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Software Performance Engineer Jobs in New York (NOW HIRING)

Senior AI SDET Engineer

New York, NY ยท On-site

$120K - $157K/yr

  • Medical

  • PTO

Role Summary A performance-first senior SDET engineering role for a hands-on contributor who can own performance testing strategy, contribute significantly to automation framework architecture, and ...

Staff Backend Software Engineer

New York, NY ยท On-site

$202K - $274K/yr

Launch AI integrations in production and evaluate their impact on software performance and user ... engineers on how to leverage AI * Ability to work collaboratively with cross-functional teams ...

Staff Backend Software Engineer

Manhattan, NY ยท On-site

$202K - $274K/yr

Launch AI integrations in production and evaluate their impact on software performance and user ... engineers on how to leverage AI * Ability to work collaboratively with cross-functional teams ...

Launch AI integrations in production and evaluate their impact on software performance and user ... engineers on how to leverage AI * Ability to work collaboratively with cross-functional teams ...

Forward Deployed Software Engineering - Manager

New York, NY ยท On-site

$99K - $266K/yr

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

  • Retirement

  • PTO

... performance. Within our Tax practice, you will combine technical experience with creative thinking ... software engineering projects, including planning, budgeting, execution, and completion - Guiding ...

Software Engineer - Systems

New York, NY ยท On-site

$200K - $275K/yr

What we're looking for: We're looking for exceptional engineers with deep experience in low-level, high-performance software and cloud-scale storage systems. * 5+ years of experience writing high ...

Sr Software Engineer II (Remote- US)

New York, NY ยท Remote

$134K - $176K/yr

Expert at software performance optimization * You've built software with JUCE or other plugin frameworks. * You've written production-quality code in C++ and TypeScript. Expert C++ developer.

Principal Software Engineer

New York, NY ยท On-site

$147K - $198K/yr

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

  • Life

  • Retirement

  • PTO

... Champions performance engineering practices to ensure that performance meets (or exceeds ... software development productivity metrics (e.g., code churn, commit size, commits/story) and help ...

Software Engineer

New York, NY ยท On-site

$150K - $250K/yr

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

  • Retirement

We are looking for a software engineer to join a lean and technical quantitative trading startup ... Compensation consists of base salary, discretionary performance bonus, and possible participation ...

Software Engineer

New York, NY

$150K - $250K/yr

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

  • Retirement

We are looking for a software engineer to join a lean and technical quantitative trading startup ... Compensation consists of base salary, discretionary performance bonus, and possible participation ...

Software Engineer

New York, NY ยท On-site

$150K - $250K/yr

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

  • Retirement

We are looking for a software engineer to join a lean and technical quantitative trading startup ... Compensation consists of base salary, discretionary performance bonus, and possible participation ...

Showing results 41-60

Software Performance Engineer information

See New York salary details

$119.3K

$154.3K

How much do software performance engineer jobs pay per year?

As of Aug 15, 2026, the average yearly pay for software performance engineer in New York is $152,649.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $153,200.00 and $153,200.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a software performance engineer?

To thrive as a Software Performance Engineer, you need a solid background in computer science, strong programming skills (often in languages like Java, C++, or Python), and experience in analyzing and optimizing software performance. Familiarity with profiling tools (such as JProfiler, VisualVM, or Perf), performance testing frameworks (like JMeter or LoadRunner), and knowledge of system monitoring solutions are typically required. Analytical thinking, problem-solving, and clear communication are standout soft skills for diagnosing issues and collaborating with development teams. These competencies ensure that applications run efficiently and reliably, directly impacting user satisfaction and system scalability.

What is a software performance engineer?

Software Performance Engineers are specialists who focus on ensuring that software applications run efficiently and meet performance requirements. They analyze system bottlenecks, optimize code and system configurations, and conduct performance testing to identify and resolve issues such as slow response times or high resource usage. Their work helps improve user experience and system reliability, especially for applications expected to handle large numbers of users or complex computations. Software Performance Engineers often collaborate with developers, QA teams, and system administrators to maintain and enhance application performance throughout the software development lifecycle.

What is the difference between Software Performance Engineer vs Software Quality Assurance Engineer?

AspectSoftware Performance EngineerSoftware Quality Assurance Engineer
Primary FocusOptimizing software speed, scalability, and efficiencyEnsuring software meets quality standards and is bug-free
Skills & CertificationsPerformance testing, profiling, scripting, knowledge of performance toolsTesting methodologies, defect tracking, automation tools, ISTQB certification
Work EnvironmentDevelopment teams, performance testing labs, cloud environmentsTesting teams, QA labs, cross-functional project teams
Industry UsageTech, finance, e-commerce, gamingSoftware development, enterprise applications, healthcare

While both roles focus on software quality, the Software Performance Engineer specializes in optimizing system performance and scalability, whereas the Software Quality Assurance Engineer concentrates on overall quality assurance and defect prevention. Understanding these differences helps employers and professionals align skills with job requirements.

What are some common challenges faced by software performance engineers when optimizing large-scale applications?

Software Performance Engineers often encounter challenges such as identifying performance bottlenecks in complex, distributed systems and ensuring scalability as user demand grows. Troubleshooting issues may require deep dives into both application code and infrastructure layers, often under tight deadlines. Collaboration with development, QA, and operations teams is essential to implement performance improvements without disrupting existing functionality. Staying up-to-date with evolving technologies and profiling tools is also key to maintaining optimal performance.

What does a software performance engineer do?

A software performance engineer analyzes and optimizes software systems to ensure they run efficiently, reliably, and at scale. They use tools like profiling and monitoring software, conduct performance testing, and identify bottlenecks to improve response times and resource usage. Strong knowledge of programming, system architecture, and performance testing methodologies is essential for this role.

What job categories do people searching Software Performance Engineer jobs in New York look for?

The top searched job categories for Software Performance Engineer jobs in New York are:

Infographic showing various Software Performance Engineer job openings in New York as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 1% As Needed, 83% Full Time, 13% Part Time, 1% Temporary, and 2% Contract. Highlights an 91% Physical, 2% Hybrid, and 7% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $152,649 per year, or $73.4 per hour.

Senior AI SDET Engineer

Octaura

New York, NY โ€ข On-site

$120K - $157K/yr

Full-time

Medical, PTO

Posted 17 days ago


Job description

Come build what the market has been missing.
Octaura is a technology company transforming how some of the world's largest, least digitized markets operate. In loans and CLOs, trillions of dollars still move through phones, emails, and PDFs because the right infrastructure hasn't existed - until now.
We're applying AI, real-time data, and modern software design to asset classes long overlooked by fintech. Our platforms turn fragmented information into intelligence, manual workflows into automation, and legacy conventions into scalable market infrastructure.
You'll join a high-impact, collaborative team building the systems these markets need to become more transparent, efficient, and connected.
Role Summary
A performance-first senior SDET engineering role for a hands-on contributor who can own performance testing strategy, contribute significantly to automation framework architecture, and help advance AI engineering practices within the SDET organization.
About the Role
We are looking for a highly technical SDET engineer to join our Quality Engineering organization and be a part of performance engineering, automation architecture, and test infrastructure development team. This is a hands-on engineering position for someone who enjoys solving complex technical problems, designing scalable testing solutions, and improving engineering productivity through modern software development practices and AI-assisted workflows. The ideal candidate must have performance testing expertise, strong software engineering fundamentals, and the ability to contribute to the evolution of automation frameworks and engineering practices across the organization. This role is expected to be a senior technical contributor within the SDET organization, helping shape testing strategy, mentor team members, and drive engineering excellence.
Role Priorities
The primary focus for this role is agentic development practices, Performance engineering strategy, workload modeling, bottleneck analysis, capacity testing, and scalable performance validation. As an IC, you will be heavily involved in automation framework architecture, TypeScript/Playwright platform work, code reviews, mentoring, and AI-assisted engineering practices. This is not just an automation scripting role.
Role Responsibilities
Performance Engineering
  • Actively participate in performance testing initiatives across multiple applications and services.
  • Design and execute load, stress, endurance, scalability, spike, resilience, and capacity tests.
  • Define realistic workload models, performance validation strategies, baselines, and success criteria.
  • Analyze applications, databases, infrastructure, and architectural bottlenecks.
  • Work closely with software engineers and architects to improve system performance and scalability.
  • Establish performance testing standards, best practices, and reporting methodologies.
  • Drive integration of performance testing into CI/CD pipelines and regular engineering workflows.
  • Define and track performance KPIs, quality metrics, and actionable performance signals.
  • Mentor engineers on performance testing methodology, interpretation of results, and common anti-patterns.

Automation Engineering
  • Design, develop, and maintain automation framework components and shared test infrastructure.
  • Improve framework scalability, maintainability, readability, and developer experience.
  • Create reusable libraries, utilities, fixtures, helpers, and common engineering patterns.
  • Participate in framework architecture decisions and provide meaningful code review feedback.
  • Help reduce technical debt through refactoring, modernization, and stronger engineering standards.
  • Support the team in building reliable, concise, and maintainable test automation across UI, API, integration, and end-to-end layers.
  • Write clean, maintainable, and production-quality code.
  • Participate in technical design and architecture discussions.
  • Review pull requests and provide constructive feedback on design, maintainability, testability, and long-term architecture.
  • Apply modern engineering practices, including unit testing, integration testing, refactoring, and clean code principles.
  • Promote testability, maintainability, observability, and engineering excellence across the organization.
  • Mentor SDETs and collaborate with developers to improve quality earlier in the development of lifecycles.
  • Use AI tools to improve development and testing efficiency.
  • Leverage AI for code generation, refactoring, code review support, debugging, documentation, and test generation.
  • Evaluate emerging AI technologies and practical engineering applications.
  • Help establish pragmatic AI engineering standards, prompts, workflows, and best practices within the team.

Required Qualifications
Experience
  • 7+ years of experience in SDET/QA Automation, Performance Engineering, or a related field. Exceptional candidates with less traditional experience may be considered if they demonstrate strong technical depth.
  • Experience working within modern software development teams using Git-based workflows and CI/CD practices.

Performance Engineering
  • Strong experience with load testing, stress testing, endurance testing, scalability testing, and capacity-oriented validation.
  • Strong ability to analyze performance bottlenecks and perform root-cause investigation across application, database, infrastructure, and architectural layers.
  • Ability to interpret performance metrics, identify trends, and translate findings into actionable engineering recommendations.
  • Hands-on experience with one or more performance testing platforms such as k6, Artillery, Gatling, JMeter, Locust, or equivalent tools.

Programming & Automation
  • Strong understanding of Object-Oriented Design, SOLID principles, design patterns, clean code, refactoring, and software architecture.
  • Strong understanding of unit testing, integration testing, API testing, and testability-focused design.
  • Strong understanding of relational databases and SQL.
  • Ability to evaluate trade-offs, design reusable components, and make sound architectural decisions.
  • Strong development experience with TypeScript / JavaScript.
  • Strongly preferred experience with Playwright and the modern TypeScript ecosystem.
  • Experience with automation framework development, API testing, end-to-end testing, and CI/CD integration.
  • Good to have knowledge with Java, Python, or C#.

The base pay range for this position in New York is $150,000 - $180,000 annually. Pay may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Equity and year-end bonus may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to a full range of medical, financial, and other benefits, dependent on the position offered. Applicants should apply via Octaura's internal or external careers site.
Octaura Work Perks
At Octaura, our people are our most valuable asset, and we are pleased to offer the following benefits to all full-time employees:
  • Competitive compensation and equity
  • Flexible Paid Time Off
  • Competitive Parental Leave
  • Daily breakfast, coffee and snacks in the office
  • 90% company-paid healthcare
  • Onsite gym & discounted membership

We're committed to equal opportunity employment
Octaura is committed to a diverse and inclusive workplace. We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate on the basis of race, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, disability, age, or other legally protected status.