Sr Software Development Engineer in Test - Application Development

You have a clear vision of where your career can go. And we have the leadership to help you get there. At CNA, we strive to create a culture in which people know they matter and are part of something important, ensuring the abilities of all employees are used to their fullest potential.
CNA seeks to offer a comprehensive and competitive benefits package to our employees that helps them - and their family members - achieve their physical, financial, emotional and social wellbeing goals.
For a detailed look at CNA's benefits, check out our Candidate Guide .
JOB DESCRIPTION:
We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced Senior Software Development Engineer in Test (Sr. SDET) to join our Application Development organization. As a Sr. SDET, you will play a pivotal role in ensuring the quality and reliability of our software products by leading automated testing initiatives. You will collaborate closely with product owners, system architects , developers , leveraging your expertise in automation and Agile practices to develop and execute the test strategies and processes. This is a leadership role, where you will also mentor junior test engineers and developers and drive the continuous improvement of quality engineering practices across the organization.
The ideal candidate will have 3 - 5 years prior experience as an application developer. This hybrid role is located in Chicago, IL and at this time averages 2 days per week in the office.
Essential Duties & Responsibilities
Performs a combination of duties in accordance with departmental guidelines:
Test Strategy and Management :

• Lead test strategy development and execution per CNA quality standards.

• Participate in various SAFe ceremonies like PI Planning, ART Synch, Mid PI review and Sprint meeting to be the "voice of quality".

• Participate in the review of test procedures and processes and provide recommendations to eliminate redundancies and improve efficiency.

• Assess resource skills and manage MSP project assignments.

• Produce Software Quality metrics for products in flight.

• Review project estimations.

• Collaborate with RTE/System Architects/PO and Product manager to achieve the objectives of Agile team.

Quality Engineering Leadership and Collaboration :

• Champion Shift-Left Testing, ensuring early defects identification by promoting early involvement in requirement reviews and design discussions.

• Implement and advocate for BDD/TDD practices to better code quality and fewer defects.

• Lead a team of test architects, developers, and engineers to build automated innovative solutions for solving everyday team problems .

• Demonstrate leadership abilities to manage various multidisciplinary and globally distributed engineer's cross agile teams.

• Coach and mentor a team of application developers and Jr SDETs to improve productivity and quality .

• Be a Quality champion by working closely with the Quality CoP (Q - CoP) to adopt, enhance and promote CNA's Quality Engineering standards, best practices, platforms, and tools within portfolio.

• Partner with Q - CoP for evaluation of external vendors/products/services

• Contribute to broader Q - CoP solutions and conduct road shows for EQE within portfolios and across the organization.

Testing Automation and Execution:

• Develop scalable, maintainable, and user-friendly test automation frameworks.

• Collaborate with developers / devops to integrate test automation into the CI/CD pipelines.

• Bring innovation in quality engineering by augmentation of Gen AI tools.

• Perform code reviews for script resilience.

• Identifies opportunities to eliminate or automate remediation of recurring issues to improve overall operational stability of software applications and systems.

Reporting Relationship
Typically, Director or above
Skills, Abilities & Characteristics

• 7+ years of hands-on experience in software development (desired) and Testing

• Hands on experience with programming languages like Java, Python, JavaScript/Typescript, C#.

• Proficiency in developing and maintaining Test Automation tools like Cypress, WebDriver, Playwright or Selenium

• Expertise in developing scalable and re-useable Test Automation framework and script development.

• Experience with relational databases like Oracle, Postgres or NoSQL DBs like Mongo DB.

• Hands-on experience with Docker and CI/CD/CT platforms like GitHub Actions, Gitlab, Jenkins etc.

• Expertise in API testing with tools like Postman, JMeter, Rest Assured or SOAP UI etc.

• In-depth practical knowledge of BDD and TDD practices and extensive experience using tools such as Cucumber.

• Experience of augmentation of AI in Quality Engineering using tools GitHub C o pilot, Google V ertex AI etc.

• Experience of working in programs following SAFe methodology .

• Good understanding of modern cloud native architecture e.g. Microservice, 12 factor apps etc.

• Good understanding and experience of working with public cloud providers like AWS, GCP, Azure etc. (GCP preferred)

• Experience of working with Agile tools like JIRA / Rally / Xray

• Experience of working with cross-functional engineering teams with a solution-oriented approach

• Expertise in developing and presenting testing strategy in collaboration with IT SME and Business SME

• Expertise in p roject estimation skills

• Understanding of Insurance functions and processes, both within the organization and across the industry, preferably commercial insurance industry is preferred .

• Quality Certification is preferred.

• Understanding of Nonfunctional testing like Performance and security (DAST) is a plus.

Key Characteristics
We seek an individual who:

• Views learning as a continuous journey rather than a destination, and who applies their knowledge to drive ongoing innovation.

• Strong problem-solving skills and a keen eye for detail.

• Leadership and the ability to drive quality-focused initiatives across teams.

• Excellent communication skills for collaborating with cross-functional teams.

• Ability to balance multiple projects while maintaining high standards for quality and reliability.

• Proactive mindset, always looking for opportunities for improvements people, processes, and technology.

Education & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in computer science , related discipline, or equivalent work experience .

• Typically , 7 + years of application delivery experience inclusive of testing and development.

• Typically, 3+ years of SDET or equivalent experience championing scripted test automation for frontend, API or data.

• Insurance Domain experience is a plus but not required .

#LI-MA1
#LI-Hybrid
CNA is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities in the recruitment process. To request an accommodation, please contact [email protected] .