Software Engineer/Stress & Performance Testing (contract)

Title: Software Engineer 4/Stress & Performance Testing

Location: 1525 W W T Harris Blvd, Charlotte, NC

Irving, TX

Chandler, AZ

Duration: 24 months

Work Engagement: W2

Work Schedule: 3 days in office/2 days remote

Benefits on offer for this contract position: Health Insurance, Life insurance, 401K and Voluntary Benefits

Summary:

In this contingent resource assignment, you may: Consult on complex initiatives with broad impact and large-scale planning for Software Engineering. Review and analyze complex multi-faceted, larger scale or longer-term Software Engineering challenges that require in-depth evaluation of multiple factors including intangibles or unprecedented factors. Contribute to the resolution of complex and multi-faceted situations requiring solid understanding of the function, policies, procedures, and compliance requirements that meet deliverables. Strategically collaborate and consult with client personnel.

In This Role:

• Design and execute performance, load, and capacity tests across distributed systems
• Build, maintain, and enhance test scripts using LoadRunner and Postman
• Analyze performance across microservices running in Kubernetes/OpenShift (OCP) environments
• Monitor system behavior using Splunk, SPLOC, Grafana, and AppDynamics to identify performance trends and anomalies
• Perform deep-dive root cause analysis across application, infrastructure, and network layers
• Evaluate JVM behavior, including garbage collection, CPU, memory, heap utilization, and thread performance
• Develop and utilize service virtualization (stubs/mocks) to enable testing in constrained or dependent environments
• Test and validate event-driven systems leveraging Kafka and caching layers such as Redis
• Partner with engineering, architecture, and DevOps teams to drive performance improvements and scalability
• Contribute to performance engineering strategy, including CI/CD integration and shift-left practices

Key Responsibilities:

• Test Strategy & Execution:

Design, develop and execute comprehensive performance test plans, scenarios, and workloads to validate scalability, stability, and throughput.

Build, maintain, and customize performance test scripts to accurately simulate real-world traffic and complex system behaviors.

• Performance Monitoring:

Leverage observability tools (Splunk, SPLOC, Grafana, AppDynamics) to monitor system health and identify constraints.

• Analysis & Troubleshooting:

Identify bottlenecks, isolate root causes, and provide clear, actionable recommendations.

• Service Virtualization:

Design and implement stubbed or virtualized services to simulate dependencies and enable controlled, repeatable testing.

• Collaboration:

Work directly with developers, architects, and platform teams to resolve performance issues and improve system design.

• Requirement Definition:

Establish and validate performance benchmarks including SLAs, response time thresholds, and concurrency limits.

Job Expectations:

• Independently own performance testing efforts from planning through execution and analysis
• Deliver clear, data-driven insights and recommendations—not just test results
• Identify and escalate performance risks early, with proposed mitigation strategies
• Troubleshoot complex performance issues across multiple system layers with minimal guidance
• Maintain high-quality documentation of test approaches, scripts, and findings
• Contribute to continuous improvement of performance engineering practices and frameworks
• Engage proactively with engineering teams to ensure performance is built into the system—not tested at the end

Required Qualifications:

Applicants must be authorized to work for ANY employer in the U.S. This position is not eligible for visa sponsorship.

• Strong hands-on experience with performance testing tools
• Proven experience testing RESTful and SOAP APIs and distributed systems
• Solid understanding of container platforms such as Kubernetes/OpenShift (OCP)
• Experience working in cloud-based, microservices architectures
• Proficiency with monitoring and observability tools such as Splunk, SPLOC, Grafana, AppDynamics
• Strong understanding of JVM performance tuning, garbage collection, and memory management
• Demonstrated experience with service virtualization
• Scripting/programming experience (C, Java, Python, or similar) sufficient to customize and troubleshoot tests

Desired Qualifications:

• Hands-on experience with messaging systems (Kafka)
• Experience with caching technologies such as Redis
• Experience integrating performance testing into CI/CD pipelines
• Strong understanding of API gateways, middleware, and end-to-end system flows
• Experience with network-level concepts (latency, proxies, load balancing)
• Familiarity with troubleshooting across layers (client, API, platform, infrastructure)
• Experience in financial services or other regulated environments

Soft Skills:

• Strong analytical and critical thinking skills
• Ability to quickly isolate problems and drive toward resolution
• Clear and concise communication of technical findings to stakeholders
• Self-driven with minimal need for oversight
• Ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced, high-expectation environment
• Strong sense of ownership and accountability