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CORE QA · 5-DAY SHORTLIST

Hire an SDET

PassRidge sends a first shortlist for an SDET in about 5 working days from a complete brief. Each candidate has completed a role-specific assignment that we review. A mid-level hire in the US has a market median of $130k a year; the placement fee is 15-22% of first-year pay, due after the start date.

Request an SDET Cost calculator

Reply within one working day. Candidates stay anonymous until they agree to an introduction.

Hiring models

Four ways to hire an SDET.

The same vetted candidates under four contracts. Figures are for a mid-level hire, from the market median for this role.

Pricing by region

Permanent hire

A one-time placement fee after the start date. The engineer joins your payroll.

US, mid-level: $130k median pay, fee $23,400 (18%)

Pricing

Contract

An engineer on a fixed term, billed monthly at pay rate plus 22%.

US, mid-level: $106 an hour to you, $87 an hour to the engineer

Pricing

Outsourced team

Augmentation, a dedicated team, project work or managed QA from one hourly rate.

Mid-level from $38 an hour, $117 in the US

Models

Flex capacity

Vetted testers for 3-4 hours a day on a scoped task, for one to three weeks.

Task rate plus a 30% fee, billed on approved hours

Pricing
Cost calculator

What would your SDET team cost?

Compare a permanent hire, a contractor and each outsourcing model for this role. Change the inputs and the figures update. It is the same calculator as on the pricing page.

Pricing page

Your team

Used for permanent and contract hire.
Used for the five outsourcing models.

The calculator needs JavaScript. The tables below list the same figures for SDET by region and level.

Estimates for planning, not a quote. Permanent hire includes employer on-costs (15-32% by region), the placement fee and $3,600 a year for equipment and software. Outsourcing models bill 150 hours a month on average (1,800 a year after leave and public holidays). Management time, severance and exchange-rate movements are not included.

Rates by region

SDET pay and rates, published.

Pay is the market median for the role and level. Every rate below sits on top of it; none is lower.

SDET salary guide

Permanent

US dollars a year: market median pay by region and level, and the placement fee under it. Ranges span the countries in each region.

SDET permanent rates by region and level
RegionJuniorMidSeniorLead
United StatesNew York, Austin, San Francisco$100kfee $15k$130kfee $24k$170kfee $34k$200kfee $44k
United KingdomLondon, Manchester, Edinburgh$59kfee $9k$78kfee $14k$99kfee $20k$118kfee $26k
Western EuropeBerlin, Amsterdam, Lisbon, Barcelona$34–60kfee $6–9k$44–80kfee $8–15k$56–102kfee $12–21k$68–120kfee $15–27k
Central & Eastern EuropeWarsaw, Krakow, Prague, Bucharest$30–40kfee $5–6k$39–53kfee $7–10k$50–68kfee $10–14k$62–80kfee $14–18k
Latin AmericaSao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Bogota$40–47kfee $6–7k$53–62kfee $10–12k$67–78kfee $14–16k$80–95kfee $18–21k
AsiaBengaluru, Pune, Manila, Kuala Lumpur$16–23kfee $3–4k$22–29kfee $4–6k$27–38kfee $6–8k$32–45kfee $7–10k

Swipe the table sideways to see every level.

Contract

US dollars an hour. The large figure is what you pay PassRidge. The small figure is the engineer's pay rate.

SDET contract rates by region and level
RegionJuniorMidSeniorLead
United StatesNew York, Austin, San Francisco$82pay $67$106pay $87$139pay $114$163pay $134
United KingdomLondon, Manchester, Edinburgh$48pay $39$63pay $52$81pay $66$96pay $79
Western EuropeBerlin, Amsterdam, Lisbon, Barcelona$28–49pay $23–40$36–65pay $29–53$46–83pay $37–68$55–98pay $45–80
Central & Eastern EuropeWarsaw, Krakow, Prague, Bucharest$24–33pay $20–27$32–43pay $26–35$41–55pay $33–45$50–66pay $41–54
Latin AmericaSao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Bogota$33–38pay $27–32$43–51pay $35–42$55–64pay $45–52$66–77pay $54–63
AsiaBengaluru, Pune, Manila, Kuala Lumpur$14–19pay $11–15$18–24pay $15–20$22–31pay $18–26$26–37pay $22–30

Swipe the table sideways to see every level.

Outsourced

US dollars an hour for staff augmentation. Dedicated teams and managed QA are on the pricing page.

SDET outsourced rates by region and level
RegionJuniorMidSeniorLead
United StatesNew York, Austin, San Francisco$90$117$153$179
United KingdomLondon, Manchester, Edinburgh$51$67$86$102
Western EuropeBerlin, Amsterdam, Lisbon, Barcelona$33–57$42–76$53–97$65–114
Central & Eastern EuropeWarsaw, Krakow, Prague, Bucharest$33–36$38–47$50–60$59–71
Latin AmericaSao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Bogota$39–46$51–60$65–76$78–92
AsiaBengaluru, Pune, Manila, Kuala Lumpur$33$38$50$59

Swipe the table sideways to see every level.

Contract and outsourced rates include on-costs and margin; the method is on the pricing page. Prices in US dollars.

Selection stages

How we select an SDET.

Six stages, with the assignment written for this role. We describe the stages instead of quoting pass rates: they change with the market and the brief.

  1. Brief

    A 15-minute call or the request form: role, level, stack, time zone, budget range. We tell you the same day whether the range fits the market.

  2. Source

    We search our network of QA professionals by stack and evidence, not keyword. Recruiters who have tested software read the profiles.

  3. Technical assignment

    Each candidate completes a short, role-specific assignment. We review the output ourselves, and you get the results with the profile.

    For this role: A coding exercise: design a test harness for a small service, with data setup, contract tests and a CI step, and explain trade-offs in a design review.

  4. Recruiter interview

    Motivation, availability, pay expectations and right to work are confirmed, and the candidate agrees to the introduction.

  5. Shortlist

    Up to three profiles, anonymised until the candidate consents, each with assignment results, expected pay and notice period.

  6. Offer and start

    We coordinate interviews, references and the offer. For contract roles we handle onboarding and contracts. The fee is due after the start date.

Tip for your brief: Describe the architecture: monolith, services, event queues. SDETs earn their pay on testability in distributed systems.

Profile

What a shortlisted profile looks like.

An anonymised profile typical for this role. Real profiles carry the same four parts, and the name and employer stay hidden until the candidate agrees to an introduction.

  • Assignment results. The reviewed output of the role-specific exercise, not a self-rated skill list.
  • Evidence from past work. Three concrete facts about products, volumes and outcomes, confirmed in the recruiter interview.
  • Pay expectation and notice. What the candidate expects to earn and when they can start, so budget fit is known before you meet.
  • Consent to introduction. Identity and employer stay anonymised until the candidate agrees to be introduced.
AnonymisedCandidate A

Senior SDET

Experience
9 years in QA
Based in
Wroclaw, Poland
Notice period
60 days
Stack
JavaREST AssuredDockerk6GitHub Actions

Evidence

  • Built a contract-testing layer across 22 services and removed the shared staging bottleneck
  • Wrote the load-test harness that now gates every release
  • Contributes to the team's service code and reviews architecture for testability

Assignment: A coding exercise: design a test harness for a small service, with data setup, contract tests and a CI step, and explain trade-offs in a design review.

Job description

A SDET job description you can copy.

Choose a level and a country. The pay line starts at the market median for that level, so candidates see an honest range. Edit the team line to fit your product.

SDET (mid level)
Location: Remote, based in United States
Pay: $130k–$160k a year
Experience: 3-5 years in software testing

About the role
We are hiring an SDET (mid level) to join our product engineering team. Software engineer who owns test infrastructure, tooling and quality gates.

What you will do
- Design test frameworks and shared libraries used by several teams
- Build test environments, fixtures and service virtualisation
- Review production code for testability
- Own quality gates in the delivery pipeline
- Mentor developers on writing reliable tests

What we are looking for
- 3-5 years in software testing
- Strong programming (Java / C# / Python / TS)
- Design patterns
- CI/CD and containers
- Distributed systems basics
- Code review
- Hands-on with Playwright, REST Assured, Docker, GitHub Actions, k6, or tools like them
- Clear written English: bug reports and test notes others can act on

How we hire
1. A conversation with a recruiter about the role, your pay expectations and your start date
2. Role-specific exercise. A coding exercise: design a test harness for a small service, with data setup, contract tests and a CI step, and explain trade-offs in a design review.
3. An interview with the engineers you will work with
4. An offer, with the pay range stated above

FAQ

Hiring an SDET: your questions.

What is the difference between an SDET and a QA automation engineer?

An SDET is a software engineer who owns test infrastructure, tooling and quality gates, and often contributes to production code. An automation engineer builds and maintains the suites that run on top of it. The SDET costs more and is rarer.

Do SDETs want to do manual testing?

Rarely, and it wastes their pay. Hire a manual tester or business test analyst alongside and let the SDET focus on tooling.

How fast can you send a first shortlist for an SDET?

The median for this role is 5 working days from a complete brief. The assignment review is the longest step, and a brief with a clear stack and pay range shortens it. If your requirements are unusual we say so on the first call.

How much does it cost to hire an SDET?

Permanent placement is 15-22% of first-year base salary by level, paid after the hire starts. For a mid-level hire in the US that is $23,400 on a market median of $130k. Contract engineers are billed at the pay rate plus 22%. Use the calculator above for your country and team size.

What if the hire does not work out?

If a permanent hire leaves, or is dismissed for performance, within 90 days of starting, we run a replacement search at no extra fee. This is a clause in the client agreement, not a marketing promise.

Do you only send CVs?

No. Every shortlisted candidate has completed a role-specific technical assignment that we review, and a recruiter who has worked in testing has spoken to them. You get the assignment results with the profile.

Can I hire outside my country?

Yes. We recruit in 53 countries. For permanent hires abroad we can act as employer of record where you have no local entity. Contract engineers invoice through our local entity.

Request

Request an SDET.

Send level, country and a budget range. A recruiter confirms within one working day whether the range fits the market, and the first shortlist follows in about 5 working days.

JuniorMidSeniorLead

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