Principal Software Development In Test (SDET)

Vista Equity Partners Management, LLC; United States; Remote; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Join a leading cloud-based provider as a Principal Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET). You'll lead test automation strategy, mentor engineers, and drive AI-powered testing solutions, ensuring quality across the development lifecycle.

Benefits

Health Benefits

401(k) Plan

Unlimited PTO

Paid Parental Leave

Employee Recognition Program

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in QA and test automation, with 3 years in a leadership role.
• Deep expertise in Python, Pytest, Selenium, and test framework design.

Responsibilities

• Lead the evolution of the test automation strategy and own the framework.
• Mentor QA engineers and collaborate with DevOps to improve CI/CD pipelines.

Skills

QA

Test Automation

Python

AI/ML

Collaboration

Tools

Pytest

Selenium

GitLab

Jenkins

Job description

Principal Software Development In Test (SDET)

Join Us at PlanSource: Your Exciting Career Awaits!

At PlanSource, a leading cloud-based provider of benefits administration technology and services, we are on a mission to simplify how people choose, use, and manage benefits through cutting-edge, AI-powered experiences. This is an incredible time to launch your career with us!

The Principal Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET) is primarily responsible for leading the evolution of our test automation strategy. You’ll be the go-to expert for all things test automation—owning the framework, mentoring QA engineers across the US and India, and driving innovation through AI-powered testing solutions.

This is a hands-on individual contributor role which collaborates closely with other Principal Engineers and DevOps to ensure our automation seamlessly supports CI/CD pipelines. You’ll also play a key role in reducing manual testing overhead, improving test artifact generation, and embedding quality into every stage of the development lifecycle.

Responsibilities include:

Test Strategy & Architecture Ownership

• Define and evolve the long-term vision for test automation strategy across the organization.
• Own the design, scalability, and maintainability of our Python-based test automation framework.
• Establish architectural standards and best practices for test automation across teams.
• Evaluate and implement emerging tools and technologies to future-proof our testing ecosystem.
• Expand test coverage across critical infrastructure and platform layers to ensure system reliability, security, and performance:
• Cloud Infrastructure & DevOps: Develop and maintain automated tests for AWS services (Lambda, S3, SQS, CloudWatch) and security components such as certificate management.
• Core Platform Technologies: Design and execute comprehensive test suites for authentication systems (Keycloak, OAuth, OpenID, SAML), monitoring and search (OpenSearch, CloudWatch), and RESTful APIs and service integrations.
• Mentor and train a global team of 20–40 QA engineers on writing, maintaining, and scaling automated tests.
• Collaborate closely with QA counterparts in our India location to ensure alignment, knowledge sharing and consistent execution of quality initiatives.
• Champion a culture of quality and continuous improvement across the Product and Technology organization.

AI-Driven Quality Engineering

Take ownership of identifying, evaluating, and implementing AI-powered tools and solutions that enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the QA process.

Research and integrate AI technologies to:

• Auto-generate test cases and test artifacts based on code changes, requirements, or historical data.
• Detect and remediate flaky or unstable tests using pattern recognition and anomaly detection.
• Automate test result analysis and reporting to reduce manual effort and improve visibility.
• Continuously improve test coverage, execution speed, and defect detection through intelligent test selection and prioritization.
• Collaborate with engineering leadership to assess the feasibility and ROI of AI-driven initiatives and ensure alignment with broader engineering goals.
• Collaborate with Principal Engineers and DevOps to align automation with CI/CD workflows.
• Ensure automated tests are seamlessly integrated into the development and deployment pipelines across environments.
• Proactively identify high-risk areas in the application and ensure they are covered by automated tests.
• Lead root cause analysis for production issues and implement long-term preventive strategies.
• Monitor test results and production incidents to detect patterns and continuously improve test effectiveness.
• Collaborate with engineering and product teams to prioritize and mitigate quality risks early in the development cycle.

Quality Advocacy

• Drive quality-first initiatives across the SDLC, embedding testing earlier in the development process.
• Champion best practices in test design, code quality, test data management, and observability.
• Lead efforts in performance and security testing, ensuring robust and secure releases.
• Partner with product and engineering teams to ensure comprehensive test coverage for critical business workflows.

Responsibilities

What we offer:

• Great benefits package, including a full suite of health benefits, a generous 401(k) Plan, unlimited PTO, paid parental leave, a strong rewards and recognition program, and a focus on mental health and well-being.
• An inclusive environment with Employee Resource Groups to join, volunteering days and the ability to donate to organizations of your choice through our recognition platform.
• The opportunity to work for a growing, established technology company, but work side-by-side with a small, dynamic team of talented professionals.
• Fast-paced environment with big goals and the opportunity to make a big impact.

Top five reasons to come to PlanSource:

#5: Join the Vista Family. In March 2019, Vista Equity Partners acquired PlanSource, marking a new phase of growth. Vista’s portfolio of technology and software companies collectively make up the 4th largest software ecosystem in the world.

#4: PlanSource is highly rated with our customers. Be proud of our sophisticated cloud-based technology that meets the needs of even the most complex benefit programs.

#3: Success is rewarded. With more than just a pat on the back, your success is recognized and rewarded. We take care of our employees in every way we can, with comprehensive benefits, employee recognitions, and a commitment to wellbeing.

#2: You can grow and develop professionally. PlanSource has a great track record of internal promotions within the company and offering development plans and tracks to pursue your personal and professional goals.

#1: Share our values. Be part of a team that values diversity and representation in all levels of the organization. Be part of a team that gives back to local communities and is actively aware of their social and environmental impact.

Statement on Diversity

PlanSource is committed to fostering, cultivating, and preserving a culture of diversity and inclusion. Our employees are the most valuable asset we have. The collective sum of the individual differences, life experiences, knowledge, inventiveness, innovation, self-expression, unique capabilities and talent that our employees invest in their work represents a significant part of not only our culture, but our reputation and company’s achievement as well.

We celebrate and support our employees’ diversity in age, color, disability, ethnicity, cultural beliefs, family or marital status, gender identity or expression, language, national origin, physical and mental ability, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, veteran status and other characteristics that make our employees unique.

NOTE: We will consider a remote employee for approved cities PlanSource can accommodate.

If you’re selected, you’ll receive your offer and be asked to complete a background check. This will include a drug screen, criminal record search and verification of previous employment and/or education.

REF 4728

Qualifications

Necessary Strengths, Skills, and Competencies

• 10+ years of experience in QA and test automation, with at least 3 years in a technical leadership role.
• Deep expertise in Python, Pytest, Selenium, and test framework design.
• Experience with CI/CD tools like GitLab and Jenkins.
• Strong understanding of AI/ML applications in testing or a passion to explore them.
• Familiarity with AWS Services including Lambda, S3, SQS, CloudWatch
• Comfortable working win various IDEs including JetBrains and Visual Studio
• Proven ability to mentor and upskill QA engineers across distributed teams.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills.