Mariah Szarek

Director – IT Portfolio Management Location: White Plains, NY or Miami, FL (Hybrid – 3 days/week in office) Travel: Domestic travel required (Miami & Cincinnati)

About the Role: A global industry leader is seeking an experienced Director – IT Portfolio Management to drive strategic portfolio management, IT performance reporting, and talent development. This high-visibility role requires a strong leader who can influence executive stakeholders, bring structure to IT portfolio management, and establish a "System of Work" for IT. Key Responsibilities:

• Define and manage the IT Portfolio of projects and priorities to align with business goals.
• Develop the "System of Work" framework to optimize IT demand management and execution.
• Manage incoming IT project requests, assessing impact and prioritizing work.
• Partner with executives to evaluate project feasibility and strategic alignment.
• Utilize Smartsheets, Excel, and PowerPoint for portfolio tracking, reporting, and presentations.
• Establish IT performance metrics, KPIs, and reporting frameworks.
• Lead IT communications efforts to articulate the value of IT initiatives.
• Oversee IT workforce planning, talent development, and upskilling initiatives.
• Manage contract resources supporting portfolio intake and IT communications.

Qualifications & Experience:

Must-Have:

• 10+ years of IT leadership experience in portfolio management and governance.
• Strong ability to work with C-suite executives, influence decisions, and drive strategic alignment.
• Hands-on experience with Smartsheets, Excel, and PowerPoint for reporting and planning.
• Proven ability to operate independently in complex IT environments.
• Excellent communication skills with experience translating technical concepts into business language.

Nice-to-Have:

• Experience in IT talent management, marketing, or communications.
• PMP, ITIL, or relevant certifications.
• Background in aviation, logistics, or highly regulated industries.
• Familiarity with OKRs for performance tracking.

Why Join Us?

• Lead and shape IT portfolio management at a global organization.
• High-impact role with exposure to senior leadership.
• Influence strategic IT initiatives and drive execution.
• Collaborative, fast-paced IT culture with growth opportunities.

If qualified and interested, send application and resume today!  

 

Lead SDET – Hybrid: Our direct client, a fast-growing FinTech firm, is looking for a Lead Software Developer in Test (SDET).  In this role, you’ll bring practical knowledge of agile development methodologies and engineering best practices. As a Software Developer in Test (SDET), you’ll work closely with the Development and Testing team. The ideal candidate would be a combination of a hands-on developer who has some managerial experience, and who can understand existing automation test frameworks and has an ability to enhance and implement the same and should also be able to work with other engineers and product managers to support feature-based testing. This position can be in NYC or Greenwich, CT, 4 days per week onsite is expected.  Base salary in the $150-170K range, DOE plus generous bonus and stock options.   Responsibilities

• Managing a mid sized team
• Build and implement robust automated test suites.
• Integration of automated test suites with the current build and deployment processes.
• Maintenance of automated tests to accommodate changes in system design and architecture.
• Integration of Automation framework with existing tools (JIRA).
• Create/Manage/Utilize Defect workflows with automated test execution.
• Design and publish meaningful metric to support automation test creation and execution.
• Build and implement performance test suites.
• Perform all types of testing – Functional. API, Automation, Performance and Load

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience with QA engineering delivery experience
• 4+ years of delivery within Agile SDLC/teams ideally with CICD
• Experience managing a team
• Programming experience in Java with focus on behavior driven development (BDD) and test-driven development (TDD) and design patterns, ideally within continuous integration (CICD)
• Experience with Java microservices and REST APIs and exposure to React front end
• Agile development approach
• Technologies: Java, JavaScript, IntelliJ/Eclipse
• CICD: Maven, Sonar, Git, Teamcity/Jenkins, Docker
• Exposure to banking and/or finance environments preferred
• Testing: Junit, WebdriverIO, Protractor, JMeter or similar

  

Senior AWS/Linux Cloud Engineer - Hybrid  About the Role The Platform Infrastructure Group plays a critical role in keeping all Platform environments running smoothly and securely.  As part of the Cloud Architecture Team, the AWS Cloud Engineer will be wearing multiple hats in a highly visible role interacting with several external stakeholders within the business.  This AVP role assumes willingness to think like an owner, helping move projects along, provide technical advisory capacities and be pro-active in continually automating and scaling our environment. This role is hybrid on-site, requiring 4 days per week in either the NYC or Greenwich, CT office. Responsibilities

• Act as the infrastructure architect with proven experience building secure, automated and scalable AWS infrastructure.
• Use a good understanding of DevOps principles and cloud networking to promote and implement AWS best practices and security.
• Build, enhance and support EKS clusters, and many other services such as API gateways, Transit Gateway, and other edge and compute services.
• Wear an SRE hat, helping to troubleshoot performance and deployment issues as well as improving our monitoring strategies.
• Write and update self-service tools used internally by developers.

  Qualifications

• 6+ years of DevOps or SRE experience with at least 4 years of AWS experience
• Microservices (Docker, Kubernetes) experience in a production environment is required
• Strong Linux OS-level and command-line/scripting knowledge and configuration management principles?
• Able to code in Python or Ruby?is preferred
• Great verbal and written communication skills
• Able to design and implement complex, but easily managed, automated infrastructure
• A desire to share, teach and learn as part of a team

    Benefits The base salary range for this role is $120,000 to $160,000. (inclusive only of base salary, and exclusive of other potential competitive benefits such as bonus payments, and equity). Our ranges are very broad to accommodate all types of candidates and encourage growth. Specific compensation offered to a candidate may be dependent on factors such as education, experience, qualifications, and alignment with market data. Exceptional candidates may receive salaries outside of the posted ranges. We believe the best ideas and innovation happen when we are together. Employees in this role will work in the office Monday-Thursday, with the flexibility to work remotely on Friday. This role can be based in either the NYC or Greenwich, CT office.   

For our direct client near Norwalk, CT we seek a meticulous and skilled QA Tester with a strong background in eCommerce platforms to ensure the quality, usability, and reliability of the online shopping experience. The ideal candidate will be responsible for testing web and mobile applications, identifying issues, and collaborating with cross-functional teams to deliver flawless customer-facing solutions. Effective collaboration across time zones and global teams, strong communication skills, attention to detail, and the ability to balance technical and business expectations are essential for success in this role. Note this position requires 2 days/week onsite in the Wilton, CT office.  It is not near a train station, so transport via auto is a must.   Role and Responsibilities:  Test Planning & Execution: •    Develop, maintain, and execute test plans, test cases, and scripts for eCommerce websites and mobile applications. •    Perform functional, regression, performance, and cross-browser/device testing to validate features and fixes. Defect Management: •    Identify, document, and track bugs using tools like JIRA or Bugzilla. •    Collaborate with developers and product teams to resolve issues effectively. Automation Testing: •    Create and maintain automated test scripts using tools such as Selenium, Appium, or Cypress. •    Implement automation frameworks and suggest improvements for testing efficiency. Integration & API Testing: •    Test third-party integrations (e.g., payment gateways, shipping APIs) to ensure seamless operations. •    Validate API responses using tools like Postman or SOAP UI. Usability & Performance Testing: •    Assess website and app usability to ensure an optimal user experience. •    Collaborate with UAT testers and Products owners as applicable. Collaboration & Reporting: •    Work closely with developers, product managers, and UX designers to align testing with project goals. •    Provide regular reports on test progress, defect status, and quality metrics. Qualifications desired: •    Experience: o    5+ years of experience in QA testing, with a focus on e-commerce platforms. o    Familiarity with e-commerce technologies like SalesForce, Shopify, Magento, Woo Commerce, or custom solutions. •    Technical Skills: o    Proficient in manual and automation testing techniques. o    Hands-on experience with automation tools (e.g., Selenium, Appium). o    Knowledge of database querying (SQL) and debugging tools. o    Understanding of web technologies (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) and RESTful APIs. •    Soft Skills: o    Detail-oriented with strong analytical and problem-solving skills. o    Excellent communication and collaboration abilities.  •    Preferred/nice to have: o    Experience with Agile methodologies and tools (e.g., JIRA, Confluence). -     Experience testing web-based applications with a SalesForce behind the UI o    Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines and version control systems (e.g., Git). o    Knowledge of accessibility standards and testing tools (e.g., Axe, Wave). Education:  Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field.  

Sr. DevOps/SRE  – Hybrid: Our direct client, a fast-growing FinTech firm in New York City, is looking for a Senior DevOps/SRE Engineer to develop and maintain the production and development environments for a multi-party application. This role will utilize strong DevOps principles and advanced cloud capabilities to facilitate the infrastructure and automated CI/CD for a distributed ledger platform. The ideal candidate is a highly collaborative, creative, and intellectually curious DevOps Engineer. The person in this role should have solid experience in Site Reliability Engineering and is passionate about forming and implementing cutting-edge cloud computing capabilities.  4 days onsite work in the NYC midtown office is required.  Base salary is in the $160-200K range DOE, plus generous bonus and stock options.    Responsibilities 

• Design, implement, and manage AWS cloud infrastructure using Terraform and CloudFormation. 
• Develop and maintain CI/CD pipelines using GitLab for seamless code deployment and integration. 
• Collaborate with blockchain engineers to ensure optimal performance and security of the distributed ledger technology (DLT). 
• Monitor system performance using Grafana, Prometheus, and Datadog, and proactively address system issues. 
• Ensure high availability and reliability of the application across the end-to-end tech stacks. 
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to understand needs and deliver solutions that meet business objectives. 
• Lead and mentor junior team members, fostering a culture of continuous learning and improvement. 

  Qualifications 

• 8+ years of experience in DevOps, TechOps, or SRE, including at least 5 years working with AWS 
• Strong desire to experience microservices in a production environment, particularly with Docker and Kubernetes 
• Strong Linux OS-level, command-line and scripting knowledge (e.g., Bash, Python), and configuration management principles 
• Applicants should have a working knowledge of databases such as MongoDB, Postgres, and DynamoDB 
• Experience in architecting, implementing, and managing monitoring tools such as Prometheus/Grafana, CloudWatch, Splunk, Datadog, NewRelic, and ELK in the cloud 
• Experience with compute provisioning on Cloud-based platforms using Terraform and/or CloudFormation 
• Exceptional analytical skills, able to apply knowledge and experience in decision-making to arrive at creative and commercial solutions 
• Experience in building a Microservice-based architecture 
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills 
• Able to design and implement complex, but easily managed, automated infrastructure 
• A desire to share knowledge, teach, and learn as part of a collaborative team 
• AWS certifications are a plus 
• Experience developing or integrating with blockchain applications is preferred, but not required 

Performance Test Engineer - Vice President - Hybrid

This FTE position is with our direct client, who is at the forefront of transforming the financial services industry, providing a cutting-edge platform for alternative investment opportunities. We are looking for a Performance Test Engineer to join the team and help ensure the platform is scalable, reliable, and performant. If you're a passionate, hands-on technical leader with a deep understanding of performance testing and automation frameworks, this is your chance to make an impact.

About the Role

As a lead Performance Test Engineer, you will take charge of developing and optimizing performance test frameworks while collaborating with cross-functional teams, including Development, QA, and DevOps. You’ll bring hands-on experience with agile methodologies and engineering best practices, working closely with engineers and product managers to deliver exceptional software quality.

We’re looking for a blend of technical SDET expertise, leadership skills, and a proven ability to implement and enhance automation frameworks. This role requires you to design and execute sophisticated performance testing strategies, analyze results, and drive system improvements.

Key Responsibilities

• Performance Testing:
• Develop and maintain performance test scripts using tools like k6, JMeter, Locust, and Lighthouse.
• Execute diverse performance testing scenarios, including load testing, stress testing, spike testing, and endurance testing.

• Monitoring and Analysis:
• Utilize Grafana for monitoring and visualizing performance metrics, integrating with tools like Prometheus.
• Analyze test results to identify bottlenecks, recommend optimizations, and enhance system performance.

• Collaboration & Integration:
• Collaborate with developers, architects, and product teams to ensure performance requirements are met.
• Work with DevOps to integrate performance testing into the CI/CD pipeline.
• Provide actionable feedback to optimize application scalability and reliability.

• UI & Load Testing:
• Conduct UI load testing to ensure optimal user experience under varying conditions.

• Reporting & Insights:
• Generate detailed performance reports, highlighting trends, insights, and areas for improvement.
• Communicate findings effectively to technical and non-technical stakeholders. What We're Looking For

  We’re seeking a results-driven professional with a blend of hands-on technical skills and leadership experience.

  Required Skills & Qualifications:

  • Experience:
  • 10–12 years in QA, including 3–5 years of hands-on performance testing and engineering experience.

• Technical Expertise:
• Proficient in tools like k6 and JMeter; experience with Locust and Lighthouse is a plus.
• Strong scripting skills in Node.js (for k6) and familiarity with languages like Python or Groovy.
• Solid understanding of HTTP protocols, REST APIs, and microservices architecture.
• Hands-on experience with cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP).

• Monitoring & Optimization:
• Expertise in Grafana, Prometheus, and APM solutions like New Relic.

• Problem-Solving & Communication:
• Exceptional analytical skills to diagnose and resolve performance issues.
• Strong communication skills, capable of articulating technical findings to diverse audiences.

• Bonus Points:
• Experience with UI load testing tools like Lighthouse or HP LoadRunner.
• Background in building performance monitoring and alerting systems. Why Join Us?

  This company fosters innovation, collaboration, and growth. You'll work with a team of talented professionals dedicated to redefining industry standards, all while enjoying competitive benefits, ongoing development opportunities, and a supportive workplace culture.

  This is a hybrid position, 4 days a week in the mid-town NYC location very conveniently located near Grand Central Station, and the ability to work from home on Fridays. Base salary in the 150-170K range, DOE plus generous bonus and stock options.   Ready to Apply?

  If you’re ready to take your career to the next level and thrive in a dynamic, fast-paced environment, we’d love to hear from you. Apply now for immediate consideration!