Software Engineering Lead/Principal - AI Tooling & Automation

salesforce.com, inc.; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 173,000 - 314,000; Full time

Job summary

Salesforce is seeking a Lead/Principal Engineer in Quality & Performance Excellence to drive AI-native testing and performance engineering. You will shape quality architecture, automate intelligent testing, and scale practices across teams to deliver faster, safer software.

You will lead cross-functional collaboration, build scalable QA frameworks, and champion data-driven quality across UI, APIs, and microservices using Java, Python, and TypeScript/JavaScript.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of software development, test automation, and performance engineering in enterprise SaaS or distributed systems.
• Proficiency in Java, Python, or TypeScript/Node.js.
• Hands-on with UI and API testing frameworks (Playwright, Selenium WebDriver, Cypress, RestAssured, Postman).
• Experience with load and performance tools (K6, JMeter, Locust) and observability tools (Grafana, Prometheus, New Relic, Splunk).
• Familiarity with AWS or GCP/Azure, Docker, Kubernetes, and CI/CD.

Responsibilities

• Drive quality strategy and engineering excellence by establishing usage models, test strategies, and quality gates early in architecture and development lifecycles.
• Design and evolve resilient architectures addressing functional, performance, scalability, reliability, and fault-tolerance challenges.
• Lead cross-functional technical triage to identify systemic flaw patterns and drive durable fixes across the development lifecycle.
• 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 automated regression, monitoring, alerting, and sanity testing into CI/CD pipelines and developer workflows.
• Architect scalable production-like test environments using Docker and Kubernetes with synthetic test data generation.
• Define and execute enterprise-scale performance strategies modelling high-concurrency workloads using JMeter, k6, and custom harnesses.
• Lead in-depth performance analysis across distributed systems to identify bottlenecks in microservices and multi-tenant platforms.
• Leverage AI and automation to transform quality and performance engineering into proactive, continuous intelligence.

Skills

Java

Python

TypeScript/Node.js

Education

BS in Computer Science or Software Engineering

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Playwright

Selenium WebDriver

Cypress

RestAssured

Postman

Grafana

Prometheus

New Relic

Splunk

JMeter

K6

Job description

To get the best candidate experience, please consider applying for a maximum of 3 roles within 12 months to ensure you are not duplicating efforts.

Job Category: Software Engineering

Job Details

About Salesforce

Salesforce is the #1 AI CRM, where humans with agents drive customer success together. 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.

As a Lead/Principal Engineer in Quality & Performance Excellence, you will operate at the intersection of quality architecture, intelligent test automation, performance engineering, and engineering excellence. You will drive AI-native engineering practices by establishing and scaling industry-leading approaches to quality, performance, reliability, and delivery across the organization.

You will enable engineering teams to deliver faster, safer, and more reliable customer outcomes through engineering standards, intelligent automation, quality governance, and continuous innovation.

In this role, you will work across engineering and product to shape how teams design, build, validate, and deliver software. You will leverage AI, intelligent automation, engineering rigor, and data-driven insights to accelerate delivery while continuously raising the bar for quality, reliability, scalability, and performance.

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.

Accommodations

If you need a reasonable accommodation during the application or the recruiting process, please submit a request via the Accommodations Request Form.

Please note that Salesforce uses artificial intelligence (AI) tools to help our recruiters assess and evaluate candidates' resumes and qualifications throughout the recruiting process. Humans will always make any candidate selection and hiring decisions. Please see the Candidate Privacy Statement for more information about how we use your personal data and your rights, including with regard to use of AI tools and opt out options.

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. At Salesforce, we believe in equitable compensation practices that reflect the dynamic nature of labor markets across various regions. 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.