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Hire SDETs and test automation engineers who make every release safe to ship.
TekRecruiter is an SDET recruiting agency focused solely on technology and engineering roles at tech and SaaS companies. We screen for engineers who design the automation framework and gate the pipeline with it, so you hire an SDET who turns a week of regression testing into a build that tells you in minutes whether it’s safe to ship. Beyond skills and experience, we look for HEARTThe HEART standardHHigh agencyEExecutionAAccountabilityRResourcefulnessTTransparencyWhat we look for, beyond skills →.
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What is an SDET?
A software development engineer in test (SDET) is a software engineer who designs and builds the automation that proves software works: the test framework, the API, UI and integration suites, and the CI/CD gates that run them on every change. It is an engineering role, paid like one. A QA engineer owns test strategy and coverage, often with some automation; a manual tester checks the product by hand.
- SDET
- Writes production-quality code to build test frameworks, tooling and quality gates, and makes the team faster at testing its own code.
- QA engineer
- Plans what to test and how, owns coverage and release sign-off, and automates part of the suite.
- Manual tester
- Runs exploratory and scripted tests by hand, finding the issues automation misses in a stable product.
What companies hire SDETs to do.
The SDETs we place most often build a framework where none existed, in large enterprises and in small teams alike. These are the mandates behind those searches.
01 · Framework from scratch
A framework the whole team writes tests in.
A maintainable automation framework designed for the product’s real architecture, with clear patterns, test data handling and reporting, so developers add tests without asking the SDET how.
- Architecture chosen on purpose: page objects, screenplay or API-first
- Test data set up and torn down in code, not by hand
- Java
- Selenium
- Playwright
- TestNG
- JUnit
- Cucumber
02 · API and contract testing
Catch the break at the API, not in the UI.
Fast, stable tests at the service layer and consumer-driven contracts between services, so a breaking change fails in the producer’s build.
- Most coverage at the API layer, fewer slow UI tests on top
- Contracts that stop one team’s change from breaking another’s
- REST Assured
- Postman
- Pact
- Karate
- WireMock
03 · CI/CD quality gates
Block a bad release in minutes.
Suites that run in parallel on every pull request and deployment, fast enough that engineers keep them switched on.
- Run time measured and kept under a budget the team agrees on
- Gates that fail the build on the tests that matter, not every warning
- GitHub Actions
- Jenkins
- GitLab CI
- Docker
- Selenium Grid
04 · Flaky tests
A suite engineers trust enough to believe.
Flaky tests found, quarantined and fixed at the cause, with test health tracked like any other production metric.
- Flake rate and time-to-fix reported every sprint
- Waits and retries replaced with deterministic setup
- Playwright Trace Viewer
- Allure
- ReportPortal
- Datadog CI Visibility
05 · Mobile and cross-browser
Tested on the devices your customers use.
Automation across iOS, Android and the browsers that matter, on real devices where emulators fall short.
- Device and browser matrix set from real usage data
- Native and hybrid app coverage in one pipeline
- Appium
- XCUITest
- Espresso
- BrowserStack
- Sauce Labs
06 · Performance and load
Know the breaking point before launch day.
Load and performance tests scripted as code, run before big releases and compared to a baseline.
- Latency and error budgets checked under realistic load
- Regressions caught before customers find them
- k6
- JMeter
- Gatling
- Locust
What to know before you hire an SDET.
Whether you hire through us or not, these are the calls that decide how an automation hire works out.
SDET, QA engineer or manual tester?
If there’s no framework, or the one you have is falling apart, you need an SDET. If the framework works and you need coverage planned and owned, a QA engineer fits. If the product is stable and you need exploratory testing, a manual tester can do it. Most teams that call us need the framework first.
What does an SDET cost?
In TekRecruiter’s 2026 placements, SDETs earned about $170,000 in base salary in the New York area and $155,000–$160,000 in South Florida. We also place SDETs nearshore in Latin America, priced per search. Full tables: 2026 Salary & Rate Guide.
Hire SDETs or outsource QA?
An outsourced QA vendor runs tests for you; it rarely leaves you with a framework your engineers own. In-house SDETs build that asset and raise the whole team’s testing. Nearshore staff augmentation sits between the two: engineers on your team and your tools, on US hours, at a lower cost than US hires.
How should you interview an SDET?
Ask them to walk through a framework they designed: why that architecture, how test data works, how long the suite runs, how they handle flaky tests, and whether developers write tests in it today. Then have them write real code. An SDET who can’t program outside a test script isn’t one.
Playwright, Cypress or Selenium?
Selenium with Java still runs a lot of enterprise automation. Playwright has become the common choice for new web frameworks, with cross-browser support and strong tracing. Cypress is popular with JavaScript front-end teams. Hire for framework design and coding skill; a strong SDET moves between tools quickly.
How do you move to automation-first QA?
Start with the revenue-critical paths, automate at the API layer before the UI, and gate those tests in CI so they run on every change. Track flake rate and run time from day one. Then move manual testers toward exploratory testing, where people find what scripts can’t.
Why SDET searches go wrong.
Test automation looks easy to screen for and rarely is. These are the misses we hear about most.
- 01
A tester hired to build a framework.
Strong manual QA, but no software design to build something that lasts.
- 02
A suite nobody believes.
Flaky tests get rerun until green, then switched off.
- 03
Automation only its author can run.
One engineer leaves and the framework goes with them.
- 04
UI tests for everything.
A two-hour suite that blocks releases instead of protecting them.
- SDET base, New York area, 2026
- ~$170K
- SDET base, South Florida, 2026
- $155K–$160K
- Candidates sent vs. hired on Norton’s framework search
- 1 of 1
We ask how the framework was built, and who still uses it.
We’re technical people, and we start with the product under test: what it did, how often it shipped, where quality broke, and where the candidate sat between developers and release. Then we go into the framework itself, the design choices, the pipeline and whether the team adopted it. Every SDET we present also meets our HEART standard.
- The product under test: the architecture, release cadence and where defects used to escape.
- Framework design: the patterns they chose, the ones they rejected, and why.
- In the pipeline: how long it runs, what it gates, and the flake rate they got it down to.
- Adoption: whether developers write tests in it, and what happened after the candidate left.
| A generalist IT staffing firm | TekRecruiter |
|---|---|
| Treats SDET and QA tester as one keyword | Screens for engineers who build frameworks |
| Matches on Selenium or Cypress | Walks through a framework they designed and why |
| Counts test cases written | Asks about run time, flake rate and release gates |
| Skips a coding assessment | Expects production-quality code, not only test scripts |
| US-only benches | US-based or nearshore SDETs on your hours |
The HEART standard
What we look for beyond skills and experience, in every candidate we present.
- High agencyPeople who see what needs to be done and act without waiting to be told.
- ExecutionPeople who turn ideas into results.
- AccountabilityPeople who own the outcome, not just their piece of the work.
- ResourcefulnessPeople who figure things out when the answer isn’t obvious.
- TransparencyPeople who communicate clearly, honestly, and early.
What we screen out.
The patterns that separate an engineer who builds test automation from one who maintains scripts.
Record-and-playback only
Tests generated by a recorder, with no design behind them and no way to scale.
Never designed a framework
Always added tests to one someone else built, and can’t explain its choices.
Sleeps and retries everywhere
Hides flakiness instead of fixing the timing or test data behind it.
UI tests for every case
No test pyramid, so the suite is slow, brittle and expensive to run.
Weak outside the test code
Can’t read the application code or debug a failure past the assertion.
No CI integration
Suites run by hand before a release instead of on every change.
Senior, staff and principal SDETs.
Level is about how much of the quality system someone owns, not how many tests they’ve written.
Senior
Builds and owns a framework and its pipeline.
- Designs a framework from scratch or rebuilds a failing one
- Owns suite run time and flake rate
- Coaches developers to write tests in it
2026 base pay
$155K–$170K
Base, TekRecruiter’s 2026 SDET placements: South Florida $155K–$160K, New York area ~$170K.
Staff
Sets quality engineering standards across teams.
- Defines the test strategy and pyramid for every team
- Chooses tools and shared infrastructure for testing
- Ties quality metrics to release decisions
2026 base pay
~$170K–$220K
Typically 10–30% above senior, in our experience.
Principal
Owns how the company proves its software works.
- Quality architecture across products and platforms
- Advises engineering leadership on release risk
- Sets the multi-year plan for testing, tooling and environments
2026 base pay
$210K–$300K
US range in our experience; depends heavily on company and market.
SDETs can also be hired nearshore in Latin America. See the 2026 Salary & Rate Guide and Nearshore.
SDET vs. QA engineer vs. manual tester.
| SDET | QA engineer | Manual tester | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Focus | Builds the automation and tooling | Plans and owns test coverage | Tests the product by hand |
| Writes code | Production quality, daily | Some, often scripted tests | Rarely |
| Typical work | Frameworks, API and UI suites, CI/CD gates | Test plans, coverage, release sign-off | Exploratory and regression testing |
| Measured by | Suite speed, stability and escaped defects | Coverage and release quality | Issues found before release |
| Hire when | There’s no framework, or it’s failing | The framework works and needs an owner | The product is stable and needs human eyes |
SDET
- Focus
- Builds the automation and tooling
- Writes code
- Production quality, daily
- Typical work
- Frameworks, API and UI suites, CI/CD gates
- Measured by
- Suite speed, stability and escaped defects
- Hire when
- There’s no framework, or it’s failing
QA engineer
- Focus
- Plans and owns test coverage
- Writes code
- Some, often scripted tests
- Typical work
- Test plans, coverage, release sign-off
- Measured by
- Coverage and release quality
- Hire when
- The framework works and needs an owner
Manual tester
- Focus
- Tests the product by hand
- Writes code
- Rarely
- Typical work
- Exploratory and regression testing
- Measured by
- Issues found before release
- Hire when
- The product is stable and needs human eyes
Customer stories.
The hiring team needed someone who could build a Java automation framework from scratch, and we had worked the search for six straight months with at least 12 or 13 vendors. TekRecruiter sent one candidate, and he got the job.
After eMed’s senior IAM role had been open for more than three months, TekRecruiter found the right candidate in less than a week.
TekRecruiter filled more than 12 software engineering roles at eMed.
In less than three days, TekRecruiter found Carewell the perfect senior software engineer with strong TypeScript and Playwright skills.
Qualio hired two senior DevOps engineers for its cloud engineering team from the candidates TekRecruiter presented.
SM2 Dev hired a senior software engineer after TekRecruiter shared three to four candidates within a week, as committed.
The few times I’ve hired over the last five years, I’ve always been vendor neutral, and TekRecruiter has been the staffing partner that filled every one of those open engineering roles.
Their ability to quickly supply highly skilled software and DevOps engineers who blend in well with our existing teams continues to amaze me. They are highly technical at the account management level and transparently propose different solutions, whether staff augmentation or nearshore outsourcing.
How to hire SDETs with us.
Direct hire
A permanent SDET to build and own your framework, backed by a 90-day guarantee.
Direct hireStaff augmentation
A contract SDET to stand up a framework or clear a release backlog, starting in as little as three days.
Staff augmentationContract-to-hire
Start with the framework build, then convert the SDET your developers already work with.
Contract-to-hireNearshore
SDETs in Latin America on your team, your tools and US hours.
Nearshore
SDET and test automation hiring questions, answered.
What is an SDET?
A software development engineer in test is a software engineer who designs and builds the automation that tests software: frameworks, suites for UI, API and integration testing, and the CI/CD gates that run them on every change. Unlike a manual tester, an SDET writes production-quality code.
What does an SDET earn in 2026?
In TekRecruiter’s 2026 placements, SDETs earned about $170,000 in base salary in the New York area and $155,000–$160,000 in South Florida. See the 2026 Salary & Rate Guide.
Can you fill a test automation role other agencies could not?
Yes. At NortonLifeLock, a role for an engineer who could build a Java automation framework from scratch had been open for six months across at least 12 or 13 vendors. TekRecruiter sent one candidate, and he got the job, according to Aisling McWeeney, Principal Talent Acquisition Partner.
Do we need an SDET or a QA engineer?
Hire an SDET when you need automation built: a framework designed, suites written in code and gates added to CI/CD. Hire a QA engineer when a working framework needs someone to plan coverage and own release quality. Many teams hire the SDET first, then add QA engineers who work inside the framework.
Can we hire SDETs nearshore?
Yes. We place SDETs in Latin America as well as in the US. They join your team, work in your tools and pipeline, and keep US hours. See Nearshore.
Do you recruit SDETs in New York and South Florida?
Yes. In our 2026 placements, SDETs in the New York area earned about $170,000 in base salary and SDETs in South Florida $155,000–$160,000. We recruit for on-site, hybrid and remote roles in both markets.
Should we outsource QA or hire SDETs?
Outsource when you need test execution for a defined period and don’t need to own the result. Hire SDETs, directly or through staff augmentation, when you want a framework your engineers own and keep using after the contract ends.
What is the HEART standard?
HEART is the standard we screen every candidate against, beyond skills: high agency, execution, accountability, resourcefulness and transparency. It describes people who take ownership, turn ideas into results and move the business forward. See the standard.
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