Software Development Engineer in Test - Platform System Validation

Apple; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Apple's CoreOS Platform Enablement & Quality Engineering organization seeks a software engineer to join the Platform System Validation team in San Diego. You will contribute to testing strategies for low‑level firmware, bootloader tech, and silicon features, shaping testability in software design.

You will develop and automate system tests, build CI tooling, and drive quality metrics across hardware bring‑up for multiple chip platforms, collaborating with hardware and software teams to keep

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in software test automation, test infrastructure, or SDET roles.
• Experience designing and building test automation frameworks or tooling.
• Experience with hardware bring-up or system-level validation for silicon/chip platforms.
• Proficiency in Python and experience integrating tooling with CI/CD pipelines.

Responsibilities

• Scale the team’s test automation infrastructure across hardware and workload validation.
• Develop and validate system validation workloads for new hardware bring-up.
• Lead architecture for core test infrastructure and tooling.
• Build tooling that integrates with CI/test frameworks for continuous validation.
• Contribute to AI-driven initiatives for issue triage and workload generation.
• Partner with hardware, software, and program leads to unblock validation and keep schedules.

Skills

Software test automation

Test infrastructure

SDET

Python scripting

CI/CD integration

Hardware bring-up

C/C++

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related field

Job description

Summary

Do you have a strong interest in low-level firmware and operating systems? A desire to work on complex software features, driving a high standard of quality into Apple's products? The CoreOS Platform Enablement & Quality Engineering organization is looking for a talented and passionate software engineer to join the Platform System Validation team. As a critical member of the team, you will focus on software technologies in low-level firmware and Apple silicon domains. Your responsibilities will span all phases of software delivery of Apple's products, from early design to product launch and beyond. You'll become intimately familiar with one or more major technologies, taking on responsibilities of test, framework, and tool development, along with influencing design decisions.

Description

Devise a testing strategy for one or more major SoCs and products, focusing on low-level firmware, silicon features, and bootloader technologies. Gain a deep understanding of the design, requirements, and architecture. Influence the inclusion of testability into software design. Develop and automate system-level tests focused on software stress and stability. Define and drive quality metrics to track progress and improvements. Collaborate cross-functionally with systems, quality engineering, and development teams. Assess and represent the end-user impact of issues, shaping key product decisions. Explore novel approaches to create new test frameworks, automation, and infrastructure to streamline testing. Scale the team’s test automation infrastructure to support growing hardware and workload validation needs across the organization. Develop and validate system workloads and test cycles for new hardware bring-up across multiple chip platforms. Lead architecture efforts for core test infrastructure and tooling, driving both development and operational execution from design through release. Build and maintain tooling that integrates with CI/test frameworks to support continuous validation across hardware programs. Contribute to the team’s AI-driven initiatives, extending tooling for issue triage and workload generation for new product programs. Partner with cross-functional teams (hardware, software, program leads) to unblock validation dependencies and keep programs on schedule.

Key Responsibilities

• Scale the team’s test automation infrastructure to support growing hardware and workload validation needs across the org.
• Develop and validate system validation workloads and test cycles for new hardware bring-up across multiple chip platforms.
• Lead architecture efforts for core test infrastructure and tooling, driving both development and operational execution from design through release.
• Build and maintain tooling that integrates with CI/test frameworks to support continuous validation across hardware programs.
• Contribute to the team’s AI-driven initiatives, extending tooling for issue triage and workload generation for new product programs.
• Partner with cross-functional teams (hardware, software, program leads) to unblock validation dependencies and keep programs on schedule.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 5+ years of experience in software test automation, test infrastructure, or software development engineering in test (SDET).
• Demonstrated experience designing and building test automation frameworks or tooling from the ground up.
• Experience with hardware bring-up or system-level validation for silicon/chip platforms.
• Proficiency in Python (or a comparable scripting/programming language) and experience integrating tooling with CI/CD or test-execution pipelines.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in software development and testing.
• Skilled in testing embedded systems and firmware.
• Familiarity with computer architecture and operating system concepts.
• Demonstrated strong critical thinking, debugging, and troubleshooting skills.
• Excellent collaborative and communication skills.
• Knowledge of C/C++ and Python programming.