Software Development Engineer in Test

Remote from: EMEA
Annual salary: Undisclosed
Salary information is not provided for this position. Check our Salary Directory to estimate the average compensation for similar roles.
Department: Software Engineering
Employment type: Full Time,
Job posted: 5 Jun 2026
Apply before: 5 Jul 2026
Experience level: Midweight
Views / Applies: 82 / 8

Sporty Group is a global consumer internet and technology company with a strong presence in sports media, gaming, social, and fintech.

Sports
2013

AI Summary

This Senior SDET role focuses on building scalable quality solutions and enabling engineering teams to own quality, rather than performing feature testing. The position involves developing test automation frameworks, managing testing infrastructure, integrating testing into CI/CD pipelines, and defining quality strategies. The ideal candidate has strong coding skills (especially Python) and experience with tools like Playwright. The company offers remote work, competitive salary, and quarterly bonuses. This is a senior-level position requiring 5+ years of testing experience and a deep understanding of software architecture.

Role DNA

Job Complexity

Easy Hard

Pace & Pressure

Relaxed Fast-paced

Autonomy Level

Guided Full Ownership

Communication Load

Independent Highly Collaborative

AI Insight The role is challenging due to its senior technical requirements, including building automation frameworks and defining quality strategies, but it is not at the highest difficulty level as it does not involve managing a team or extreme technical complexity.

Salary Analysis

AI Insight The job listing does not specify a salary range. Based on market data for a Senior SDET role in the US, the typical salary ranges from $90,000 to $160,000, with a median around $125,000. Candidates should expect a competitive offer given the seniority and impact of the role.

Key Skills

SDET Test Automation Python Playwright CI/CD Quality Assurance Distributed Systems Mentoring DevOps Testing Frameworks

Cover Letter Sample

Dear Hiring Manager,

I am excited to apply for the Senior SDET position at Pleased. With over 6 years of experience in software quality engineering, I have a strong track record of building scalable test automation frameworks and integrating quality into CI/CD pipelines. My expertise in Python and Playwright aligns perfectly with your tech stack, and I have successfully mentored teams on testing best practices.

I am particularly drawn to this role because it focuses on engineering enablement rather than just feature testing, which matches my passion for driving quality at the systems level. I have implemented release quality gates and reduced flaky tests by 40% in my previous role, improving deployment confidence significantly.

I am confident that my technical skills and collaborative approach would make me a valuable addition to your team. Thank you for considering my application. I look forward to the opportunity to discuss how I can contribute to Pleased's commitment to sustainability and engineering excellence.

Sincerely, [Your Name]

Possible Interview Questions

Can you describe a time when you built a test automation framework from scratch? What challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?

At my previous company, I built a Python-based automation framework using Playwright for end-to-end testing. The main challenge was integrating it with our existing CI/CD pipeline to ensure scalability. I designed a modular architecture with separate layers for test cases, page objects, and utilities, and used pytest fixtures for efficient test setup. I also implemented parallel execution to reduce test time by 50%.

How do you handle flaky tests in a large-scale test suite?

I first identify the root cause by analyzing logs and test retry patterns. Common causes include race conditions, network issues, or environmental dependencies. I then implement strategies like adding explicit waits, isolating test data, and using mocks for external services. I also set up a flaky test dashboard to track and prioritize fixes, and I ensure that the team has a policy of not ignoring flaky tests.

Explain how you would integrate testing into a CI/CD pipeline with quality gates.

I would configure the CI pipeline to trigger automated tests on every commit. Quality gates would include code coverage thresholds, test pass percentage, and no critical regression failures. For example, using Jenkins, I would set up stages for unit tests, integration tests, and end-to-end tests. If a gate fails, the pipeline stops and alerts the team. I also incorporate static analysis and security scanning as additional gates.

Describe your experience with testing distributed systems. What specific strategies do you use?

For distributed systems, I focus on verifying consistency, fault tolerance, and performance. I use contract testing between services, chaos engineering to simulate failures, and distributed tracing to monitor end-to-end flows. I also implement integration tests that run in a staging environment mimicking production. Additionally, I use tools like Kubernetes for orchestration and simulate network partitions to ensure the system handles them gracefully.

How do you mentor other engineers to adopt quality ownership?

I start by organizing workshops on testing best practices and coding standards. I pair program with engineers to write effective unit tests and demonstrate how to use testing tools. I also establish a culture of code reviews that emphasize testability and quality. By creating clear documentation and leading by example, I encourage ownership. I also set up regular quality retrospectives to discuss improvements and celebrate successes.

About the role

We are looking for a Senior SDET (Software Development Engineer in Test) to improve software quality across the engineering organization through automation, testing platforms, quality standards and engineering enablement. This is not a feature-testing role. The focus is on building scalable quality solutions and helping teams own quality.

Our Stack

Programming language: Python
DB: MySQL / Mongo DB
DevOps: AWS / Jenkins / K8S
Web: PlayWright

What you’ll be doing

Build and maintain test automation frameworks
Develop reusable testing tools and libraries
Improve test reliability and reduce flaky tests
Manage test data and testing infrastructure
Integrate testing into CI/CD pipelines
Implement release quality gates
Improve deployment confidence and testing efficiency
Define testing strategies and best practices
Support teams with complex testing challenges
Review solutions from a quality and reliability perspective
Coach engineers on testing and quality ownership
Create standards, documentation and guidelines
Drive adoption of quality practices across teams
Analyze incidents and prevent regressions
Track quality metrics and identify improvement opportunities

What you’ll bring

5+ years of testing experience
Strong coding skills (Python or any other programming language, but willing to write on Python)
Experience with Playwright, Cypress, Selenium, or similar (we use Playwright)
Experience with CI/CD pipelines
Understanding of software architecture and distributed systems

What’s in it for you

Pleased is a remote first company in pursuit of sustainability
A competitive salary + individual performance based bonuses every quarter
28 days paid annual leave
Our core working hours are 10am-3pm in your local time zone with flexibility outside of this
Referral bonuses & flash bonuses
Top of the line equipment
Annual company retreats to provide great internal networking opportunities

Interview process

Remote video screening with our Talent Acquisition Team
Live coding interview
Remote video interview with Team Members (60 Mins)
Final discussion with the hiring manager (60 mins)

If you’re interested, we encourage you to apply! Every application is reviewed by a member of our team (AI is not used in our recruitment process), and we aim to respond within 48 hours.

Apply now >