Software Quality Assurance Engineer

Location: Chicago, IL

Job Type: Full-Time / Contract Opportunity

Responsibilities: Extend and maintain a Java-based QA automation framework to support new functionality across high-performance trading, clearing, and instrument management systems. Design, develop, and execute automated and manual test cases based on functional and technical requirements. Identify opportunities to improve test coverage, automation efficiency, and overall quality processes. Partner with developers and product teams to investigate, troubleshoot, and resolve defects. Stay current with modern QA methodologies, automation practices, and testing technologies. Test a variety of internal and external system interfaces, including financial messaging protocols, proprietary data formats, and inbound/outbound file exchanges. Perform automated and manual testing of administrative and customer-facing applications using tools such as Playwright. Validate functionality, data accuracy, system integrity, security requirements, and performance under expected workloads. Execute end-to-end testing across interconnected systems to ensure reliable data flow and system orchestration. Support testing of complex, high-volume, low-latency applications where reliability and performance are critical. Collaborate with Product and Engineering teams to establish and maintain high-quality testing standards. Help develop comprehensive test strategies for new products, features, integrations, and system enhancements. Monitor test results, system behavior, data integrity, and performance to identify potential risks. Document defects, testing outcomes, and quality metrics and communicate findings to technical and non-technical stakeholders. Contribute to continuous improvement of QA processes, tools, and automation coverage.

Required Skills: Bachelor's degree 3+ years of experience in software quality assurance, software testing, or test automation. Strong programming experience with Java and Python. Strong knowledge of SQL and database testing. Must have experience working with FIX protocol or other financial messaging/integration protocols. Hands-on experience with automated testing frameworks and tools such as Playwright, Cucumber, and JUnit. Experience developing and maintaining automated test suites. Strong understanding of functional, integration, regression, and end-to-end testing methodologies. Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills with strong attention to detail. Strong communication skills and the ability to collaborate effectively with Product, Engineering, and other stakeholders. Ability to work independently while managing multiple priorities in a fast-paced technology environment.

Preferred Skills: Experience working within financial services, capital markets, trading, or exchange technology. Familiarity with derivatives, futures, options, or other financial instruments. Experience testing high-performance or low-latency systems. Experience working with complex distributed systems and data integrations. Exposure to security, performance, and load testing.