Staff Engineer, Software Test

Work Schedule

Standard (Mon-Fri)

Environmental Conditions

Office

Job Description

Staff Engineer, Software Test As part of the Thermo Fisher Scientific team, you’ll discover meaningful work that makes a positive impact on a global scale. Join our colleagues in bringing our Mission to life every day by enabling our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. Position Summary We are seeking a Staff Engineer – Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET) to provide technical leadership in designing and advancing scalable test automation solutions across our software products. This is a senior hands-on engineering role responsible for automation architecture, framework design, technical strategy, and solving complex quality engineering challenges. The role requires strong expertise in Python, Playwright, pytest, API automation, and CI/CD, along with the ability to guide engineers and influence engineering practices across teams. The Staff Engineer will mentor engineers, drive technical decisions, identify innovative solutions to complex problems, and help establish reusable automation capabilities that improve software quality, reliability, and engineering productivity. Key Responsibilities * Define the technical direction and architecture for scalable test automation frameworks using Python, Playwright, and pytest. * Design, build, and maintain reusable automation frameworks, libraries, and capabilities that support multiple applications and engineering teams. * Provide technical leadership for UI, API, integration, and end-to-end automation strategies. * Provide technical guidance and support for existing Java and Selenium-based automation solutions, including troubleshooting, maintenance, and framework improvements. * Solve complex automation and quality engineering challenges through strong analytical skills and innovative, out-of-the-box thinking. * Evaluate technical trade-offs and make sound architectural and design decisions that improve scalability, reliability, maintainability, and execution efficiency. * Drive integration of automated quality validation into CI/CD pipelines and improve continuous quality feedback. * Lead investigation and root-cause analysis of complex product, framework, test-data, and environment-related issues. * Establish and promote automation architecture, coding standards, design principles, and engineering best practices. * Conduct technical and code reviews and guide teams toward maintainable and high-quality engineering solutions. * Mentor and coach engineers, provide technical guidance, and help strengthen the overall technical capability of the team. * Collaborate with engineering, product, DevOps, and quality leaders to identify quality risks and define effective automation strategies. * Evaluate and apply AI-assisted and agentic engineering approaches to improve automation development, maintenance, failure analysis, and engineering productivity. * Identify opportunities for technical innovation and drive continuous improvement across quality engineering practices. Education and Experience * Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience. * 10–15 years of experience in software engineering, SDET, quality engineering, or test automation. * Demonstrated experience providing technical leadership, designing automation frameworks, solving complex engineering problems, and mentoring engineers. Core Competencies * Strong hands-on programming expertise in Python, with advanced experience in Playwright and pytest. * Working knowledge of Java and Selenium with the ability to understand, maintain, troubleshoot, and enhance existing automation solutions. * Proven experience architecting and building scalable automation frameworks from the ground up. * Strong expertise in API, integration, UI, and end-to-end automation. * Strong understanding of software architecture, object-oriented programming, design patterns, and engineering best practices. * Experience designing automation solutions for CI/CD environments, with strong knowledge of Git and modern software delivery practices. * Strong debugging, analytical, and root-cause analysis skills with the ability to solve complex and ambiguous technical problems. * Demonstrated technical leadership and decision-making, with the ability to influence engineering direction across teams. * Strong mentoring and coaching skills, with the ability to develop engineers and raise engineering standards across the team. * Ability to think beyond conventional approaches and develop practical, innovative solutions to difficult engineering challenges. * Strong communication and collaboration skills with the ability to work effectively across engineering, product, DevOps, and leadership teams. * Experience with AI-assisted development, agentic automation, cloud/container environments, or non-functional testing is desirable.