Senior/Principal Software Test Engineer, Onsite

Sandia National Laboratories; New Mexico; On-site; USD 102,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation assistance

Flexible work arrangements

Job summary

Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico is seeking a Senior/Principal Software Test Engineer to join a high-performing team focused on system integration and testing for space missions. You will design, develop, and deploy automated test solutions, mentor teammates, and drive test strategy across multiple subsystems.

The role requires a Bachelor's degree and 5+ years of software testing experience, with proficiency in Python/Java/C++, Linux, and the ability to obtain a DOE Q clearance.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline or equivalent experience.
• Five+ years of software testing design, development, and execution.
• Experience in a high-level language (Python, Java, or C/C++) for test automation.
• Experience with Linux.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a DOE Q and SCI clearance.
• Experience with cloud technologies, containerization (OCI/Docker), and orchestration (Kubernetes).

Responsibilities

• Lead collaboration with architects, engineers, developers, and customers to translate requirements into verification plans.
• Contribute to design, development, and delivery of software quality solutions.
• Create automated tests and maintain health/coverage of test suites.
• Lead formal test activities across components to enterprise systems.
• Mentor junior testers in test design and automation practices.
• Perform requirements-based verification and regression testing; review code.

Skills

Test automation

Python

Linux

Software testing

Test strategy

Education

Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Jenkins

GitLab/GitHub

Job description

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Senior/Principal Software Test Engineer, Onsite

Sandia National Laboratories is the nation’s premier science and engineering lab for national security and technology innovation, with teams of specialists focused on cutting-edge work in a broad array of areas. Some of the main reasons we love our jobs:

Challenging work with amazing impact that contributes to security, peace, and freedom worldwide

Extraordinary co-workers

Some of the best tools, equipment, and research facilities in the world

Career advancement and enrichment opportunities

Flexible work arrangements for many positions include 9/80 (work 80 hours every two weeks, with every other Friday off) and 4/10 (work 4 ten-hour days each week) compressed workweeks, part-time work, and telecommuting (a mix of onsite work and working from home)

Generous vacation, strong medical and other benefits, competitive 401k, learning opportunities, relocation assistance and amenities aimed at creating a solid work/life balance*

World-changing technologies. Life-changing careers. Learn more about Sandia at: http://www.sandia.gov

*These benefits vary by job classification.

What Your Job Will Be Like:

We are seeking Software Engineering professionals to join a high-performing team focusing on system integration and testing for space missions. In this role, you will have opportunities to collaborate on the design, development, testing, and deployment of advanced real-time decision support ground systems. Work will include both manual testing using formal test procedures and automated testing using in-house developed automation test tools. You will work with experienced engineers and testers, receive mentoring, and progressively take on increasing responsibility while growing your skills in test automation, requirements-based verification using formal test procedures, and system integration. As an experienced team member, you will be expected to independently drive test strategy and execution for assigned capabilities, influence design-for-test, and improve automation frameworks and practices across the team.

On any given day you may be called to perform the following:

Lead collaboration with software architects, system engineers, developers, technical leads, customers, and end users to collect and analyze requirements and translate them into verification approaches, formal test procedures, and automated test designs

Contribute to the design, development, and delivery of technology solutions that improve software quality by influencing system/test architecture and design-for-testability decisions

Generate automated tests to verify system functionality and own the health, coverage, and maintainability of assigned automated test suites

Plan and support formal test activities at multiple levels, from components to the enterprise system, including test readiness, execution leadership for assigned events, and stakeholder status reporting

Contribute to research and development activities, including proposing improvements and new ideas and driving improvements into team practice/tools

Work within a team of system testers to perform requirements verification on a large, multi-node, Linux-based satellite ground system with responsibility for end-to-end verification of assigned subsystems/capabilities

Define and evolve testing strategies as the ground system is migrated to newer technologies, such as cloud computing and containerization, including how verification will be executed in containerized and/or cloud-like environments

Evaluate, recommend, and implement automated test strategies and tools by evaluating options, making recommendations, and implementing selected approaches

Perform manual testing using formal test procedures and run automated tests on a regular basis while establishing repeatable, auditable test execution practices

Analyze manual and automated test results, report status, and follow up on failed tests through anomaly triage, root-cause analysis, and tracking to closure

Maintain test artifacts such as procedures, reports, and release notes; improve and extend test procedures as the system evolves and requirements are updated

Maintain and extend in-house Python-based automation test tools by improving framework capabilities (reliability, scalability, maintainability, and documentation)

Evaluate and adopt new automated testing methods and tools as the system evolves to a new architecture, including CI/CD-driven testing and modern toolchains aligned to migration

Develop and apply testing skills to support user requirements for highly complex software/hardware applications, serving as a testing subject matter expert (SME) to advise developers and system engineers

Support customer-facing milestone test activities (e.g., readiness reviews, execution support, reporting, and follow-up), communicating technical status, risks, and mitigations

Perform requirements-based verification and regression testing of software changes, participate in code reviews, and provide actionable feedback to improve code quality and testability

Debug issues in distributed, multi-node Linux environments using standard troubleshooting approaches (e.g., logs, metrics/telemetry, configuration review, and command-line tools)

Mentor less-experienced team members in test design, automation practices, and troubleshooting techniques

Due to the nature of the work, the selected applicant must be able to work onsite.

Salary Range:

$102,400 - $199,700

*Salary range is estimated, and actual salary will be determined after consideration of the selected candidate's experience and qualifications, and application of any approved geographic salary differential.

Qualifications We Require:

A Bachelor¿s degree in a relevant discipline, or an equivalent combination of directly relevant education and engineering or scientific experience that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and ability to software test engineering.

Five or more years of experience with design, development, and execution of software testing (automated and manual) including independently developing test strategies and driving issues to resolution.

Experience in a high-level language (e.g., Python, Java, or C/C++) applied to test automation, tooling, or software quality workflows.

Experience with Linux.

Ability to obtain and maintain a DOE Q and SCI clearance.

Qualifications We Desire:

Experience with cloud technologies, containerization (OCI/Docker), and orchestration (Kubernetes).

Experience working with large, established codebases (3.5M+ lines of code).

Experience with CI/CD pipelines and associated tools (e.g., Jenkins, GitLab/GitHub, Maven/Gradle, Docker).

Experience evaluating, recommending, and implementing new test tools/strategies in evolving architectures.

Experience leading formal test execution (readiness, execution, reporting) and driving anomaly triage to closure.

About Our Team:

Organization 06333 is responsible for system integration and testing of a large, complex satellite ground system which is being developed to support high consequence national security missions. Our development supports a range of applications and complexities, including remote sensing systems, satellite communications and control, distributed computing and analysis, and real-time data collection, processing, exploitation and dissemination. Our team¿s deep domain and technical experience, coupled with an operational mindset builds distinct and extraordinary capabilities for our nation and the people who put their lives on the line to protect it. We have expertise in R&D across many disciplines including large-scale software engineering, computer science, and system engineering. We build this mission together in a culture of collaboration, open dialogue, and respect¿recognizing that strong outcomes come from strong teams.

Posting Duration:

This posting will be open for application submissions for a minimum of three (3) calendar days, including the 'posting date'. Sandia reserves the right to extend the posting date at any time.

Security Clearance:

Sandia is required by DOE to conduct a pre-employment drug test and background review that includes checks of personal references, credit, law enforcement records, and employment/education verifications. Applicants for employment need to be able to obtain and maintain a DOE Q-level security clearance and SCI access, both of which require US citizenship. SCI access may also require a polygraph examination. If you hold more than one citizenship (i.e., of the U.S. and another country), your ability to obtain these levels of access may be impacted.

Applicants offered employment with Sandia are subject to a federal background investigation to meet the requirements for access to classified information or matter if the duties of the position require a DOE security clearance. Substance abuse or illegal drug use, falsification of information, criminal activity, serious misconduct or other indicators of untrustworthiness can cause a clearance to be denied or terminated by the DOE, resulting in the inability to perform the duties assigned and subsequent termination of employment.

EEO:

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, or veteran status and any other protected class under state or federal law.

NNSA Requirements for MedPEDs:

If you have a Medical Portable Electronic Device (MedPED), such as a pacemaker, defibrillator, drug-releasing pump, hearing aids, or diagnostic equipment and other equipment for measuring, monitoring, and recording body functions such as heartbeat and brain waves, if employed by Sandia National Laboratories you may be required to comply with NNSA security requirements for MedPEDs.

If you have a MedPED and you are selected for an on-site interview at Sandia National Laboratories, there may be additional steps necessary to ensure compliance with NNSA security requirements prior to the interview date.

• Affordable housing, reasonable cost of living
• Minimal traffic congestion compared to larger cities
• At Sandia, recruiters manually review resumes on each job posting instead of using a resume screening software program
• By following the best practices outlined, this ensures that recruiters can accurately determine your qualifications for the position