Sr. Software Engineer – Test Infrastructure & Tooling

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies•Palo Alto, CA

3d•$146,900 - $183,600•Onsite

About The Position

We are seeking a highly experienced senior Software Engineer to join our team to own test infrastructure, internal tooling, CI/CD, and automation for our Consumer Applications test organization in Palo Alto. In this role, you will be the primary engineering owner for building and evolving the systems that power our test teams: from lab and bench tooling, to automation frameworks, to pipelines that keep our releases safe and fast. You will partner closely with test engineers, developers, and program leads to define strategy, implement scalable solutions, and continuously improve how we validate software across mobile, cloud, and in‑vehicle systems. If you love building reliable platforms and tools that unblock others, and you’re excited to shape how we test complex, distributed systems, this role is for you.

Requirements

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Software/Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.
5+ years of hands-on software engineering experience, with a focus on test infrastructure, tools, or CI/CD platforms.
Strong programming skills in one or more of: Python, Go, C++, Java, TypeScript/JavaScript, with an emphasis on building reliable backend services and tooling.
Deep experience with CI/CD systems (e.g., Jenkins, GitLab CI, GitHub Actions, Buildkite) and build systems (e.g., Bazel, CMake, Gradle, Buck).
Proven experience designing and maintaining automation frameworks and infrastructure for complex systems (cloud, mobile, or embedded).
Familiarity with cloud platforms and containers (AWS or similar, Docker, Kubernetes), including secrets management, artifact storage, and observability tooling.
Strong understanding of testing concepts and practices (test pyramid, flaky test mitigation, test isolation, mocking, stubbing, test data management).
Comfort with Linux environments, scripting (bash), and common developer tools (Git, GitHub/GitLab, code review workflows).
Excellent communication skills, with the ability to partner across test, development, and operations teams and to document designs and best practices clearly.
Strong understanding of modern AI applications and tools (e.g., code assistants, test‑generation frameworks, log/trace analysis copilots) and experience integrating AI into developer and test workflows and CI/CD.
A track record of ownership, initiative, and continuous improvement—you enjoy finding gaps in infrastructure and closing them with thoughtful, scalable solutions.

Nice To Haves

Experience working with or integrating hardware‑in‑the‑loop (HIL), software‑in‑the‑loop (SIL), or lab/bench setups is a plus.

Responsibilities

Own and evolve test infrastructure: Design, implement, and maintain shared test infrastructure for the test team, including automation harnesses, runners, lab/bench tooling, and execution services.
Build reliable services and libraries that make it easy for test engineers to create, run, and debug automated tests (e.g., SDKs/CLIs, job orchestration, logging, reporting and artifact handling).
Partner with hardware/lab/automation teams (HIL/SIL/benches, devices, vehicles) to integrate physical test assets into a cohesive, software‑driven test platform.
Lead CI/CD and automation for testing: Own CI/CD pipelines that run unit, integration, system, and end‑to‑end tests for Consumer Applications (mobile, cloud, infotainment, and related services).
Define and implement strategies for test selection, parallelization, flakiness reduction, reporting, and reliability, keeping pipelines fast and trustworthy.
Integrate automated testing into pre‑merge and post‑merge workflows (e.g., gating rules, quality signals, dashboards, notifications).
Build internal tools and developer experience: Develop internal tools and dashboards for infotainment testing, vehicle access testing, cloud services, and mobile app testing that improve visibility into test runs, coverage, lab utilization, and release readiness.
Improve current self‑service interfaces (APIs, CLIs, web UIs) that allow test engineers and developers to schedule, configure, and debug tests on shared infrastructure.
Standardize test project structure, templates, and best practices so teams can adopt automation quickly and consistently.
Proactively identify gaps in test infrastructure and internal tools and design, build, and roll out new tools that the team is missing, driving adoption and ongoing improvements.
Drive quality and collaboration across teams: Work closely with test engineers, SDETs, and product/feature teams to understand their scenarios and translate them into robust infrastructure and tooling.
Help establish test strategy and test‑pyramid–aligned approaches (unit, SIL, HIL, system, and end‑to‑end) that leverage your infrastructure.
Participate in technical design reviews, provide feedback on testability, and promote shift‑left testing and automation across the org.
Operate, measure, and continuously improve: Own monitoring, alerting, and SLOs for key pieces of test infrastructure and pipelines.
Analyze results from test runs and pipelines to identify bottlenecks, flaky areas, and high‑value automation investments.
Proactively prioritize and deliver improvements that increase stability, reliability,while reducing manual work, and accelerate release cycles.
Ensuring the reliability and stability of test assets to support both manual and automated testing activities across teams.