Principal Software Development Engineer in Test
About The Position
eClinical Solutions is transforming clinical development with elluminate®, its Clinical Data Cloud, helping life sciences organizations unify, analyze, and unlock the value of their data. Its engineering teams build enterprise-grade products across cloud, data, analytics, and emerging AI technologies. The Principal SDET is a core member of the R&D Team and reports to the Senior Director, Software Quality Assurance. This role is primarily responsible for architecting and evolving automation frameworks and infrastructure, providing technical leadership and mentorship, reviewing automation code quality, driving automation strategy, and ensuring scalable, maintainable test automation across the organization. The role also leads migration of existing tests and infrastructure to a new testing platform. The Principal SDET works closely with development, DevOps, architecture, and QA teams to establish best practices for automation, quality engineering, continuous testing, and system reliability. The role includes hands-on automation of web applications using Playwright with C#/.NET, API and integration testing, database validation, ephemeral test environments, CI/CD integration, and parallel and distributed test execution. The position also involves documentation, technical guidance, and adoption of modern engineering practices and tools.
Requirements
- Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Science or equivalent.
- 8–15 years of hands-on experience in SDET, automation engineering, or quality engineering.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.
- Strong experience designing enterprise automation frameworks and scalable automation infrastructure.
- Strong understanding of QA concepts, software testing methodologies, automation tools, and modern engineering practices.
- Strong programming expertise in C#/.NET and object-oriented programming concepts.
- Hands-on experience with Active Coding practices and modern software engineering standards.
- Strong understanding of SQL and database validation techniques.
- Good understanding of HTTP/REST APIs, web services, and network communication fundamentals.
- Knowledge of TLS/security concepts and secure communication protocols.
- Strong understanding of systems architecture and distributed application design.
- Hands-on experience with Docker containers and containerized execution environments.
- Practical experience implementing Shift-Left testing strategies across the SDLC.
- Strong experience building, managing, and testing within ephemeral environments.
- Experience integrating ephemeral environments into CI/CD and automated testing workflows.
- Experience with CI/CD tools, build management systems, cloud-native platforms, and DevOps practices.
- Experience using source control and project management tools such as Git, Bitbucket, Jira, and AWS services/platforms.
- Expertise in Playwright automation, including framework design, tooling, infrastructure, and parallel execution.
- Strong experience in API automation testing using REST services and service-layer validation.
- Strong understanding of database testing, data integrity validation, and backend system verification.
- Ability to evaluate and recommend technologies, tools, and automation strategies aligned with industry trends.
- Strong competencies in DevOps, Continuous Testing, Continuous Integration, and Continuous Delivery.
- Ability to analyze complex systems and propose efficient automation solutions.
- Experience providing end-to-end technical leadership and support for testing engagements.
- Strong presentation, communication, and technical documentation skills.
- Ability to lead organization-wide automation capability enhancements and engineering initiatives.
- Experience or proficiency with C#, .NET, SQL, PL/SQL, REST APIs, HTTP/HTTPS, TLS/security fundamentals, SQL Server, AWS, Docker, CI/CD tooling, Git, Bitbucket, Jira, TeamCity, Microsoft Office applications, and Confluence.
Responsibilities
- Design, develop, and maintain scalable enterprise-level test automation frameworks.
- Lead framework and infrastructure evolution initiatives within the global SQA automation team.
- Drive migration of existing automation frameworks, test suites, and infrastructure to modern testing platforms.
- Provide technical leadership and mentorship to automation engineers and SDET teams.
- Automate web-based applications using Playwright with C#/.NET.
- Automate REST API testing, service validation, and integration testing.
- Validate database integrity, backend data consistency, and end-to-end data flows using SQL-based verification.
- Drive Shift-Left testing by integrating automated quality validation early in the software development lifecycle.
- Design, build, and maintain ephemeral test environments for scalable and isolated automated testing workflows.
- Test applications in ephemeral and containerized environments as part of CI/CD pipelines.
- Review and audit automation code for quality, maintainability, performance, and coding-standard adherence.
- Review automation execution reports and follow up on discrepancies and failures.
- Train and mentor team members on framework usage, coding standards, automation practices, and engineering principles.
- Promote Active Coding practices, clean code principles, and object-oriented programming methodologies.
- Collaborate with development teams, architects, DevOps engineers, and stakeholders to improve product quality and delivery efficiency.
- Design and implement parallel and distributed test execution capabilities.
- Contribute to CI/CD pipeline implementation and continuous testing strategies.
- Use Docker containerization technologies for scalable automation execution environments.
- Participate in automation solutioning involving cloud-native technologies, AI/ML-assisted testing, and scalable distributed systems.
- Support API and integration testing involving HTTP/REST services, authentication, and secure communication protocols including TLS.
- Provide technical guidance on systems architecture, automation infrastructure, and engineering practices.
- Create and maintain technical documentation, standards, architecture diagrams, and Confluence documentation.
Benefits
- The company highlights work-life balance and an inclusive culture that supports learning, growth, and continuous improvement.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Principal
