STEM OPT Software Development Engineer In Test Jobs
Software Development Engineer in Test roles sit squarely within STEM-designated fields, making them strong candidates for the 24-month STEM OPT extension beyond your initial 12 months. Your employer must be enrolled in E-Verify, and your degree in computer science, software engineering, or a related STEM field must align with the role.
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Get Access To All JobsBuild the crawlers and AI search algorithm behind Rotto: millions of candidate profiles, thousands of career pages, every day.
- $130k to $160k USD
- Early employee equity
- NYC
- In person
- Full time
- Health insurance
- 20 days PTO
- Visa sponsorship
- Relocation
Stack: Crawling · Scraping · Python · Playwright · Postgres · Vectors · Proxies · Anti-bot
About Rotto
Rotto is an AI search engine for recruiting. A recruiter describes the hire in plain English, and a hybrid semantic and lexical retrieval engine parses the intent, embeds it, and ranks millions of candidate profiles in real time.
It is built by the same team behind Migrate Mate, the job board for international talent in the US, which earned our founders Forbes 30 Under 30. We are a team of seven. We've raised $3M and are now hiring to scale Rotto and launch new products.
We move very fast with basically zero bureaucracy. You will work directly with the founders (& engineering team) every day. We work five days a week, 10 to 11 hours a day, in person, and occasionally on Saturdays. This is an ASAP hire: we would like you to start within weeks of an offer.
What you will work on
- Scrapers that pull jobs from thousands of company career pages and job boards, every day.
- The Postgres search that ranks millions of candidate profiles from a plain-English prompt.
- The cloud infrastructure both run on, and the cost and latency of every request.
What we are looking for
We don't care about years of experience, education or pedigree. We just want you to be cracked at owning & scaling backend systems.
Must haves
- You have built and run web scrapers in production (ideally against job boards).
- You have scaled cloud infrastructure in production.
- You obsess over detail and are great at making tradeoffs, e.g. cutting latency without raising the cost of a search.
- You are AI native but not AI reliant: you use AI to move fast, and understand what it writes well enough to change it without AI.
Nice to haves
- Strong Python.
- Headless browsers (Playwright, Selenium or similar), proxies and anti-bot work.
- Tuning Postgres or vector search: indexes, query plans, pgvector.
- You have worked at a web scraping, data provider or job board company.
- You have worked at (or founded) an early-stage startup.
Is this you?
You'll thrive if
- You learn unusually fast and can be useful on an unknown topic within a day.
- Not knowing doesn't scare you, it excites you to learn.
- You are happy with little structure and manage yourself.
- You have a can-do attitude. You solve hard challenges without complaining.
- You communicate clearly and can explain the same idea to a customer and to a senior engineer.
- You push back on bad ideas, without questioning every decision.
Don't apply if
- You want a clear spec, a roadmap and a process to follow.
- You want to work remotely or hybrid.
- You want a 40-hour week. "Nobody ever changed the world on 40 hours a week" - Elon Musk
- You need a big team around you before you can ship.
Work Authorization
We sponsor visas and will relocate the right person to New York. U.S. citizens, people with work authorization and people who need sponsorship can all apply.
US Citizens · Green Card Holders · E-3 · F-1 OPT · H-1B (transfer only) · H-1B1 · J-1 · O-1 · TN
How hiring works
- Apply: Two minutes, below.
- Assessment: If you are a fit, we email you a technical assessment.
- Code review call: We go through your code together.
- Culture-fit interview: We want to get to know you as a person.
- In-person trial: Work with us in NYC. We'll cover costs. Based on your schedule.
- Offer: You could be starting at Rotto within weeks.
Applications close when we find the right fit.
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Get Access To All JobsTips for Finding STEM OPT Authorization in Software Development Engineer In Test
Verify your CIP code before applying
Check that the CIP code on your I-20 maps to a STEM-designated program under the DHS STEM list. Computer science (11.0701) and software engineering (14.0903) both qualify, but information systems degrees sometimes don't without a CIP code review from your DSO.
Confirm E-Verify enrollment before accepting offers
Ask your recruiter for the employer's E-Verify company ID or look up their enrollment status through E-Verify's employer search tool. An employer not enrolled in E-Verify cannot legally employ you on STEM OPT, regardless of how far along you are in the hiring process.
Tailor your resume to SDET-specific testing frameworks
Hiring managers for SDET roles screen for hands-on experience with tools like Selenium, Pytest, or JUnit. Listing specific frameworks and the type of test coverage you built, unit, integration, or end-to-end, signals technical depth that generalist QA resumes lack.
Search for SDET roles on Migrate Mate to target E-Verify employers
Migrate Mate filters job listings to show employers already enrolled in E-Verify, which cuts out the back-and-forth of confirming eligibility after you apply. Use it to focus your search on SDET openings at companies set up to hire on STEM OPT.
Negotiate your I-983 training plan before your start date
The I-983 must document how your SDET work, writing automated test suites, building CI/CD pipelines, or owning regression coverage, relates to your STEM degree. Draft it with your manager before day one so USCIS reporting obligations don't catch you both off guard.
Time your STEM OPT extension application using the 90-day window
File your STEM OPT extension with USCIS no later than 90 days before your initial OPT EAD expires. USCIS processing can take several months, and filing early protects your continuous work authorization while the application is pending.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a Software Development Engineer in Test role qualify for the STEM OPT extension?
Yes. SDET roles fall under computer and information science or software engineering occupations, both of which are covered by DHS-designated STEM CIP codes. Your degree must align with one of those designated codes, and your DSO will confirm eligibility when you request the STEM OPT I-20 update. The role itself must also involve work directly related to your degree field.
How do I verify that a company hiring for SDET roles is enrolled in E-Verify?
Ask the recruiter or HR contact for the company's E-Verify employer ID, or check enrollment through E-Verify's public employer search. Enrollment is a federal requirement for STEM OPT employers, not just a preference. If a company can't confirm enrollment before your offer stage, you can't legally begin work on STEM OPT, so clarify this early in the process.
What should my I-983 training plan include for an SDET position?
Your I-983 must describe the specific learning objectives tied to your SDET work, such as building automated test frameworks, implementing test-driven development, or developing performance benchmarking systems. It should connect those activities to your STEM degree coursework. Both you and your employer sign it, and USCIS requires updates if your role or employer changes during the extension period.
What happens to my STEM OPT authorization if my H-1B is selected in the lottery but not yet effective?
If your H-1B visa petition is filed before your STEM OPT EAD expires and USCIS receives it by June 1, cap-gap protection extends your work authorization through September 30 of that year. Your SDET employment can continue without interruption during that window. Once October 1 arrives and your H-1B status becomes effective, your OPT authorization ends automatically.
Where can I find SDET jobs at companies already set up to hire STEM OPT students?
Migrate Mate is built specifically for STEM OPT job seekers and filters listings to show employers enrolled in E-Verify. That means you can browse SDET openings without having to separately verify whether each employer meets the STEM OPT employment requirement, which saves significant time during a job search where work authorization timelines are tight.