Senior Technical Engineering Manager, Software Development Engineer in Test

Position Overview

As a Senior Technical Engineering Manager, SDET at Alkami, you will lead, mentor, and scale a team of Software Development Engineers in Test (SDETs) responsible for delivering high-quality, scalable, and reliable automation frameworks and testing solutions.

This role blends technical leadership with hands-on execution — you’ll spend approximately 20–30% of your time coding, reviewing frameworks, and contributing to automation architecture. You will own and evolve Alkami’s quality engineering strategy, driving quality-first practices across multiple product domains.

Partnering closely with Engineering, Product, DevOps, and Security, you will embed quality early in the lifecycle through shift-left testing, continuous validation, and observability-driven feedback loops. As a senior leader, you’ll focus on scaling people, processes, and platforms to enable reliable, fast, and secure software delivery at enterprise scale.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing team of SDETs focused on automation across Web, Mobile, and API layers.
• Contribute hands-on (20–30%) to the design, architecture, and development of automation frameworks, tools, and libraries.
• Architect and evolve scalable automation frameworks and testing infrastructure to enhance reliability, maintainability, and execution velocity.
• Define and execute enterprise-level quality strategies covering functional, regression, integration, exploratory, and performance testing.
• Collaborate with cross-functional leaders to design and implement holistic testing strategies that support rapid, high-quality releases.
• Integrate automation into CI/CD pipelines using tools like Jenkins or GitHub Actions to enforce quality gates and early defect detection.
• Drive performance, load, and scalability testing (e.g., JMeter, Gatling) and incorporate observability metrics into quality dashboards.
• Define and monitor key quality KPIs (e.g., defect escape rate, automation coverage, stability).
• Champion modern testing practices such as shift-left testing, mocking, service virtualization, and risk-based validation.
• Ensure test environment reliability, test data management, and automation scalability for rapid delivery cycles.
• Lead hiring, onboarding, and upskilling initiatives for SDETs, fostering a culture of inclusion, ownership, and continuous learning.
• Represent Quality Engineering in enterprise programs, influencing architecture and design decisions to strengthen reliability and customer trust.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent practical experience).
• 10+ years of experience in software or quality engineering, including 5+ years in technical leadership or management of SDET/QA teams.
• Proficiency in Java, JavaScript/TypeScript, or Python.
• Deep expertise with automation tools such as Playwright, Selenium, Appium, JUnit/TestNG, RestAssured, and Postman.
• Proven track record in designing and scaling test automation frameworks in microservices or cloud-based architectures.
• Experience integrating automation into CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, GitHub Actions, etc.).
• Strong understanding of performance testing (e.g., JMeter, Gatling) and analyzing system-level metrics.
• Solid grasp of testing pyramid principles, service virtualization, and test data management.
• Exceptional communication, collaboration, and influencing skills across teams and stakeholders.
• Analytical and data-driven approach to improving product quality and release velocity.

Preferred

• Experience in cloud-native environments (AWS preferred: Lambda, EKS, CloudFront, etc.).
• Familiarity with observability and monitoring tools (Datadog, Grafana, CloudWatch).
• Background in regulated domains (e.g., FinTech), with exposure to compliance testing and secure test data management.
• Understanding of modern reliability practices such as chaos engineering, contract testing, and canary deployments.

Why Join Alkami

• Be part of a high-growth FinTech innovator building the future of digital banking.
• Work with cutting-edge technology and modern quality engineering practices.
• Lead an impactful team that shapes the reliability and performance of products used by millions.