Software Engineer in Test

Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET)

Role Title: Software Development Engineer in Test (Mid / Senior / Lead)

Department: Product Engineering

Location: Mumbai / Pune (Onsite)

Reports To: Engineering Manager

Experience: 6+ years (hiring across mid to lead levels)

Employment Type: Full-time

About Scitara

Scitara is a global leader in digital transformation for scientific laboratories, enabling connectivity, automation, and data integrity across instruments, applications, and enterprise systems. Our cloud-based platform empowers the world's top pharma, biotech, life sciences, and industrial RD labs to modernize workflows and accelerate scientific outcomes. Engineering at Scitara sits at the intersection of cutting-edge software + real-world science, solving complex integration and data challenges that directly impact innovation in medicine, therapeutics, and materials research. Be part of a team that takes complete ownership of the product lifecycle, from concept to delivery, and from architecture to user experience.

Role Summary:

As a Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET), you will be responsible for engineering scalable, code-driven test systems that ensure the quality, reliability, and compliance of Scitara's cloud-based informatics platform.This is not a traditional QE role. You will write production-grade automation code, design test frameworks, validate complex backend and integration workflows, and embed quality deeply into the development lifecycle. You will operate as an engineering peer to developers, contributing to system design, CI/CD pipelines, and technical decision-making.The ideal candidate thrives in ambiguous, fast-evolving environments, brings strong problem-solving skills, and continuously raises the quality bar through innovation and technical ownership.

Key Outcomes (First 612 Months):

1. Design or enhance automation frameworks achieving 80%+ coverage for regression-critical paths. Implement API, WebSocket, backend, and UI automation integrated into CI/CD pipelines.
2. Reduce manual regression effort by 40% or more through automation replacement.
3. Build reusable test utilities, harnesses, and validation libraries for Node.js-based services.
4. Improve automation stability to achieve.
5. Contribute to validation test coverage aligned with GxP and informatics compliance.
6. Establish and evangelize SDET best practices across the engineering organization.

Responsibilities:

Engineering-Driven Test Development:

Design, develop, and maintain automation frameworks using JavaScript/TypeScript.

Write clean, maintainable, and scalable automation code following OOP principles and test design patterns.

Build comprehensive integration and system-level test harnesses for backend services.

System, API Integration Testing

Automate testing of REST APIs, event-driven systems, and WebSocket-based interactions using Postman, Newman, and custom Node.js scripts.

Validate complex workflows involving multiple services, data flows, and external integrations.

Identify edge cases, failure scenarios, and quality risks early in the development cycle.

CI/CD DevOps Integration:

Integrate automated test suites into CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, GitHub Actions, Travis CI).

Enable fast, reliable feedback loops for developers.

Continuously improve test execution speed, reliability, and observability.

Collaboration Quality Ownership:

Partner with developers, architects, and product teams during design, code reviews, and sprint planning.

Participate fully in Agile ceremonies and influence quality strategy at sprint and release levels.

Communicate technical quality risks and automation strategies clearly across teams.

Compliance Domain Awareness:

Ensure automation and validation approaches align with data security, privacy, and GxP-regulated workflows.

Support systematic conversion of manual validation scenarios into automated coverage.

Must-Have Skills:

Strong Technical Foundation

• 6+ years of experience as an SDET, Automation Engineer, or Full-Stack QE.
• Strong coding skills in JavaScript / TypeScript with Node.js.
• Strong understanding of: API testing and backend validation
• WebSocket and asynchronous systems
• Object-oriented design and test architecture

Learning Agility (Ability + Motivation):

• Ability to rapidly learn new systems, architectures, and tools.
• Comfortable working in an AI-forward, evolving engineering environment.
• Proactively adopts better automation techniques and tooling.

Problem Solving Resourcefulness:

• Strong debugging and root-cause analysis skills in complex distributed systems.
• Ability to design effective test strategies under real-world constraints.
• Demonstrated ownership of quality outcomes, not just test execution.

• Ability to Operate in Ambiguity:
• Thrives in environments with evolving requirements and incomplete documentation.
• Can independently define test scope and priorities when specifications are unclear.
• Makes sound technical trade-offs to balance speed, coverage, and reliability.

Good-to-Have Skills:

• Mocha, Jest, Playwright/Cypress
• Experience with AWS, Azure, or GCP.
• Knowledge of Docker, Kubernetes, and microservices testing.
• Experience with CI/CD tooling and infrastructure automation.
• Familiarity with test management tools
• Exposure to regulated systems, data integrity, or validation testing.

Success Indicators:

• High-quality, maintainable automation code treated as a core engineering asset.
• Stable, low-flakiness automated test suites.
• Faster, safer release cycles with reduced escaped defects.
• Strong trust and collaboration with developers and product teams.
• Visible impact on platform quality and engineering velocity.

Why Join Scitara

• Build real engineering-quality systems, not just test scripts.
• Work on complex, integration-heavy platforms that power global science.
• Be part of an automation-first, AI-forward engineering culture.
• Clear growth paths into technical leadership and architecture roles.
• High ownership, autonomy, and respect as an engineering peer.