Senior Performance Engineer

Responsibilities

• Identifying high-priority performance issues within a complex application environment, including the debugging of errors and parsing of logs and stack traces.
• Leveraging Generative AI to accelerate the creation of complex performance scripts and the generation of large-scale synthetic test data.
• Working with other divisions (Support, Sales engineering, etc) to stay up-to-date on the performance of Ignition, and to gather information on common customer setups for the variety of different industries that Ignition is used in.
• Debugging complex issues within the tech stack (Web Browser, Java applications, Mobile applications) in order to analyze resource usage, and creating actionable strategies as a result of the profiling analysis.
• Utilizing tools like Wireshark for traffic filtering and packet analysis to troubleshoot network-related performance issues.
• Using and developing tools for quick application development and infrastructure deployment (Docker, Vagrant, Terraform) to simulate various production environments.
• Setting-up and querying SQL databases (MS SQL Server, MySQL) to analyze data integrity and query performance.
• Demonstrating sufficient proficiency in relevant Ignition product areas, and adequately testing all areas.
• Maintaining a proficient understanding of the company, our primary software deliverable and its purpose (Ignition), and our customer base.
• Collaborating with Developers, Product Managers, and QA Generalists to clarify requirements and provide feedback on functionality, usability, and performance.
• Identifying, documenting, and tracking defects using issue tracking tools, ensuring clear communication and resolution processes.
• Staying up to date with industry trends, tools, and technologies to continually enhance testing strategies.
• Breaking down complex performance automation development efforts into simpler phases that can be taken on by less experienced engineers.
• Resolving impactful performance automation tasks that improve the execution of the Support Division, Training Department, Sales Division, etc.
• Helping junior engineers with issues and support them with their technical growth.
• Improving team strength by advising managers and other leaders with insights and recommendations.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science/Engineering OR at least 4 years experience working in a related field.
• At least 5+ years of experience in a test automation engineering role focused on performance testing.
• Performance testing experience in the following areas: Proficiency in tools like JMeter, K6, or Gatling, Experience with APM tools like Grafana/Prometheus, Strong understanding of HTTP/HTTPS protocols and REST APIs, Strong programming knowledge and proficiency with at least one language, including understanding of functions, conditional statements, and intermediate/advanced object oriented concepts (Python, Java/JavaScript, TypeScript, C#, C++), Strong troubleshooting skills within a complex application environment, including debugging of errors, identifying performance issues, parsing of logs and stack traces, and determining reproducible steps for issues, Experience with coding in at least one modern IDE (Eclipse, IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm), Thorough understanding of the SDLC (Software Development Lifecycle) and each of the phases, Strong proficiency with source control management systems, such as Git, and common usage (clone and checkout of repositories and specific branches, commits and merge conflicts), Experience with setup and querying of SQL databases (MS SQL Server, MySQL, similar), Familiarity with Windows, Linux (Ubuntu), and macOS platforms, including working from the command line, and debugging issues with applications running as a service, Strong experience with bug tracking systems and writing proper bug reports, Skills Not Required, But a Plus: Experience using agentic AI in support of software quality activities, utilizing strategic implementation and proper governance, Experience with tools for quick application development and infrastructure deployment (Docker, Vagrant, Terraform, similar), Debugging of Java platform and Swing/JavaFX applications using JProfiler (or similar profiling tool), Experience with Maven and Gradle build tools, especially in coordinating builds with automated testing, Configuring continuous integration/continuous development servers (Jenkins), including creating and maintaining jobs/pipelines, Familiarity with manufacturing industry and HMI/SCADA software