Senior Software Engineer, Design in Test (SDET)
BlackSky · Seattle, WA
$135,000–$155,000from the description
Jul 5, 2026
Seattle, WA
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A development-heavy testing role focused on building automated test frameworks, API and UI test suites, and simulators that replicate third-party systems and network conditions — all in Python, with some Go. The engineer also monitors CI/CD pipeline runs, investigates failures, and works alongside developers to confirm fixes. It suits someone with deep hands-on software development experience who specializes in test automation for distributed, API-driven systems.
Senior level · 6+ years · Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA · Full-time
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
We read this from the posting text with AI. Skim the description below before ruling yourself out.
How this req sits in the market our data
Roughly 340 people in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA area plausibly meet what this posting asks for (software quality assurance analysts and testers). range 120–440
Applicant volume Moderate — A normal amount of company. The rare requirements below are what will separate a shortlisted application from the rest.
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $132,542 (middle half $100,574–$171,909). This posting is about at that midpoint.
Estimated from BLS employment for this occupation and area, per-skill prevalence across our listing corpus, and published wage benchmarks — as of Jul 28, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (8)
This role is heavily development-focused (building test frameworks, simulators, and automation infrastructure in Python/Go), making it a genuine hybrid between 15-1253 (QA/Test) and 15-1252 (Software Developers). 15-1253 was chosen as primary because the role's stated purpose and title center on test engineering and quality assurance.
The JD states 'minimum of six (6) years of experience as a Software Test Engineer, Automation Engineer, or SDET' — this is the total experience gate.
A Bachelor's degree is listed as required but the JD explicitly accepts 'equivalent additional experience of four years' in lieu of a degree, so the degree requirement is treated as None.
The posting requires US-born citizenship (not merely work authorization or ability to obtain clearance), which is stricter than a standard security clearance gate. No formal clearance level is named, so the clearance requirement is set to None, but hiring managers should note this citizenship restriction.
Postman/Newman: the JD lists Postman/Newman as 'preferred' within the required qualifications section ('preferred' qualifier used inline). However, the broader API test automation requirement is a hard gate; Postman/Newman is captured as a required skill with Newman as an alternative since they are used together.
Jira/XRay and Slack are listed together as examples of reporting/integration tools under required qualifications ('or similar tools'); they are captured as a single skill with alternatives to reflect the interchangeable framing.
RabbitMQ, Kafka, Go, airgapped deployments, performance/load testing, defense/aerospace background, geospatial experience, and a Master's degree all appear under the explicit 'Preferred Qualifications' section.
The role is hybrid (Seattle and Tukwila, WA offices, ~2 days/week onsite), not fully remote.
Read the full posting
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