Python automation engineers with fixed income experience.

Title- Python automation engineers with fixed income experience.
Location: Charlotte, NC- 2 DAYS ONSITE
Interviews: Virtual


Job Summary:
" The meeting focused on intake requirements for four mid-level Python automation engineers to support QA automation in a fixed income sales and trading platform environment.
" While final approval is still pending, the main roadblock has been removed, and approval is expected within 1 2 weeks.
" The team plans to begin sourcing candidates now so they can move quickly once approved.
" The roles require strong Python skills plus deep recent fixed income/swaps domain expertise, as the hires will assess and potentially rebuild dysfunctional UI and API automation suites tied to the internal Polaris platform

Required Skills and Experience
" Python is mandatory
" Candidates must have fixed income domain expertise, especially in:
" interest rate swaps
" caps/floors
" swaptions
" basis swaps
" cross-currency products
" inflation swaps
" related OTC derivatives
" Candidates must understand:
" how trades/deal tickets are structured
" business validations for automated testing
" fixed income workflows in sales and trading systems
" The most important differentiator is recent hands-on fixed income experience
" Candidates who have been out of the space for 1.5 2 years are unlikely to be a fit
" H1B candidates are not being considered

Technical Environment and Assessment
" Existing and future frameworks are Python-based
" Technical screening will use CoderPad
" Interview test includes:
" writing a Python program
" troubleshooting/debugging a pre-made program
" Technical test is about 1 hour
" Interview process after approval:
" automation architect technical review
" final screening by hiring manager and colleague
" no in-person final interview currently planned

Remarks:
AT A GLANCE
" Rob said the 4 automation engineer openings are not yet approved, but he expects approval in 1-2 weeks; the prior blocker was removed, and a new stakeholder/backfill started this week.
" The roles support SNBC's fixed income sales/trading platform "Polaris (homegrown, similar to Murex/Calypso/Sophis) and require strong Python plus deep fixed income/swaps domain expertise; candidates who do not know the products will not be hired.
" Required product knowledge includes interest rate swaps/vanilla, caps/floors, cap straddles, butterfly swaps, curve swaps, European swaptions, Bermudians, swap straddles, basis swaps, collars, cross-currency, mark-to-market basis swaps, swap spreads, forward rate agreements, non-deliverable IRS/swaps, inflation swaps, global swaps, and index TRS.
" The team's mandate is to assess and remediate a broken automation environment built over the last 12-18 months: about 500-600 UI automated test cases and roughly 10,000 API tests (effectively a few hundred unique tests with permutations). Rob said Polaris is "a disaster, with monthly releases followed by 6-8 patch releases fixing multiple production bugs because regression automation has major gaps.
" Candidates must be currently immersed in fixed income derivatives/OTC products; Rob said people coming from adjacent areas like equities derivatives, or those out of the space for 1.5-2 years, are unlikely to succeed. He wants pedigree similar to hires Greg Szymanski and Chandra Komana, who came from Wells and worked on a similar sales/trading platform.
" Position details: Charlotte-based, currently onsite Monday and Thursday minimum (likely to increase later), up to $120/hour, initially through Fieldglass for up to 18 months with possible conversion typically after about 9 months minimum; no H1B candidates. Interview process includes a ~1-hour Python CoderPad test (write a program + troubleshoot pre-made code), then review by the automation architect, followed by final screening with Rob and a colleague.
Key Topics
Hiring Status and Timing
" No roles have been officially approved yet
" Approval is expected in about 1 2 weeks
" A prior blocker has been removed, and leadership will brief the new stakeholder
" Team wants to get a jump start on sourcing before formal approval
Role Scope
" Hiring for 4 automation engineers
" Main responsibilities:
" Review existing UI and API automation suites
" Determine whether current automation is:
" salvageable
" partially reusable
" or should be fully replaced
" Analyze both:
" UI automation framework
" API automation framework
" Support a broader QA transformation effort
Business Context
" Work is tied to Polaris, a homegrown internal platform for swaps trading
" Platform quality is currently a major issue:
" Monthly releases are followed by 6 8 patch releases
" Production bugs are slipping through due to automation gaps
" Parallel workstreams are planned:
" Manual testing improvements
" Automation suite remediation/rebuild
Contract Details
" Contract duration:
" up to 18 months
" possible conversion to full-time
" conversion discussions typically begin after 9 months
" Location: Charlotte
" Current in-office expectation:
" Monday and Thursday minimum
" Team expects office attendance may increase in the future
Candidate Profile Guidance
" Strong comparison profiles may come from similar sales and trading platform environments
" Examples of comparable prior hires were shared for sourcing calibration
" Relevant background may include firms such as Wells Fargo
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Key Insights
" Domain expertise is more critical than pure technical strength
" These are not standard automation roles; hires must be able to interpret complex fixed income products and testing scenarios
" The automation team will function like a SWAT team, quickly taking ownership of the existing automation repo and deciding how to remediate it
" Current API test volume is large (~10,000 tests) but many are permutations of a smaller core set
" There are approximately 500 600 UI automated test cases to review
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Decisions Made
" Begin candidate sourcing immediately ahead of formal approval
" Target candidates with:
" Python automation experience
" recent fixed income/swaps expertise
" ability to evaluate and triage existing automation frameworks
" Use CoderPad-based Python assessment as part of the screening process
" Submit candidates first through resumes/profiles and write-ups; move them into Fieldglass once narrowed for interview alignment
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Next Steps
" Hiring manager / leadership
" Meet with the new stakeholder and push for approval of the 4 roles
" Expected timeline: within 1 2 weeks
" Recruiting team
" Start sourcing candidates immediately
" Focus on profiles with:
" Python automation
" fixed income/swaps knowledge
" recent relevant domain immersion
" Review backgrounds similar to the example hires shared
" Recruiting team and hiring manager
" Once approval is granted, align selected candidates to the appropriate Fieldglass requisitions
" Begin technical screening and interview process quickly
" Hiring team
" Run technical assessments through CoderPad
" Conduct final screening after technical review