Principal Software Development Engineer in Test

SAIC • San Diego, CA

2d • Remote

About The Position

SAIC is seeking a Principal Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET) to join the Joint Range Extension (JRE) software development team. This is a remote role within the United States, requires U.S. citizenship, and involves up to 10% CONUS travel.

JRE is a combat-proven, mission-critical, near-real-time data link gateway written predominantly in Java and Kotlin, with C++ components. It is deployed across platforms ranging from handheld devices and small-form-factor drones to strategic bombers, guided-missile destroyers, and command-and-control centers.

The SDET works closely with software developers, testers, and test engineers to expand automation and support rapid, high-quality releases. The role also leads projects and develops the test engineering capabilities of colleagues.

Requirements

• Deep expertise in the JVM platform, fluency with Java, and familiarity with JVM languages such as Kotlin or Scala.
• Proven experience developing and maintaining extensive test automation coverage for large-scale codebases of more than one million lines.
• Experience verifying mission-critical, high-reliability, near-real-time systems.
• Experience with JVM testing and mocking frameworks such as JUnit, AssertJ, Mockito, and MockK.
• Familiarity with C++ and related test automation frameworks such as Doctest and Google Mock.
• Experience with automated performance testing tools such as JMeter or Gatling.
• Understanding of JVM concurrent programming, including Threads, the Executor Framework, Futures and Promises, Virtual Threads, Reactor, and Kotlin Coroutines.
• Experience testing concurrent and asynchronous code, including with Reactor Test and Kotlinx Coroutines Test.
• Knowledge of object-oriented and functional design patterns, software design principles, refactoring techniques, code and test smells, and domain-driven design.
• Experience with RPC and message-oriented distributed systems.
• Experience with network programming, networking protocols, and low-level binary data processing.
• Experience leading successful large-scale, phased refactoring projects.
• Experience mentoring developers and testers in test automation best practices.
• Experience with dependency injection and the Spring framework family, including Spring Boot, Spring Data, Spring Security, and related integration testing utilities.
• Test-driven development experience and team-based development experience through pairing or mobbing; willingness to collaborate.
• Experience designing and developing solutions iteratively and incrementally using Agile methodologies such as Scrum, Extreme Programming, or Lean Software Development.
• Experience with continuous integration and modern deployment practices for edge and cloud systems in Gradle-built projects.
• Bachelor's degree and at least 9 years of experience, master's degree and at least 7 years of experience, or PhD/JD and at least 4 years of experience.
• Must be a U.S. citizen.
• Must be able to obtain a Secret clearance after start.
• Must be able to travel up to 10% within the continental United States.

Nice To Haves

• Public contributions to open-source projects.
• Familiarity with tactical data link standards such as MIL-STD-6016, MIL-STD-6017, MIL-STD-3011, MIL-STD-6020, MIL-STD-6040, MIL-STD-2525, or MIL-STD-1553.
• Familiarity with tactical terminals and radios such as MIDS JTRS, STT, BATS-D, AN/ARC, and AN/PRC.
• Familiarity with navigation and avionics standards such as NMEA 0183, GPS-153, ARINC 429, and ARINC 661.
• Familiarity with security standards such as DISA STIGs, NIST SP 800-171, and NIST SP 800-207.

Responsibilities

• Expand JRE's unit, integration, service, GUI, and end-to-end test automation.
• Engineer and maintain an automated performance test suite covering load, stress, and endurance testing, and support IT capacity planning for the required hardware environment.
• Design, develop, and maintain simulators for IP and serial tactical data link terminals, radios, navigation systems, and sensors.
• Contribute to defining and continually verifying minimum system requirements across JRE deployment platforms.
• Refactor JRE code to improve testability by introducing API, RPC, and messaging seams for additional white- and gray-box testing.
• Mentor developers, testers, and less-experienced test engineers in test automation best practices.
• Optimize the performance and quality of test automation suites.
• Quarantine, troubleshoot, and fix nondeterministic tests.
• Lead projects and help build colleagues' test engineering skills.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Principal