Staff Software Development Engineer in Test

Fivetran

Oakland, California, United States, AMERSeniorPosted Jul 16, 2026

JUnitREST AssuredJenkinsDockerKubernetesJavaPythonAWSAzureGCPCI/CDGitHub Actions

Best fit for

This role is best for senior QA engineers or SDETs with hands-on experience in REST API testing, RestAssured, Jenkins, GitHub Actions open to working from Oakland, California, United States, AMER.

Skills you need for this role

Detected from the job title, description, and tags.

API / backend testing

REST API testing — Almost every QA role now expects you to validate JSON contracts and status codes.
RestAssured — Common Java-first API automation library, often paired with TestNG.

CI/CD and DevOps

Jenkins — Legacy CI still widely deployed — expect pipeline-as-code questions.
GitHub Actions — Default CI for teams on GitHub — YAML workflows and matrix builds.
Docker — Needed to containerise test environments and spin up dependencies.
Kubernetes — Test infra + preview environments increasingly run on K8s.
AWS — Common cloud target for test infra + service integration testing.
Azure — Common in enterprise / Microsoft-shop QA roles.
Google Cloud — Preferred cloud at several product companies — expect infra-adjacent questions.
Terraform — Infra-as-code helps SDETs own their own test environments.

Programming languages

Java — Dominant language for enterprise QA + Selenium/RestAssured stacks.
Python — Popular for API testing, data validation, and Playwright/Pytest suites.
SQL — Data validation and back-office QA rely on solid SQL.

Domain & process

Performance testing (JMeter / k6 / LoadRunner) — Different discipline from functional QA — expect scenario and metrics questions.
AI in testing — Employers increasingly ask how you use AI copilots to speed up QA work.

Job description

<div class="content-intro">From Fivetran’s founding until now, our mission has remained the same: to make access to data as simple and reliable as electricity. With Fivetran, customer data arrives in their warehouses, canonical and ready to query, with no engineering or maintenance required. We’re proud that more organizations continue to leverage our technology every day to become truly data-driven.</div>About the Role Fivetran and dbt Labs are bringing together two industry-leading companies with a shared mission: helping organizations unlock the full value of their data. Together, we’re delivering the data infrastructure layer that helps organizations move, transform, and trust their data — from the moment data moves, through every transformation, to the context teams and AI systems rely on. Fivetran helps organizations automate data movement across the systems, clouds, engines, and tools they rely on. dbt Labs pioneered analytics engineering, helping teams transform data into reliable, governed insights. Together, we support thousands of organizations as they build a trusted foundation for analytics, AI, and better business decisions. As we bring our teams and technology together, we’re building on the strengths of both companies while continuing to deliver the products and experiences our customers know and trust. It’s an exciting time to join us: we’re creating a company with the scale, talent, and technology to help more organizations put their data to work with greater speed, confidence, and impact. During this transition period, you may see references to both Fivetran and dbt Labs throughout our recruiting process as we integrate our teams, systems, and career sites. As a Staff SDET, you'll lead from the front — owning shared automation infrastructure, influencing release quality strategy, and driving initiatives that span teams and systems. The role sits at the intersection of hands-on engineering, architectural leadership, and org-wide quality influence, with an emphasis on leveraging AI-driven solutions to accelerate testing and enhance developer productivity. This is a full-time position based out of our Oakland office. Our hybrid work model offers a blend of remote flexibility and in-person collaboration, including two days in the office each week to connect and build as a team. Technologies You’ll Use <ul> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> Languages: Java 17+, JUnit, REST Assured, Shell scripting; Python (optional) </li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> Infra & Tooling: Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform, Bazel, Buildkite </li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> Cloud: AWS, GCP, Azure </li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> Observability: Grafana, Prometheus, Datadog </li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> CI/CD: Jenkins, CircleCI, GitHub Actions </li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> Databases: Postgres, MongoDB </li> </ul> What You’ll Do <ul> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> Architect internal tools, libraries, and utilities for test automation and benchmarking </li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> Define and evolve quality strategies covering testability, release readiness, performance, and reliability </li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> Drive cross-org quality initiatives to improve execution speed, observability, and feedback loops </li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> Identify systemic risks in business-critical systems and implement robust validation strategies </li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> Mentor engineers, influence design for testability, and champion best practices across the org </li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> Collaborate with engineering and product leaders to align testing priorities with business objectives </li> </ul> Skills We’re Looking For <ul> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> &

Job highlights

•Role: Staff Software Development Engineer in Test
•Company: Fivetran
•Location: Oakland, California, United States, AMER
•Experience: Senior
•Seniority: Senior
•Posted: Jul 16, 2026

Key skills: JUnit · REST Assured · Jenkins · Docker · Kubernetes · Java · Python · AWS · Azure · GCP

How to prepare for this interview

A 5-step prep plan tailored to this job's stack.

1Refresh at least one automation framework (Selenium or Playwright) end-to-end — the interview will drill into it. Selenium interview questions →
2Practice API-testing scenarios — auth flows, contract validation, and running collections in CI. API testing Q&A →
3Warm up on SQL joins, group-bys, and window functions — most QA rounds include a data-validation query. SQL Q&A →
4Run a senior-level mock interview covering system design for test frameworks and CI strategy. AI Mock Interview →
5Run your CV through the ATS review so it clears keyword filters for this role before you apply. Resume ATS Review →

Likely interview questions for this role

Tuned to the stack we detected on this job.

Q1.How do you design a test suite for a REST API from an OpenAPI spec?
Q2.How do you handle authentication (OAuth / JWT) inside automated API tests?
Q3.Write a SQL query to find duplicates across two columns and how you'd fix them in test data.
Q4.How do you design a load test scenario from a production traffic pattern?
Q5.Where do you use AI in your day-to-day QA workflow, and where do you avoid it?

Rehearse with AI Mock Interview Full interview prep guide

Salary context

Compensation not disclosed.

Fivetran hasn't disclosed a salary range for this senior role. Check our QA/SDET salary benchmarks to anchor your ask for Oakland, California, United States, AMER.

See QA/SDET salary benchmarks →