Sr. Software Engineer in Test I

What you'll do

NinjaTrader's platforms are where customers trade futures in real time on live markets, and where we manage customer funds, process trades, handle clearing and settlement, and stay compliant every day. As a Senior Software Engineer in Test, you will own quality across this stack, from the web trading experience to the back-office services behind it.

• You'll be embedded as a peer alongside engineers and product managers.
• Your job is not to gate releases.
• It is to build automation that makes confident, fast shipping the default.
• Every workflow you validate touches real traders and real money.

In this role you will

• Own quality end-to-end for your assigned squad, from test strategy through release confidence
• Test across the full stack: browser UI workflows, APIs, databases, and backend services
• Partner with developers and PMs at the design stage to define acceptance criteria and build in testability
• Design, build, and maintain automation frameworks using modular patterns (e.g., Page Object Model), primarily Playwright with TypeScript
• Define automation strategy and quality gates for critical trading flows, such as order activity, fund movement, and clearing
• Write functional and integration tests where financial correctness and edge-case coverage are top priorities
• Review application code and engage on system design, API contracts, and architecture to ensure observable, testable behavior
• Own your squad's test reliability; treat flakiness with the same urgency as a production bug
• Integrate tests into CI/CD pipelines with tagging strategies (e.g., smoke, regression) and clear quality gates
• Design test data strategies and use mocks and stubs for dependencies to keep tests isolated and repeatable
• Debug production issues using logs, database traces, and telemetry, and turn findings into regression coverage
• Apply AI-assisted tools (code generation, test generation, failure analysis) to improve coverage and speed without compromising correctness
• Perform manual and exploratory testing where it adds signal that automation can't, and convert findings into durable automated coverage
• Mentor junior QA team members through code reviews, pairing, and direct feedback
• Uphold NinjaTrader SDLC and information security standards

What you'll need

• Experience testing trading or brokerage platforms (futures a plus); banking or other regulated financial services considered
• Strong automation fundamentals, including a clear sense of what automation can and cannot do
• Hands-on experience with Playwright and TypeScript/JavaScript (Cypress or Selenium considered, with a fast ramp to our stack)
• Full-stack testing experience: UI workflows through API validation (e.g., Postman) and database verification
• Experience testing backend services, REST APIs, and distributed systems
• Proven experience designing and maintaining automation frameworks as the system they cover evolves
• Experience integrating automated tests into CI/CD pipelines (e.g., Jenkins, GitHub Actions)
• Ability to work with engineers on testability-by-design, shaping architecture and API design to support reliable automation
• Proven proficiency with AI-assisted engineering tools applied responsibly, plus the fundamentals to deliver without them
• Ability to own quality for a product area independently, with minimal oversight
• Strong communication skills; comfortable as a peer to engineers, product managers, and brokerage operations teams

Bonus points for

• Python test automation with PyTest
• Experience testing event-driven systems with messaging platforms (e.g., GCP Pub/Sub)
• Relational database experience (Oracle preferred)
• Familiarity with trade lifecycle concepts: order management, clearing, settlement, margin, or regulatory reporting
• Experience testing real-time or data-intensive applications
• Linux command-line and log analysis skills
• Performance, load, or resilience testing in distributed systems
• Accessibility testing knowledge (WCAG standards)
• Cloud-native testing experience (GCP preferred)

Compensation

The salary range for this role will be $82,000.00 - $132,000.00 USD. In addition, this position will also receive an annual target bonus of 10%. Bonus pay at NinjaTrader is based on individual performance (50%) as well as company/team performance (50%).

Salary and bonus earnings are only two components of the total compensation package offered by NinjaTrader. NinjaTrader offers a 401K plan through ADP under which the company will match up to 3.5% of employee contributions. Annual paid time off allowance accrues at a rate of 18 days per year (some positions may qualify for more) plus seven paid holidays.

Location

This role is based in Chicago, IL. We are not open to remote candidates for this role

Hybrid

For Chicago-based employees, we follow a hybrid work schedule: In-office Tuesday through Thursday, with remote work on Mondays and Fridays. In addition to these weekly remote days, we offer:

• 20 additional flex remote days annually
• 5 Company Wide Office-Optional weeks tied to major holidays

Our Core Benefits Include

• Generous PTO
• 7 Paid Holidays Annually + 5 Conditional Holidays Annually
• 1 Service Day Annually
• 401k with 3.5% Company Match
• Paid Parental Bonding Leave
• Health, Vision, Dental Coverage
• Life and Disability Insurance Covered 100% by NinjaTrader