Senior Software Quality Development Engineer (SDET)

The Nuclear Company; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 121,000 - 165,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation packages

401k with company match

Job summary

The Nuclear Company in Washington, DC is seeking a Senior Software Quality Engineer (SDET) to build automated testing capabilities for the Nuclear Operating System (NOS) and ensure quality, reliability, and regulatory alignment in a highly controlled environment.

You will collaborate with software engineers, product teams, and compliance leaders to drive verification, validation, and quality assurance across the software lifecycle.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in CS/SE or equivalent practical experience.
• 5+ years in software quality engineering, SDET, or verification and validation.
• Experience developing and maintaining automated test frameworks.
• Experience testing APIs, databases, and distributed systems.
• Experience integrating automated testing into CI/CD pipelines.
• Experience with Git, Jira, Azure DevOps, or similar tools.
• Ability to read, understand, and review production code.
• Experience preparing for and supporting quality/regulatory audits.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain automated test frameworks for web, API, data, and backend services.
• Build and execute automated unit, integration, regression, and end-to-end test suites.
• Integrate testing into CI/CD pipelines and release processes.
• Develop performance, load, and reliability testing capabilities.
• Establish quality metrics and reporting dashboards.
• Execute software verification and validation activities.
• Validate software against documented requirements and acceptance criteria.
• Ensure requirements are traceable through design, implementation, testing, and release.
• Support release readiness reviews and quality gates.
• Perform quality reviews and audits of software systems and development processes.
• Support compliance with ASME NQA-1 and other applicable quality standards.
• Verify configuration management, change control, and records management practices.
• Prepare audit-ready documentation and objective evidence packages.
• Lead defect triage, investigation, verification, and closure activities.
• Analyze quality trends and identify opportunities for process improvement.
• Support root cause investigations and corrective action programs.
• Reduce defect escape rates through improved automation and quality controls.
• Partner with software engineers to improve testability and code quality.
• Participate in design reviews and code reviews.
• Help establish software quality best practices across engineering teams.
• Support internal audits, external audits, and regulatory inspections.

Skills

Test Automation

CI/CD pipelines

Playwright

Cypress

Selenium

Git

Azure DevOps

Jira

Strong written communication

Education

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field

Tools

Playwright

Cypress

Selenium

TestNG

PyTest

Job description

Senior Software Quality Development Engineer (SDET)

Washington, DC

The Nuclear Company is the fastest growing AI tech-enabled startup in the nuclear and energy space, pioneering a fleet-scale approach to building the next generation of nuclear reactors. Through our design-once, build-many model, we're accelerating the deployment of safe, reliable, and affordable nuclear energy.

We operate with an AI-first mindset. Every employee is expected to leverage AI, technology, and the Nuclear Operating System (NOS) as integral components of their role to improve the quality, speed, and impact of their work. We expect every team member to continuously identify opportunities to automate workflows, enhance decision-making, improve processes, and contribute to the ongoing evolution of NOS as a strategic operating capability that enables The Nuclear Company to scale with excellence.

We hire people who are driven by purpose, thrive in ambiguity, and are energized by building what has never been built before. Our team combines intellectual curiosity with high agency, embraces candid feedback and continuous learning, and holds themselves and others to exceptional standards. Our values—Transparency, Responsibility, Unity, Scrappiness, and Tenacity—guide how we hire, collaborate, and make decisions every day. They are not words on a wall; they are the standard by which we operate. TRUST is the foundation of our safety culture, fostering intellectual honesty, accountability, and open communication, while our values challenge every team member to execute with urgency, humility, resilience, and an unwavering commitment to our mission.

About the role

The Nuclear Company is seeking a Senior Software Quality Engineer to help ensure the quality, reliability, traceability, and compliance of Nuclear Operating System (NOS), the software platform supporting one of the largest nuclear construction programs in the United States.

This role combines software engineering, test automation, verification and validation (V&V), and quality assurance in a highly regulated environment. You will work closely with software engineers, product teams, and compliance leaders to build automated testing capabilities, verify software requirements, support audit readiness, and ensure digital systems meet the standards required for nuclear deployment.

The ideal candidate is a strong engineer who enjoys building automation, improving quality processes, and working within rigorous compliance frameworks.

Responsibilities

Test Automation & Quality Engineering

• Design, develop, and maintain automated test frameworks for web, API, data, and backend services.
• Build and execute automated unit, integration, regression, and end-to-end test suites.
• Integrate testing into CI/CD pipelines and release processes.
• Develop performance, load, and reliability testing capabilities.
• Establish quality metrics and reporting dashboards.

Verification & Validation

• Execute software verification and validation activities.
• Validate software against documented requirements and acceptance criteria.
• Ensure requirements are traceable through design, implementation, testing, and release.
• Support release readiness reviews and quality gates.

Quality Assurance & Compliance

• Perform quality reviews and audits of software systems and development processes.
• Support compliance with ASME NQA-1 and other applicable quality standards.
• Verify configuration management, change control, and records management practices.
• Prepare audit-ready documentation and objective evidence packages.
• Lead defect triage, investigation, verification, and closure activities.
• Analyze quality trends and identify opportunities for process improvement.
• Support root cause investigations and corrective action programs.
• Reduce defect escape rates through improved automation and quality controls.
• Partner with software engineers to improve testability and code quality.
• Participate in design reviews and code reviews.
• Help establish software quality best practices across engineering teams.
• Support internal audits, external audits, and regulatory inspections.

Required Experience

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 5+ years of experience in software quality engineering, software testing, SDET, or software verification and validation roles.
• Experience developing and maintaining automated test frameworks.
• Experience with modern testing tools such as Playwright, Cypress, Selenium, TestNG, PyTest, or equivalent.
• Experience testing APIs, databases, and distributed systems.
• Experience integrating automated testing into CI/CD pipelines.
• Experience with Git, Jira, Azure DevOps, or similar engineering tools.
• Ability to read, understand, and review production software code.
• Strong written communication and documentation skills, the ability to produce audit-ready documentation.
• Experience preparing for and supporting quality or regulatory audits.

Preferred Experience

• Experience working in regulated industries such as nuclear, aerospace, defense, medical devices, energy, or industrial systems.
• Familiarity with ASME NQA-1 quality requirements.
• Experience in nuclear or a U.S. Department of Energy environment.
• Familiarity with safety-critical software standards such as IEEE 1012, IEC 61508, or IEC 60880.
• Familiarity with cybersecurity, performance, or reliability testing.
• Experience supporting quality audits, regulatory inspections, or compliance programs.
• Experience with requirements management and traceability systems.
• Experience testing AI/ML-enabled software systems.
• Understanding of ITAAC, nuclear construction quality programs, or NRC-regulated environments.
• Experience with quality management systems (QMS) and records control platforms.
• Competitive compensation packages
• 401k with company match

Estimated Starting Salary Range

The estimated starting salary range for this role is $121,000 - $165,000 annually less applicable withholdings and deductions, paid on a bi-weekly basis. The actual salary offered may vary based on relevant factors as determined in the Company’s discretion, which may include experience, qualifications, tenure, skill set, availability of qualified candidates, geographic location, certifications held, and other criteria deemed pertinent to the particular role.

EEO Statement

The Nuclear Company is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering an environment of inclusion in the workplace. We provide equal employment opportunities to all qualified applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic. We prohibit discrimination in all aspects of employment, including hiring, promotion, demotion, transfer, compensation, and termination.

Export Control

Certain positions at The Nuclear Company may involve access to information and technology subject to export controls under U.S. law. Compliance with these export controls may result in The Nuclear Company limiting its consideration of certain applicants.

Recruiting Fraud Alert

Your safety is our priority. We want to ensure your job search stays secure. Please note that the team at The Nuclear Company only communicates through official @thenuclearcompany.com email addresses. We will never ask for payments or sensitive financial information at any stage of our recruitment process. For your peace of mind, please verify all openings and submit your applications directly through our official careers page.