How to hire a performance test engineer

How to hire a performance test engineer, step by step

Here's a step-by-step performance test engineer hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a performance test engineer job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new performance test engineer
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a performance test engineer do?

Post a performance test engineer job for free, promote it for a fee

Post free

1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your performance test engineer job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a performance test engineer for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A performance test engineer's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, performance test engineers from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   This list shows salaries for various types of performance test engineers.

   Type of Performance Test Engineer	Description	Hourly rate
   Performance Test Engineer		$36-61
   Engineer Lead Quality Assurance Lead	Engineer Lead Quality Assurance Leads are responsible for managing the designing and operations of hardware or software testing. Their duties include developing testing plans, implement risk mitigation strategies, communicate process improvements to cross-teams such as marketing and engineering, resolve the conflict between teams, and ensures product or software adheres to the organization and industry standards... Show more	$40-68
   Test Analyst	The duties of a test analyst depend on one's line of work or industry of employment. In the information technology setting, a test analyst is responsible for testing computer software or hardware to ensure its quality before being released in the market... Show more	$26-42

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Java
   • Test Results
   • JMeter
   • C++
   • C #
   • Test Cases
   • Test Data
   • QA
   • Linux
   • Web Services
   • Dynatrace
   • Jenkins
   • Load Test
   • Performance Issues

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Used rundeck and Jenkins to automate the task, creating load for the test.
   • Analyze and profile performance issues with Dynatrace.
   • Used Dynatrace, JProbe tools for profiling the application to find out where the performance issue.
   • Monitor memory stacks, CPU utilization on AIX UNIX operating systems on application and database servers.
   • Document and track defects, using JIRA.
   • Work on JIRA performance testing which has multiple environments.

   More performance test engineer duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the performance test engineer job description is a good way to get more applicants. A performance test engineer salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

   For example, the average salary for a performance test engineer in Vermont may be lower than in California, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level performance test engineer. Additionally, a performance test engineer with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average performance test engineer salary

   $97,965yearly

   $47.10 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level performance test engineer salary

   $75,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 15, 2025

   Average performance test engineer salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$127,353	$61
   2	Washington	$114,651	$55
   3	New Hampshire	$108,014	$52
   4	Delaware	$106,006	$51
   5	Massachusetts	$102,912	$49
   6	Utah	$98,820	$48
   7	Connecticut	$97,171	$47
   8	District of Columbia	$95,732	$46
   9	Minnesota	$94,921	$46
   10	Colorado	$94,482	$45
   11	Ohio	$93,468	$45
   12	Pennsylvania	$93,338	$45
   13	New York	$93,087	$45
   14	Texas	$93,009	$45
   15	Illinois	$92,494	$44
   16	Georgia	$91,733	$44
   17	North Carolina	$90,151	$43
   18	Kansas	$90,108	$43
   19	Arizona	$89,850	$43
   20	Florida	$89,180	$43

   Average performance test engineer salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Apple	$141,857	$68.20	167
   2	Safeway	$134,060	$64.45
   3	Citi	$123,911	$59.57	1
   4	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	$122,918	$59.10	63
   5	Navis	$116,084	$55.81
   6	City National Bank	$115,836	$55.69	2
   7	Kaplan	$111,521	$53.62
   8	iHeartMedia	$110,439	$53.10	1
   9	Amd	$110,136	$52.95	17
   10	Cisco	$109,805	$52.79	68
   11	Tesla	$108,728	$52.27
   12	Northwest Evaluation Association	$108,580	$52.20
   13	State Street	$108,516	$52.17	2
   14	Randstad North America, Inc.	$107,939	$51.89	6
   15	IPC Systems	$107,728	$51.79
   16	Qualys	$107,254	$51.56
   17	Zions Bank	$106,222	$51.07
   18	Expedia Group	$105,971	$50.95
   19	The Vanguard Group	$105,267	$50.61	1
   20	Vanguard Services	$105,074	$50.52	4

4. Writing a performance test engineer job description

   A performance test engineer job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of a performance test engineer job description:

   Performance test engineer job description example

   Minimum qualifications:
   
   + Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or equivalent practical experience.
   
   + Experience with Python Scripting, Test Automation, Lab Tools, Board Bring-Up, and Data Analysis.
   
   + Experience with Linux/Unix system administration and networking, working in data centers and building out infrastructure.
   
   + Experience with developing software for hardware, writing embedded software, device drivers or kernel.
   
   Preferred qualifications:
   
   + Experience with Linux or other Unix operating systems (Ubuntu or RHEL) and shell scripts.
   
   + Demonstrated proficiency in more than one discipline related to hardware test, hardware qualification, and manufacturing such as signal integrity, power circuit testing, optical testing, network testing, scripting, and hardware test automation using Python.
   
   + Knowledge of computer systems such as physical, functional, logical, mechanical, electrical, software, thermal.
   
   + Ability to read and understand technical drawings such as schematics diagrams, datasheets, and written work instructions.
   
   + Excellent written/verbal communication with the ability to coordinate and manage the needs of multiple lab users.
   
   Our computational challenges are so big, complex and unique we can't just purchase off-the-shelf hardware, we've got to make it ourselves. Your team designs and builds the hardware, software and networking technologies that power all of Google's services. As a Hardware Engineer, you design and build the systems that are the heart of the world's largest and most powerful computing infrastructure. You develop from the lowest levels of circuit design to large system design and see those systems all the way through to high volume manufacturing. Your work has the potential to shape the machinery that goes into our cutting-edge data centers affecting millions of Google users.
   
   With your technical expertise, you lead projects in multiple areas of expertise (i.e., engineering domains or systems) within a data center facility, including construction and equipment installation/troubleshooting/debugging with vendors.
   
   Behind everything our users see online is the architecture built by the Technical Infrastructure team to keep it running. From developing and maintaining our data centers to building the next generation of Google platforms, we make Google's product portfolio possible. We're proud to be our engineers' engineers and love voiding warranties by taking things apart so we can rebuild them. We keep our networks up and running, ensuring our users have the best and fastest experience possible.
   
   + Support various hardware prototype bringup and qualification testing activities by developing Python automation test script to facilitate system performance regression testing and failure reproduction.
   
   + Design robust network, power and cooling infrastructure for high and medium touched labs with remote control functionality.
   
   + Develop software and infrastructure required for managing a fleet of test systems at scale to avoid manual configuration and test execution. Develop quality data collection systems and visualization of the data (ie.,measurements).
   
   + Provide integrated Software to synchronize test execution on Device-under-Test (DUT) with external smart measurement instrumentation.
   
   + Support team of hardware designers, qualification and test engineers, on project planning within hardware development labs, and ensure adequate resources are met as required.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right performance test engineer for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with performance test engineers they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit performance test engineers who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your performance test engineer job on Zippia to find and recruit performance test engineer candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites such as dice, engineering.com, stack overflow, it job pro.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with performance test engineer candidates should focus on their interest in the role and background experience. As the hiring process goes on, you can learn more about how they'd fit into the company culture in later rounds of interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   Sometimes, it's not enough to interview performance test engineer candidates, so you can ask them to do a test project. If you are not a technical person and don't know what a test project should be, you can use these websites:

   • TestDome
   • CodeSignal
   • Testlify
   • BarRaiser
   • Coderbyte

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new performance test engineer

   Once you have selected a candidate for the performance test engineer position, it is time to create an offer letter. In addition to salary, the offer letter should include details about benefits and perks that are available to the employee. Ensuring your offer is competitive is vital, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and it is important to be open to discussion and reach a mutually beneficial agreement. After the offer has been accepted, it is a good idea to formalize the agreement with a contract.

   It's also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   To prepare for the new performance test engineer first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

   Sign up to download full list

   Sign up

How much does it cost to hire a performance test engineer?