Sr. Software Engineer in Test

YugabyteDB•Sunnyvale, CA

5h•Hybrid

About The Position

At Yugabyte, we are on a mission to become the default transactional database for enterprises building cloud-native applications. YugabyteDB is our PostgreSQL-compatible distributed database for cloud-native apps. Resilient, scalable, and flexible, it runs on any cloud and enables developers to become instantly productive using well-known APIs.We are looking for talented and driven people to join us on our ambitious mission and help us build a lasting and impactful company.The transactional database market is estimated to grow to $64B by 2025. YugabyteDB is cloud-native by design, has on-demand horizontal scalability, and supports geographical distribution of data using built-in replication. This means that we are well-positioned to meet market demand for geo-distributed, high-scale, high-performance workloads. Join the Database Revolution at Yugabyte. Modern applications need a cloud-native database that eliminates tradeoffs and silos. YugabyteDB retains the power and familiarity of PostgreSQL by pairing its trusted API with a precision-engineered, distributed, cloud-native architecture. Even better, it’s 100% open source. Many of the world's leading enterprises are migrating from legacy RDBMSs (like Oracle, SQL Server, and DB2) to YugabyteDB, to meet their mission-critical app demands. At Yugabyte, we are on a mission to become the default transactional database for enterprises building cloud-native applications. YugabyteDB is our PostgreSQL-compatible distributed database for cloud-native apps. Resilient, scalable, and flexible, it runs on any cloud and enables developers to become instantly productive using well-known APIs. We are looking for talented and driven people to join us on our ambitious mission and help us build a lasting and impactful company. The transactional database market is estimated to be $64B by 2025. YugabyteDB is cloud-native by design, has on-demand horizontal scalability, and supports geographical distribution of data using built-in replication. This means that we are well-positioned to meet market demand for geo-distributed, high-scale, high-performance workloads. Join the Database Revolution at Yugabyte. Modern applications need a cloud-native database that eliminates tradeoffs and silos. YugabyteDB retains the power and familiarity of PostgreSQL by pairing its trusted API with a precision-engineered, distributed, cloud-native architecture. Even better, it’s 100% open source. Many of the world's leading enterprises are migrating from legacy RDBMSs (like Oracle, SQL Server, and DB2) to YugabyteDB, to meet their mission-critical app demands. Team The Database QA team is where distributed systems theory meets real-world chaos. We own the end-to-end quality of YugabyteDB, rigorously validating everything from core storage and language layers (YSQL/YCQL) to high-impact features like Change Data Capture. By blending performance engineering with system-level stress testing, we ensure our database thrives in the most unpredictable production environments. We are the champions of correctness in a distributed world. Role Are you obsessed with finding the 'impossible' bug? In this role, you will build and break distributed systems at scale. As an SDET at Yugabyte, you will design sophisticated automation and chaos-testing frameworks that simulate real-world disasters to validate our database’s core promises. You’ll dive deep into cross-feature integration and security, collaborating with development teams to influence the product's evolution. We’re looking for a technical leader who can transform complex customer scenarios into rigorous stress tests, ensuring YugabyteDB remains the gold standard for distributed SQL.

Requirements

5–8 years of experience in Software Development in Test (SDET) or Systems Engineering, with a BS/MS in Computer Science or a related field.
Strong foundation in Distributed Systems: Deep understanding of distributed architecture, including consistency models (linearizability, serializability), the CAP theorem, and consensus protocols (Raft).
Database Internals Expertise: Highly desirable knowledge of query processing, transactions (ACID), recovery logs, and concurrent B-tree access.
Proficient in Data Structures and Concurrent Programming. Must be comfortable reading and navigating the complex C++ codebase to identify potential failure points.
Working knowledge of SQL, Python and Java programming languages.
Sound understanding of JDBC APIs and database connectivity.
Hands-on experience with Linux, shell scripting, Git, and architecting scalable CI/CD pipelines
Ability to leverage generative AI and LLM-based coding assistants to accelerate the authoring, refactoring, and optimization of complex test suites.
Exceptional troubleshooting skills with a "break-it" mindset; ability to trace issues from high-level test failures down to the code level for both internal and customer-reported bugs.
A proven track record of identifying complex bugs, specifically data corruption and consistency issues.

Responsibilities

Architect, develop and maintain test automation frameworks.
Design and execute comprehensive test suites focusing on the "hard problems" of distributed databases: stress, resiliency, scalability, and performance.
Design and orchestrate distributed systems tests that simulate real-world failure modes.
Own the end-to-end quality of major features, from initial design review and test planning to production-ready automation
Modernize existing test footprints by identifying opportunities for redesign, improved efficiency, and higher stability in CI/CD pipelines.
Uncover deep-seated bugs such as data corruption and consistency violations.
Deep-dive into the codebase to understand technical dependencies and execution paths, ensuring tests target the most critical logic.
Scale our test infrastructure, ensuring that the built tests scale with our growing feature set.
Define and inspire changes to our product with our development engineering team based on feedback from tests and customer issues.
Act as a technical lead for junior engineers and serve as an internal advocate for the customer experience.
Develop and contribute to internal and external knowledge bases. Be a champion for our customers.
Go above and beyond to ensure customers are getting the most out of their investment in the Yugabyte database.