Senior Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET)

Staff SDET

Company Description

About CyberArk

CyberArk, a Palo Alto Networks company, is the global leader in identity security, trusted by organizations around the world to secure human and machine identities in the modern enterprise. CyberArk’s AI-powered Identity Security Platform applies intelligent privilege controls to every identity with continuous threat prevention, detection and response across the identity lifecycle. With Identity Security, organizations can reduce operational and security risks by enabling zero trust and least privilege with complete visibility, empowering all users and identities, including workforce, IT, developers and machines, to securely access any resource, located anywhere, from everywhere. Learn more at cyberark.com.

Copyright © 2026 CyberArk Software. All Rights Reserved. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

Job Description

About the Role

As a Staff Software Development Engineer in Test (Staff SDET), you will play a technical leadership role in ensuring quality, reliability, and scalability of CyberArk’s Identity and CIAM solutions. You are expected to quickly onboard, operate with high ownership, and independently drive test strategy, design, and execution in an Agile environment.

Beyond hands-on testing and automation, this role requires strong proactive engagement with product and development teams, early involvement in design discussions, and the ability to influence quality at the architectural and requirements stage.

Key Responsibilities

Quality & Test Engineering Leadership

• Own end-to-end test strategy for complex features and initiatives, including functional, integration, regression, and non-functional testing.
• Proactively analyze developer epics, user stories, and technical designs to identify risks, gaps, and edge cases early in the SDLC.
• Drive test design and testability discussions—translate product and technical requirements into well-structured test scenarios and coverage plans.
• Act as a quality advocate by continuously raising the bar on QA processes, standards, and best practices.

Automation & Framework Ownership

• Design, develop, and maintain high-quality automation frameworks.
• Increase and sustain regression coverage through stable, scalable, and maintainable automation.
• Leverage tools such as Pytest, Selenium/WebDriver, and related frameworks to ensure robust CI-level validation.
• Actively participate in debugging production and pre-production issues from a quality perspective.

Agile & Cross‑Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with developers, product managers, architects, and DevOps teams during backlog grooming, sprint planning, and design reviews.
• Ensure stories meet quality and testability criteria before sprint commitment.
• Provide clear execution updates, risk assessments, and quality signals to engineering leadership.

Mentorship & Technical Influence

• Mentor and guide SDETs and QA engineers on test design, automation best practices, and debugging skills.
• Influence team-wide adoption of better test patterns, coverage models, and CI/CD quality gates.
• Contribute to hiring, onboarding, and upskilling of quality engineers.

CI/CD & Engineering Excellence

• Actively contribute to CI/CD pipelines, enabling fast and reliable feedback using Jenkins or equivalent systems.
• Partner with DevOps to ensure automation is a first-class citizen in deployment pipelines.
• Continuously explore new tools, frameworks, and AI-assisted testing approaches to improve productivity and quality.

Qualifications

Required Skills & Experience

Critical Skills

• 8–10 years of experience as a Quality Engineer, SDET, or Developer in Test on Agile teams.
• Strong experience in manual and automation testing.
• Deep understanding of Agile/Scrum methodologies, QA processes, and SDLC.
• 3+ years of hands-on experience testing Mac OS / Desktop applications.
• Experience with Active Directory, JAMF Connect, and enterprise desktop environments.
• Proven experience building and maintaining desktop automation frameworks, preferably on Mac.
• Strong expertise in automation tools such as:
  • Pytest (preferred)
  • Selenium / WebDriver
  • JMeter, SoapUI, Watir, or equivalent
• Proficiency in at least two scripting/programming languages (Python strongly preferred; Java or Ruby acceptable).
• Experience with source control systems such as Git, Bitbucket, Perforce, or equivalent.
• Excellent debugging, problem-solving, and analytical skills.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to collaborate across teams and with leadership.

Highly Desired (Nice to Have)

• BS in Computer Science or equivalent practical experience.
• Experience working in a DevOps-first environment with strong CI/CD exposure (Jenkins or similar).
• Prior experience in Identity, Access Management, or Security domains.
• Exposure to cloud-based, SaaS, or large-scale enterprise products.
• Understanding of PKI, certificates, encryption, HTTPS, OAuth/OIDC, SAML, or related security protocols.

Expectations / Mindset

• Proactive ownership mindset—anticipate quality risks rather than reacting to bugs.
• Strong ability to review epics and stories critically, challenge assumptions, and propose improvements from a testability and quality standpoint.
• Eager to learn CIAM concepts, identity protocols, and security architectures.
• Comfortable working with limited guidance while influencing quality across teams.
• Passion for continuous improvement, learning, and technical excellence.
• AI-first mindset—actively use AI/LLM tools to enhance test design, identify edge cases, generate test scenarios, accelerate automation development, and analyze failures.

Additional Information

Why This Role Matters

The Staff SDET is a force multiplier—driving quality not just through execution, but through early involvement, strong test design, and cross-team influence. Your work will directly impact the reliability, security, and customer trust of CyberArk’s Identity platform.

Experience Level

Senior Level