Software Engineering Lead/Principal - AI Tooling & Automation

100 Salesforce, Inc.; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 173,000 - 314,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Time off programs

Medical

Dental

Vision

Mental health support

Paid parental leave

Life and disability insurance

401(k)

Employee stock purchasing program

Job summary

Salesforce is seeking a Lead/Principal Engineer in Quality & Performance Excellence to drive quality strategy and engineering excellence across distributed systems. You will design resilient architectures, lead multi-team triage, and build scalable QA frameworks using Java, Python, and TypeScript/JavaScript.

You will embed automated testing in CI/CD, create production-like test environments with Docker and Kubernetes, and shape enterprise performance strategies for high-concurrency workloads.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of software development, test automation framework architecture, and performance engineering in enterprise SaaS or distributed systems.
• Strong coding skills in Java, Python, or TypeScript/Node.js.
• Hands-on experience with UI and API testing frameworks (Playwright, Selenium WebDriver, Cypress, RestAssured, Postman).
• Deep expertise with load/performance tools such as K6, JMeter, Locust, and observability tools like Grafana, Prometheus, New Relic, or Splunk.
• Familiarity with AWS (or GCP/Azure), containers (Docker), orchestration (Kubernetes), and CI/CD tools.
• BS or MS in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or equivalent practical experience.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive quality strategy and engineering excellence across architecture and development lifecycles.
• Design resilient architectures addressing functional, performance, scalability, and fault-tolerance challenges.
• Lead cross-functional triage and durable fixes across development lifecycles.
• Build scalable quality frameworks for UI, APIs, microservices, and end-to-end workflows using Java, Python, and TypeScript/JavaScript.
• Embed automated regression, monitoring, and sanity testing into CI/CD pipelines and developer workflows.
• Create scalable test environments using Docker and Kubernetes and synthetic test data generation.
• Define and execute enterprise-scale performance strategies modeling high-concurrency workloads.
• Analyze CPU, memory, DB, network, and profiling metrics to identify bottlenecks across microservices and multi-tenant platforms.
• Leverage AI and automation to evolve quality and performance engineering into proactive insights.

Skills

Quality strategy

Cross-functional leadership

Performance optimization

Cloud/DevOps familiarity

CI/CD automation

Education

BS/MS in CS/Software Eng

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Playwright

Selenium WebDriver

Cypress

RestAssured

Postman

JMeter

K6

Locust

Grafana

Prometheus

New Relic

Splunk

AWS

Job description

Lead/Principal Engineer in Quality & Performance Excellence

Here, ambition meets action. Tech meets trust. And innovation isn’t a buzzword — it’s a way of life. The world of work as we know it is changing and we're looking for Trailblazers who are passionate about bettering business and the world through AI, driving innovation, and keeping Salesforce's core values at the heart of it all. Ready to level-up your career at the company leading workforce transformation in the agentic era? You’re in the right place! Agentforce is the future of AI, and you are the future of Salesforce.

Key Responsibilities

• Drive quality strategy and engineering excellence by establishing customer usage models, comprehensive test strategies, and quality gates early in the architecture and development lifecycle.
• Design and evolve resilient technical architectures that address complex functional, performance, scalability, reliability, and fault-tolerance challenges across systems.
• Lead complex, cross-functional technical triage by identifying systemic and architectural flaw patterns and driving durable fixes across the Agentic Development Lifecycle (ADLC).
• Architect and build scalable quality engineering frameworks spanning UI, REST/gRPC APIs, microservices, and end-to-end workflows using Java, Python, and TypeScript/JavaScript.
• Embed continuous quality into the software delivery lifecycle by integrating automated regression, monitoring, alerting, and sanity testing into modern CI/CD pipelines and developer workflows.
• Architect scalable, production-like test environments using containerization and orchestration technologies such as Docker and Kubernetes, along with synthetic test-data generation capabilities.
• Define and execute enterprise-scale performance strategies that model high-concurrency, customer workloads using JMeter, k6, and custom performance harnesses.
• Lead deep-dive performance analysis across distributed systems by analyzing CPU, memory, database, network, and execution-profiling metrics to identify bottlenecks and systemic performance issues across microservices and multi-tenant platform.
• Leverage AI and intelligent automation to transform quality and performance engineering from reactive validation into proactive, continuous engineering intelligence across the development lifecycle.

Required Qualifications & Experience

• Experience: 12+ years of experience in software development, test automation framework architecture, and performance engineering in enterprise-grade SaaS or distributed systems environments.
• Strong coding skills in at least one modern language: Java, Python, or TypeScript/Node.js.
• Hands-on experience with modern UI and API testing frameworks (e.g., Playwright, Selenium WebDriver, Cypress, RestAssured, Postman).
• Deep expertise with load and performance tools such as K6, JMeter, or Locust, alongside APM and observability tools like Grafana, Prometheus, New Relic, or Splunk.
• Familiarity with AWS (or GCP/Azure), containerization (Docker), orchestration (Kubernetes), and CI/CD tools.
• BS or MS in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or equivalent practical experience.

Preferred / Nice-to-Have Skills

• Salesforce Ecosystem: Prior experience with Apex, Lightning Web Components (LWC), Data Cloud, or Agentforce ecosystem testing.
• AI-Driven Workflows: Experience utilizing AI coding/testing assistants (e.g., Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Cursor) or testing LLM/RAG pipelines.
• Database Optimization: Strong understanding of SQL query tuning, indexing strategies, and relational/NoSQL database performance behavior.
• Ability to support and resolve complex customer escalations through deep technical debugging, root-cause analysis, and effective cross-functional collaboration.

Unleash Your Potential

When you join Salesforce, you’ll be limitless in all areas of your life. Our benefits and resources support you to find balance and be your best, and our AI agents accelerate your impact so you can do your best. Together, we’ll bring the power of Agentforce to organizations of all sizes and deliver amazing experiences that customers love.

Benefits

• time off programs
• medical
• dental
• vision
• mental health support
• paid parental leave
• life and disability insurance
• 401(k)
• an employee stock purchasing program

Posting Statement

Salesforce is an equal opportunity employer and maintains a policy of non-discrimination with all employees and applicants for employment. What does that mean exactly? It means that at Salesforce, we believe in equality for all. And we believe we can lead the path to equality in part by creating a workplace that’s inclusive, and free from discrimination. Know your rights: workplace discrimination is illegal. Any employee or potential employee will be assessed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications – without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, transgender status, age, disability, veteran or marital status, political viewpoint, or other classifications protected by law. This policy applies to current and prospective employees, no matter where they are in their Salesforce employment journey. It also applies to recruiting, hiring, job assignment, compensation, promotion, benefits, training, assessment of job performance, discipline, termination, and everything in between. Recruiting, hiring, and promotion decisions at Salesforce are fair and based on merit. The same goes for compensation, benefits, promotions, transfers, reduction in workforce, recall, training, and education. In the United States, compensation offered will be determined by factors such as location, job level, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Certain roles may be eligible for incentive compensation, equity, and benefits. Salesforce offers a variety of benefits to help you live well including: time off programs, medical, dental, vision, mental health support, paid parental leave, life and disability insurance, 401(k), and an employee stock purchasing program.

More details about company benefits can be found at the following link: https://www.salesforcebenefits.com.

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance and the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring, Salesforce will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

In the United States, compensation offered will be determined by factors such as location, job level, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Certain roles may be eligible for incentive compensation, equity or benefits. The typical base salary range for this position is $172,500 - $313,700 annually. In select cities within the San Francisco and New York City metropolitan area, the base salary range for this role is $207,800 - $344,700 annually. The range represents base salary only, and does not include company bonus, incentive for sales roles, equity or benefits, as applicable.

We are Salesforce, the Customer Company, inspiring the future of business with AI + Data + CRM. Leading with our core values, we help companies across every industry blaze new trails and connect with customers in a whole new way. And, we empower you to be a Trailblazer, too — driving your performance and career growth, charting new paths, and improving the state of the world. If you believe in business as the greatest platform for change and in companies doing well and doing good – you've come to the right place.