and AI-assisted engineering tools 
KNOWLEDGE & ABILITIES
Must have excellent communication (verbal, written) & People-focussed skills 
Strong hands-on abilities of modern Quality Engineering principles, including shift-left testing, automation-first delivery, continuous testing, risk-based testing, exploratory, manual testing and defect prevention. 
Strong hands-on coding, scripting, and automation framework development capabilities and Test Environment capabilities, IaC, Containers and Ephemeral Test Environments 
Working knowledge of SDLC, Agile, DevOps, DevSecOps, CI/CD, and modern engineering delivery practices. 
Ability to embed automated quality checks, test coverage, release readiness criteria, and quality gates into delivery pipelines and processes. 
Strong analytical, troubleshooting, SQL/data validation, defect analysis, and root-cause identification skills. 
Ability to communicate quality risks, technical issues, test results, and delivery impacts clearly to technical and business stakeholders. Strategic Thinking beyond day to day testing. 
Strong collaboration skills across Product, Engineering, Architecture, Security, Operations, and business teams. 
Ability to plan, prioritize, estimate, and execute work effectively in a fast-paced delivery environment. 
Knowledge of banking, financial services, audit, regulatory, and risk-control expectations is preferred. 
Demonstrated mentoring, collaboration, and continuous learning, continuous improvement mindset. 
Expert/Advanced Competencies- 
Quality Engineering Practices, Agile / DevOps
Quality Engineering Strategy / KPIs / DORA 
Test Strategy Development & Test Planning 
Test Management in ADO, TDD / BDD
Functional Testing, API Testing, System Integration Testing / SIT (Automated & Manual)
End-to-End Testing, UAT / Business Validation Support 
Test Automation of Functional, Regression, Integration, E2E Test approaches & framework 
Regression Suite Optimization, Integrated in pipelines 
Test Framework development & Maintenance
Test Data Management, Test Environment Readiness & Validation, TDEM 
Cloud Fundamentals / Containers 
Service Mocking / Service Virtualization, SQL & Backend Data Validation 
CI/CD Pipeline Testing & Quality Gates, Secure SDLC Practices 
Release Management / Deployment Readiness 
Software Monitoring / Event Management / Operational Validation 
Incident / Problem Management / RCA 
Defect Management, Defect Prevention & Detection 
Shift-Left / Shift-Right Testing, Secure SDLC Practices 
Architecture & Technical Specifications Review 
Testability Analysis, Work Planning / Estimation / Prioritization 
Stakeholder Communication / Cross-Functional Collaboration 
Intermediate Competencies- 
Ephemeral Test Environments / IaC, DevSecOps Practices
Performance, Load & Reliability Testing  
Security Testing, Software Development, Accessibility 
Mentoring / Technical Guidance, Technical Leadership / Coaching
Release Management, Project Management acumen. 
AI-Assisted Engineering and Testing