Backend QA Engineer

Title: Backend QA Engineer

Location: Chicago, IL OR New York, NY OR Belfast, Northern Ireland

Our client is seeking a Backend Quality Assurance Engineer who will serve as a key technical contributor, driving quality for their Exchange, Clearing and Instrument management systems. You will be responsible for extending the qa automation framework and implementing comprehensive front-end and back-end automation testing to ensure seamless orchestration of exchange, clearing and instrument management platforms. You are a detail-oriented engineer who works closely with Product and Engineering to enforce rigorous quality standards across their core financial technology. This role is central to delivering a reliable, high-performance platform essential for their CFTC Regulated Exchange and Clearing business.

Responsibilities:

1. Testing Framework

• Help extend and maintain the Java based QA Automation framework to support new test cases of high performance, low latency exchange and clearing platform and the instrument management system.
• Develop and execute manual and automated test cases to ensure new products and features meet requirements.
• Work closely with product and engineering teams to review and resolve bugs.
• Maintain proficiency in current testing methodologies.

2. Platform Testing

• Rigorously test all interfaces, encompassing both those designed for internal consumption and those exposed to external users (e.g. FIX protocol, proprietary binary message formats, incoming and outgoing file formats).
• Perform testing of Admin and Customer user interfaces using automated tools like Playwright and manual test cases.
• Ensure proper functionality, data integrity, security compliance and performance under expected load.

3. Quality Strategy & Reporting

• Partner with Product and Engineering teams to define and enforce rigorous quality standards.
• Monitor test platform system performance, data integrity, and security compliance to ensure the platform meets the demands of a high-stakes regulated exchange.

Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related discipline.
• Experience in a quality assurance or software testing role, preferably within financial services.
• Strong Proficiency in Java, Python, FIX, SQL .
• Experience with testing tools such as Cucumber, Playwright and JUnit and familiar with test reporting and analysis.
• Experience with derivative contracts (futures, options) and financial markets is preferred.
• Excellent communication, interpersonal, and presentation skills with the ability to explain complex data concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced environment, managing multiple priorities and projects simultaneously.
• Strong problem-solving skills and attention to detail.