Principal Software Development Engineer in Test

OVERVIEW 

The Principal SDET will be a core member of the eClinical Solutions R&D Team. The Principal SDET will be primarily responsible for architecting and evolving automation frameworks and infrastructure, providing technical leadership, mentoring engineers, reviewing automation code quality, driving automation strategy, ensuring scalable and maintainable test automation solutions across the organization, and driving the initiative of migrating existing tests and infrastructure onto a new testing platform. In addition, the Principal SDET will collaborate closely with development, DevOps, architecture, and QA teams to establish best practices for automation, quality engineering, continuous testing, and system reliability. This position will report to the Senior Director, Software Quality Assurance. 

KEY TASKS & RESPONSIBILITIES

• Designing and implementing AI-assisted workflows, copilots, or intelligent automation features
• Working with agentic AI patterns (e.g., task orchestration, tool-using agents, workflow automation)
• Applying prompt engineering, evaluation techniques, and guardrails to ensure reliability and compliance
• Collaborating with data and platform teams to operationalize AI-not just prototype it
• Design, develop, and maintain scalable enterprise-level test automation frameworks from scratch.
• Lead framework and infrastructure evolution initiatives as part of the global SQA automation team.
• Drive migration initiatives for existing automation frameworks, test suites, and infrastructure onto modern testing platforms.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to automation engineers and SDET teams.
• Hands-on experience in automating web-based applications using Playwright (PW) with C#/.NET.
• Strong experience in automating REST API testing, service validation, and integration testing.
• Experience validating database integrity, backend data consistency, and end-to-end data flows using SQL-based verification techniques.
• Drive Shift-Left testing practices by integrating automated quality validation early in the software development lifecycle.
• Design, build, and maintain ephemeral test environments for scalable and isolated automated testing workflows.
• Hands-on experience testing applications in ephemeral/containerized environments as part of CI/CD pipelines.
• Review and audit automation code for quality, maintainability, performance, and adherence to coding standards.
• Review automation execution reports and proactively follow up on discrepancies and failures.
• Train and mentor team members on framework usage, coding standards, automation best practices, and engineering principles.
• Drive adoption of Active Coding practices, clean code principles, and object-oriented programming (OOP) methodologies
• Collaborate with development teams, architects, DevOps engineers, and stakeholders to improve product quality and delivery efficiency.
• Design and implement parallel and distributed test execution capabilities.
• Contribute to CI/CD pipeline implementation and continuous testing strategies.
• Work with Docker containerization technologies for scalable automation execution environments.
• Participate in automation solutioning aligned with modern industry trends including cloud-native technologies, AI/ML-assisted testing, and scalable distributed systems.
• Support API and integration testing efforts involving HTTP/REST services, authentication, and secure communication protocols including TLS.
• Provide technical guidance on systems architecture, automation infrastructure, and engineering best practices.
• Create and maintain technical documentation, standards, architecture diagrams, and Confluence documentation.
• Take the first step towards your dream career. Here is what we are looking for in this role. 

CANDIDATE’S PROFILE

Education & Experience

• BS in Computer Science and/or equivalent preferred.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.
• 8-15 years of hands-on experience in software development engineering in test (SDET), automation engineering, or quality engineering preferred. 

Technical Skills & Experience  

• Strong experience designing enterprise automation frameworks and scalable automation infrastructure
• Strong understanding of QA concepts, software testing methodologies, automation tools, and modern engineering practices.
• Expertise in designing and implementing scalable automation frameworks and infrastructure.
• Strong programming expertise in C#/.NET and object-oriented programming (OOP) concepts.
• Hands-on experience with Active Coding practices and modern software engineering standards.
• Strong understanding of SQL and database validation techniques.
• Good understanding of HTTP/REST APIs, web services, and network communication fundamentals.
• Knowledge of TLS/security concepts and secure communication protocols.
• Strong understanding of systems architecture and distributed application design.
• Hands-on experience with Docker containers and containerized execution environments.

• Practical experience implementing Shift-Left testing strategies across the SDLC.
• Strong experience building, managing, and testing within ephemeral environments.
• Experience integrating ephemeral environments into CI/CD and automated testing workflows.
• Experience with CI/CD tools, build management systems, cloud-native platforms, and DevOps practices.
• Experience using source control and project management tools such as Git, Bitbucket, Jira, and AWS services/platforms.
• Expertise in Playwright (PW) automation including framework design, tooling, infrastructure, and parallel execution.
• Strong experience in API automation testing using REST services and service-layer validation.
• Strong understanding of database testing, data integrity validation, and backend system verification.
• Ability to evaluate and recommend suitable technologies, tools, and automation strategies aligned with current industry trends.