About this opportunity
The Options Clearing Corporation lists this Lead Associate Principal, Software Engineering: Software Development Test (SDET) opportunity in chicago, Illinois. Review the employer’s description below for duties, qualifications and application requirements.
Job description
OCC's Enterprise Quality Engineering organization seeks an Associate Principal in Performance Testing to design and execute comprehensive performance and failover testing strategies across mission‑critical clearing, risk, and settlement systems. This role combines hands‑on performance engineering expertise to ensure systems meet regulatory RTO/RPO requirements, handling multi‑region failover scenarios, cloud‑native architectures, and distributed event‑driven systems.
Primary Duties and Responsibilities
Define test plans, load profiles, and ramp scenarios for high‑volume transaction systems
Execute tests using LoadRunner, JMeter, and Gatling
Analyze results and recommend optimizations
Lead DR testing across primary, secondary, and tertiary regions
Build and maintain performance test automation using Python, Java, and open‑source tools
Develop CI/CD‑integrated pipelines (Jenkins, GitHub Actions) for continuous performance validation
Implement regression testing to catch performance degradation from code changes
Validate application behavior across multi‑region deployments
Define and validate RTO/RPO targets for critical applications
Design failover scenarios (region switching, data replication, automation, post‑failover validation)
Partner with infrastructure/application teams to verify state consistency and data integrity during failover
Test replication lag, failover triggers, and cross‑region data consistency
Validate Kafka producer/consumer behavior under failover conditions
Confirm performance SLAs hold during region‑switching scenarios
Integrate test results with observability platforms
Maintain and evolve LoadRunner scripts and environments
Document methodologies, baselines, and trend analysis
Mentor QE engineers on performance and failover testing techniques
Collaborate with development, DevOps, and infrastructure teams on requirements and capacity planning
Ensure testing aligns with PGP compliance and financial market infrastructure regulations
Document test evidence to support regulatory audits
Validate performance SLAs meet regulatory RTO/RPO requirements
Supervisory Responsibilities: None
Qualifications
7+ years hands‑on experience in performance testing and engineering, including design and execution of complex performance test scenarios
5+ years designing and executing failover/DR testing across multi‑region architectures (cloud and hybrid environments)
Strong expertise in performance testing tools: LoadRunner (enterprise scaling), JMeter, Gatling, with ability to evaluate tool trade‑offs
Proficiency in scripting/programming: Python, Java, JavaScript, with ability to develop performance testing frameworks
Solid hands‑on experience with AWS cloud environments, including EC2, RDS, Kafka, and performance monitoring
Working knowledge of Kubernetes and containerized application performance testing (Docker, Kafka, event‑driven systems)
Experience with UC4 (Automic) job scheduling in test execution and orchestration
Hands‑on experience testing Kafka producer/consumer performance, lag validation, and message throughput
Strong understanding of relational databases (SQL Server, Oracle, DB2) and ability to write queries for performance analysis
Experience with CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, GitHub, GitLab CI) and integration of performance tests into automation
Proficiency with APM/observability platforms (Splunk, Dynatrace, AppDynamics) and correlation of test results with production telemetry
Working knowledge of Linux operating systems and command‑line tools for performance analysis
Experience with test management tools (Jira, Zephyr, SpiraTest) and defect tracking integration
Background in finance domain OR highly regulated, low‑latency, high‑availability systems (clearing, settlement, risk)
Experience with multi‑region testing (primary/secondary/tertiary architectures) with performance validation across regions
Technical Skills: Familiarity with AI/ML‑augmented testing tools for automated test case generation, self‑healing automation, and predictive defect analysis
Experience with API and contract testing (Postman, RestAssured, Pact) and service virtualization for testing complex distributed and microservices architectures
Understanding of Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) principles, SLIs/SLOs/SLAs, and how performance engineering feeds operational resilience metrics
Experience with observability/APM platforms (Splunk, Dynatrace, AppDynamics, AWS Vantage, Logic Monitor) and correlating test results with production telemetry
Testing Experience in multi region (primary/secondary/tertiary) hybrid architecture across cloud and on‑premise
Familiarity with FinOps or cost‑aware performance engineering practices in cloud environments
Experience testing critical financial market infrastructure (clearing, settlement, risk management, or exchange systems) or other highly regulated, low‑latency, high‑availability environments
Education and/or Experience: B.S. Degree in Computer Science, an analytical field, or equivalent practical experience required
7+ years of experience in the IT industry with 5+ years in Quality Engineering, tool architecture and orchestration including opensource and commercial toolset
5+ years of experience in Agile methodology
5+ years of experience in integration of Jira and Test management tool
Strong communication skills, written and oral, analytical abilities, problem solving skills, sound judgment and time management skills
Experience in creating automation scripts
Experience in developing automation frameworks
Experience in developing Jenkins pipelines
Experience in the Options and Futures industry is preferred
Certificates or Licenses: AWS certification and/or performance engineering certification preferred
About Us
The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) is the world's largest equity derivatives clearing organization. Founded in 1973, OCC is dedicated to promoting stability and market integrity by delivering clearing and settlement services for options, futures and securities lending transactions. As a Systemically Important Financial Market Utility (SIFMU), OCC operates under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. OCC has more than 100 clearing members and provides central counterparty (CCP) clearing and settlement services to 19 exchanges and trading platforms. More information about OCC is available at
Benefits
A hybrid work environment, up to 2 days per week of remote work
Tuition Reimbursement to support your continued education
Student Loan Repayment Assistance
Technology Stipend allowing you to use the device of your choice to connect to our network while working remotely
Generous PTO and Parental leave
401k Employer Match
Competitive health benefits including medical, dental and vision
Visit for more information
Compensation
The salary range listed for any given position is exclusive of fringe benefits and potential bonuses. If hired at OCC, your final base salary compensation will be determined by factors such as skills, experience and/or education. We typically do not hire at the maximum of the range in order to allow for future and continued salary growth. We also offer a substantial benefits package as noted on All employees may be eligible for a discretionary bonus. Discretionary bonuses are based on various factors, including, but not limited to, company and individual performance and are not guaranteed.
Salary Range $122,500.00 - $204,600.00
Incentive Range 8% to 15%
Equal Opportunity Employer
OCC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. OCC provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, citizenship status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, age, marital status, religion, veteran status, or any other characteristics protected by applicable federal, state, or local laws. Numerous studies have shown that people from certain groups are less likely than others to apply to jobs if they believe they do not meet 100% of the requirements. We encourage everyone to review our open positions and apply if you think your experience may be a match, even if you do not meet all of the qualifications.
Your perspective may be an element we need to continue building innovative solutions to support the markets and market participants we serve.
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Worksite address
chicago, IL, 60290, US
Who can apply
Review the original listing for work authorization, qualifications and employer requirements.