Staff - Principal Engineer, Software Engineer – Network Switch SDK QA
About The Position
We’re looking for a Technical Leader for Network SDK QA to own the quality and reliability of our platform software stack and switching SDK that drives our next-generation chassis. This is a hands-on technical leadership role — you’ll define QA strategy, design test frameworks, mentor engineers, and directly validate the core SDK layer that interfaces with hardware ASICs, platform demons, and network operating systems. If you’re passionate about network datapaths, hardware abstraction, and automation at scale, this is your chance to lead from the front and help shape how modern switch software is validated.
Requirements
- 8+ years in software QA or validation for networking SDKs, NOS platforms, or embedded systems.
- Strong understanding of networking architectures, including L2/L3 forwarding, ACLs, QoS, and multicast.
- Solid experience with C/C++ API testing, Python automation, and Linux-based environments.
- Familiar with hardware abstraction layers (HAL), Switch SDKs (e.g., SAI, DPDK, P4-based platforms).
- Deep debugging skills using packet captures, logs, SDK traces, and hardware counters.
- Proven ability to architect test frameworks, design test plans, and drive complex system validation efforts.
- Leadership experience — mentoring engineers, driving technical reviews, and managing quality deliverables.
Nice To Haves
- Experience validating multi-ASIC or chassis-based switching systems.
- Knowledge of platform demons and integration with Network OS layers (SONiC, EOS, NX-OS, etc.).
- Familiarity with traffic generation tools (IXIA, Spirent, TRex) and realistic scale testing.
- Experience with continuous validation frameworks, Jenkins/GitLab CI, or containerized test environments.
- Contributions to open-source SDKs or network software projects (e.g., SAI, SONiC).
Responsibilities
- Own the QA strategy and execution for the Network SDK — including HAL, SAI, platform APIs, and data plane interfaces.
- Design and maintain comprehensive test frameworks and automation suites to validate SDK APIs, hardware integration, and system behavior.
- Lead the qualification process for SDK releases — including functional, regression, performance, and scalability testing.
- Work closely with SDK developers, ASIC teams, and NOS integration teams to triage and root-cause low-defects.
- Define and track quality metrics, ensuring every release meets reliability, performance, and compliance goals.
- Mentor and guide a small team of QA engineers on test methodology, automation design, and debugging practices.
- Partner with DevOps to integrate automated SDK tests into CI/CD pipelines for continuous validation.
- Collaborate cross-functional to validate hardware abstraction, packet I/O, and platform APIs for both standalone and system-level configurations.
- Drive automation coverage expansion across multiple hardware SKUs and software branches.
Benefits
- The starting base salary for the selected candidate will be established based on their relevant skills, experience, qualifications, work location, market trends, and the compensation of employees in comparable roles.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Principal
Education Level
No Education Listed
