Software Test Architect

Leidos•San Diego, CA

About The Position

For over five decades, Leidos has been pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in space—designing and deploying sensor payloads that deliver critical information for national security. These systems operate where failure isn’t an option, turning raw signals into actionable insight in real time. We’re looking for a Software Test Architect to help validate the next generation of space sensing technologies. You’ll work at the intersection of software, hardware, and simulation—building the test architectures that ensure our systems perform flawlessly, whether in a lab environment or thousands of miles above the planet. We are seeking a Software Test Architect to lead development of tools and processes for testing embedded and hardware-integrated software systems. This role is responsible for defining scalable test architectures, enabling test-driven development, and ensuring robust validation across software, firmware, and hardware interfaces. The ideal candidate brings deep expertise in testing complex systems that span software and physical devices, with a strong emphasis on automation, simulation, and system reliability.

Requirements

8–12+ years of experience in software testing or quality engineering, with exposure to embedded or hardware-integrated systems
Strong experience designing test strategies and automation frameworks
Hands-on experience with automation tools and scripting, particular those related to automated testing (e.g., Pytest, junit, testing, gherkin, cucumber or similar)
Experience testing APIs, system interfaces, and distributed components
Experience developing and using CI/CD pipelines and automated quality gates
Understanding of system-level testing concepts, including integration, regression, and reliability testing
Experience working in Agile or iterative development environments
Must be eligible to obtain a Secret level security clearance.

Nice To Haves

Experience with embedded systems, firmware testing, or hardware/software integration
Familiarity with hardware simulation/emulation environments: Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL), Software-in-the-loop (SIL), Device simulators or virtual test environments
Experience validating real-time or event-driven systems
Experience in Behavior-Driven Development (BDD) and Test-Driven Development (TDD)
Background in robotics, IoT, medical devices, or other hardware-integrated domains, especially those with critical safety and security requirements
Experience with test automation for physical devices (e.g., device orchestration, sensor validation)
Familiarity with cloud-based test infrastructure and remote device testing
Experience leading or mentoring QA teams

Responsibilities

Define and implement test architecture and strategy for embedded and hardware-integrated systems
Design and scale automated test frameworks for validating software interacting with hardware components
Develop and promote simulation and emulation strategies (e.g., hardware-in-the-loop, software-in-the-loop)
Establish, using commercially available tools, test environments that replicate real-world device behavior and edge conditions
Integrate automated testing into CI/CD pipelines, including regression testing
Drive risk-based and system-level testing across firmware, APIs, and user-facing applications
Partner with hardware, firmware, and software teams to ensure end-to-end validation
Lead efforts in test data management, observability, and failure analysis
Mentor engineers and establish best practices for embedded and systems testing