Sr SDET - Workplace Services Engineering

Your opportunity

At Schwab, you will build a rewarding career while making a difference in the lives of our millions of clients. Here, innovative thinking meets creative problem solving as we work together to challenge the status quo.

We believe in the power of collaboration and the value of working together in person. As a result, this role is based on-site in either our Southlake or Austin office.

Workplace Services Engineering (WSE) is an organization within Schwab Technology Services that is embarking on a major transformation. We support Workplace Services, and we’re shaping the future of how people experience financial well‑being at work. We partner with leading employers to deliver innovative retirement, equity, and workplace financial solutions that help millions of participants build stronger financial futures. This is a fast‑growing, high‑impact business where scale meets purpose—where your work directly influences how people plan, save, invest, and succeed. 

As a key growth engine for the firm, we’re investing more than ever to expand our capabilities, modernize platforms, and elevate the experiences we deliver to employers and their employees. Our teams work at the intersection of technology, service, and financial expertise—supporting workplace clients with solutions that scale, adapt, and deliver meaningful outcomes. Here, your ideas help shape what’s next for workplace financial services. If you’re energized by solving complex problems, collaborating across disciplines, and making a real difference in the workplace services industry, you’ll find your place here.

This is a senior SDET (Software Development Engineer in Test) role focused on building test automation. We are looking for a strong Java software engineer who writes production-quality code and applies modern engineering practices to automated testing. While you will partner with QA and product, this role is not primarily manual test execution; it is building and evolving automation frameworks, test services, and CI/CD quality gates.

Position Responsibilities: 

• Help build and protect a critical part of Schwab’s growth through software-engineering-driven quality practices and automation-first delivery
• Design, develop, and maintain automation frameworks and test utilities as software products (UI + API) using Java and tools such as Selenium, REST Assured, and related technologies supporting critical workplace applications – like Equity Administration, PCRA and Retirement Plan Services for millions of participants.
• Partner closely with developers and architects on design discussions to ensure testability, automation coverage, and quality gates are built in from the start (shift-left)
• Drive modernization initiatives by enabling faster, safer integrations through automated testing of APIs and foundational services, integrated into CI/CD
• Improve platform stability, performance, and resilience by building automated checks (functional, contract, performance) and proactively identifying risks before they reach production
• Support modernization of legacy components, ensuring compliance, risk remediation, and industry leading quality standards are maintained
• Leverage AI assisted testing and automation techniques to improve efficiency, coverage, and defect detection
• Own automation outcomes as the quality engineering lead for one or more scrum teams—pairing with engineers, contributing code, and ensuring every sprint ships with reliable automated coverage
• Be part of a collaborative, empowered team—not an “order taker,” but a trusted technical influencer who helps shape engineering and quality decisions
• Write and review technical design docs for automation approaches; contribute to coding standards, refactoring, and code reviews for test code and related utilities.
• Lead through influence by guiding peers, facilitating collaboration, and providing timely feedback that improves team outcomes.

What you have

Required Qualifications:

• 8+ years of related work experience, or a MS/BS degree with 8+ years of related work experience.
• 5+ years building and maintaining automated tests as code (unit/component/API/UI), integrated into CI/CD for fast, reliable feedback.
• 5+ years professional Java software engineering experience (designing, building, and shipping maintainable code), with strong proficiency in object-oriented design, data structures, and clean code practices.
• Experience designing and writing Java code (frameworks, test utilities, automated suites) and improving CI/CD quality signals.
• Strong experience with Java test/tooling ecosystems such as JUnit/TestNG, Maven/Gradle, and CI systems (e.g., Jenkins, GitHub Actions, Bamboo) to run tests continuously.
• Demonstrated engineering rigor: writing readable/testable code, performing code reviews, refactoring for maintainability, and troubleshooting failures across environments.
• 4+ years designing and building test automation frameworks and reusable libraries using tools like Selenium and REST Assured, with a focus on maintainability, speed, and reliability.
• Experience testing APIs using code-first approaches (e.g., REST Assured) and, when helpful, tools such as Postman, Insomnia, or Bruno.
• 4+ years working with relational databases and SQL, preferably with Oracle and/or MS-SQL platforms.
• Demonstrated experience with load testing tools (e.g., JMeter, BlazeMeter, or LoadRunner) and understanding of key performance concepts like P95.
• Practical experience with cloud technologies, including PCF, GCP, or AWS.
• Solid understanding of Clean Code principles, including DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself) and SOLID concepts.
• Deep understanding of design patterns frequently used in test automation, such as Page Object Model, proxy, factory, and data objects.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to interface effectively with both technical and business stakeholders.
• Proficiency with Git-based source control systems and PR-based workflows (branching, code reviews, and CI checks).

Preferred Qualifications:

• Expertise in leveraging AI tools and technologies to improve code quality, automate testing processes, and foster innovation throughout the development lifecycle.
• Experience with parallel test executions and leveraging cloud-based infrastructure tools (e.g., SauceLabs or similar platforms).
• Background in data modeling.
• Familiarity with test data management best practices.
• Additional experience with Sauce Labs, MongoDB, and a solid understanding of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) concept as they relate to application testing is considered a plus.
• Experience with Atlassian Tools (Jira, Zephyr, Confluence, Bamboo, Bitbucket).

In addition to the salary range, this role is also eligible for bonus or incentive opportunities.