Job Details
Item | Details |
Job Title | IT Software Engineer 2 – SDET / Software Test Automation |
| | |
Location | Chicago, IL |
Work Arrangement | Onsite – 5 days/week |
Start Date | October 12, 2026 |
Duration | 12 months |
Interview | 2 rounds – virtual screening followed by onsite interview in Chicago |
Position Overview
Caterpillar is seeking a Software Test Engineer / SDET to support the System Integration Testing (SIT) team. This is primarily a backend/API test automation position focused on developing automated testing solutions using Java, Cucumber/BDD, and REST APIs.
The engineer will design, develop, execute, and maintain automated tests, validate backend services, and support end-to-end system integration testing. Strong Java coding and API testing experience is critical.
UI testing alone is not sufficient for this role.
Key Responsibilities
- Develop and maintain Java-based test automation solutions.
- Extend and enhance existing test automation frameworks.
- Design and execute automated tests for REST APIs and backend services.
- Develop and maintain Cucumber/BDD test scripts.
- Understand business requirements and acceptance criteria and translate them into test strategies, test cases, and automation scripts.
- Plan, design, develop, and maintain API test automation frameworks.
- Support System Integration Testing (SIT) and end-to-end integration testing.
- Develop automated functional and integration tests using tools such as Java, Cucumber, Karate, and JMeter.
- Create and maintain test data and SQL queries for validation.
- Perform exploratory and manual testing when appropriate.
- Support CI/CD automation for testing and quality validation.
- Troubleshoot test failures and backend/API issues.
- Collaborate with developers, product owners, business users, and other test engineers.
- Provide technical guidance and support to team members on automation practices.
- Document test strategies, test cases, automation frameworks, and results.
Required Qualifications
Education & Experience
- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related field preferred.
- Target experience: 2–4 years of overall professional experience.
- Candidates with additional experience may be considered if their background aligns with the role and they are comfortable working at the Level 2/junior level.
- At least 2 years of Java experience.
- At least 2 years of Cucumber/BDD experience.
- At least 2 years of test automation experience.
Must-Have Technical Skills
- Java
- Strong hands-on Java development/coding experience.
- Candidates should be comfortable with Java coding during the interview.
- REST API Testing
- Strong hands-on experience testing REST APIs.
- Understanding of API methods, backend architecture, and API behavior.
- Ability to design and execute API test scenarios.
- Cucumber / BDD
- Experience writing Cucumber test scripts.
- Understanding of BDD testing concepts and frameworks.
- JBehave or similar BDD frameworks are also relevant.
- Test Automation
- Hands-on experience developing automated test scripts and test cases.
- Experience designing or working with automation frameworks.
- SQL
- Ability to write SQL queries and validate data in relational databases.
- System Integration Testing
- Experience with full-stack/integration testing.
- Experience testing integrations with third-party systems.
- End-to-end system integration testing experience.
- Performance Testing
- Experience developing scenario-based performance tests using JMeter.
Strong Preference
- Karate
- Python
- AWS Cloud
- TDD
- CI/CD
- Jenkins
- Git
- Apigee or other API gateways
- Microservices architecture
- Load and performance testing
- Agile/Lean development practices
- Code review practices
- Strong technical documentation skills
Technical Focus
The role is primarily focused on:
Java → API Testing → Test Automation → Cucumber/BDD → Backend Testing → System Integration Testing
Candidates with both API and UI testing experience are welcome, but strong backend/API testing is required.
Not a Strong Fit
- Primarily manual testers without automation experience.
- Primarily UI testers without strong API testing experience.
- Candidates without hands-on Java experience.
- Candidates without hands-on REST API testing experience.
- Candidates who cannot commit to working onsite 5 days per week in Chicago.
- Strong Java coding skills with hands-on development experience.
- Must be able to write and test their own code.
- Hands-on experience with Selenium for UI automation.
- Hands-on experience with Cucumber/BDD framework.
- Experience developing, executing, and maintaining automated test scripts.
- Ability to identify defects and troubleshoot issues independently.
- The candidate should have actual hands-on coding and automation experience, not just exposure or training.
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