Performance Engineer

Title: Lead Performance Engineer

Location: Onsite in Bolingbrook, IL

Duration : 6 months to start, will extend

Job Overview:

THE IMPACT YOU CAN HAVE:

The Lead IT Analyst - Performance Engineering will be leading all aspects of Performance Testing including estimates, capturing NFRs & SLAs, defining KPIs, test planning, development of reusable performance test suite, test execution, monitoring, analyzing performance issues, tuning, root cause analysis and results reporting in a complex environment. The Lead need to support large-scale test executions in both agile and waterfall SDLC paradigms to evaluate performance and scalability of various Ulta on-prem & cloud systems, SaaS systems and Infrastructure using a variety of performance test tools such as LoadRunner, NeoLoad, CloudTest, JMeter etc... The Lead is responsible for managing both the timelines & resources for each project and must be capable of working hands-on as needed. The Lead will work alongside Architects, Technical Leads, Software Engineers, and Quality Engineers in a highly dynamic, fast paced, and collaborative environment to deliver high quality solutions.

Notes/Qualities Needed:

◦ Perm or CTH

◦ Performance engineering team is where this role sits

◦ Order management space probably main focused

◦ Team Makeup - 1 senior manager, has 2 leads. Srikanth handles consumer technology outside of digital store. Stalin handles all of enterprise systems mostly in SAP space so there is a gap in order and warehouse management

◦ End project testing, testing system under load. Some warehouse side, app testing emulating orders entering manhattan systems (WMS) and testing of warehouse tasks itself and outbound performance. How are those processes.

◦ Tools - neoload and jmeter (is Java application) but mostly neoload

◦ Dynatrace for tracking, that experience is helpful.

◦ Flexible - loadrunner and blazemeter are common competitors so those would be good instead of neoload if needed

◦ Not looking for someone who’s in database later needs someone at application layer. Not a fit if database testing

◦ Retail is helpful but not needed. High volume is good (insurance) retail definitely highly preferred

◦ Lead - leads are very hands on still, they’re going to managing other leads from consulting partners. Interacting with them and providing summaries out, presenting on findings and working with other team members to understand the system. Recommendations on what to fix etc

◦ Not a people leader role. After lead they choose a career path, manager of people or architect level. Team leads from this team usually go architect path because this role is tech lead not really people lead but they can find ways to make that happen if that is what candidate wants.

◦ Cloud - GCP not mandatory, they can learn it. They don’t react with the cloud platform for this that much, neoload and dynatrace have those capabilities

Description

YOU'LL ACCOMPLISH ALL THIS BY:

• Be a thought leader, motivate and provide direction to the performance test team as well as other participants of the project by building strong relationships across organizational boundaries and by ensuring a positive experience for all involved.
• Design and implement solutions to evaluate & optimize the performance and scalability of various applications. This includes component level, application level and end to end integrated performance testing scenarios.
• Lead the creation and execution of performance test plans by capturing test requirements, test conditions, data strategy, acceptance criteria and assumptions.
• Deliver the tasks as defined in the approved test plan and per the defined schedule by maintaining records of relevant information.
• Design, Develop and Maintain performance test scripts using a variety of performance test tools such as LoadRunner, NeoLoad, CloudTest, JMeter etc...
• Develop the data strategy and prepare data meeting the quantity requirements and with quality.
• Identify, analyze, and create detailed records of performance related problems that appear during performance testing and work with the team to find solution and coordinate the re-testing procedure. Ensure that such problems are fully documented within the relevant reporting system(s).
• Lead the performance test team and collaborate with business & other IT partners for delivering the tasks on time and with quality.
• Act as a single point of contact by developing, maintaining, and working to stakeholder engagement strategies and plans by facilitating open communication and discussion.
• Ensure all performance related risks are reported, escalated, and managed through to resolution.
• Instrumental in making sure all systems are holiday load ready through out the year.

ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Profile application performance using different workload models to understand performance concerns and to implement tuning as needed.
• Evaluate performance related patterns and trends.
• Drive performance engineering as an integral part of SDLC.
• Contribution to continuous improvement of performance testing standards and processes.

ESSENTIALS FOR SUCCESS:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, MIS/CIS or equivalent professional experience
• Must have Performance Testing as the primary competency and comfortable to act as a hands-on lead and by managing a performance test team spread across onshore & offshore
• Must have 8 years of progressive performance testing experience in waterfall, agile and hybrid delivery models using load emulation tools like LoadRunner, JMeter, NeoLoad, CloudTest etc.…
• Expert level proficiency in Estimation, NFR gathering, Test Plan, Workload models, Test Scenario Design, Test Environment setup, Test Data Setup, Test Execution and Defect Management covering complex end to end flows
• Strong Performance testing experience with technologies like Java EE, .NET, SAP, Web Services, Micro Services, SQL, No-SQL, Tibco, MQ, Docker, Kubernetes etc.…
• Experience in performance testing of both on-prem and cloud solutions (GCP/Azure/AWS)
• Experience in Performance Engineering concepts along with an ability to define performance monitoring requirements and alert thresholds using APM tools like Dynatrace, New Relic etc.…
• Understanding and experience with DevOps and CI/CD pipelines
• Ability to perform root cause analysis by coordinating with the respective teams and bring issues to closure with acceptable resolutions in a timely manner
• Ability to manage through conflicting priorities and tight deadlines, while maintaining quality deliverables across projects
• Must be results oriented, and demonstrate a ‘can‐do’ attitude with attention to detail and with excellent written, verbal, relationship-building and problem-solving skills
• Performance testing experience in a retail domain covering systems like eCommerce / Web / Mobile, Order management, Supply Chain & POS systems is highly desired
• Flexibility of providing support during odd hours, weekends, and peak seasons
• Minimal travel required (training/conferences)