Principal Software Development Engineer in Test

Job ID 2618257
Location Remote Work, CA, US
Date Posted 2026-10-21
Category Software
Subcategory SW Engineer
Schedule Full-Time
Shift Day Job
Travel Yes - 10% of the time
Minimum Clearance Required None
Clearance Level Must Be Able to Obtain Secret
Potential for Remote Work ORA_REMOTE
Description
SAIC is seeking a Principal Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET) to join the Joint Range Extension (JRE) software development team.
This is a REMOTE ROLE within the UNITED STATES. MUST BE A U.S. CITIZEN. This role will involve up to 10% of CONUS travel.
JRE is a combat-proven data link gateway that plays a vital role in the defense of the United States and our allies by extending the reach of tactical data across the battlespace and around the globe. It is a large, mission-critical, near-real-time system written predominantly in Java and Kotlin, and also includes C++ components. JRE is deployed everywhere from handheld devices and small-form-factor drones to strategic bombers, guided-missile destroyers, and global command-and-control centers.
As an Principal Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET) on the software development team, you'll work closely with other developers, as well as with testers and test engineers on the test team. Through test automation, you'll play an essential role in enabling rapid, agentically-developed, high-quality releases of JRE to meet the current and future mission needs of the warfighter.
Your impact will extend beyond the code you write yourself. You'll lead projects and build up the test engineering skills of the people you work with.
Job Duties
Expand JRE's unit, integration, service, GUI, and end-to-end test automation
Engineer and maintain a comprehensive automated performance test suite covering load, stress, and endurance testing; support our IT team with capacity planning for the hardware environment it requires
Design, develop, and maintain advanced simulators for IP and serial tactical data link terminals, radios, navigation systems, and sensors
Contribute to the definition and ongoing verification of minimum system requirements for JRE's full range of deployment platforms
Refactor JRE code for testability, introducing API, RPC, and messaging seams to enable additional white- and gray-box testing
Mentor developers, testers, and less-experienced test engineers in test automation best practices as we expand automated coverage across the codebase
Optimize the performance and quality of our test automation suites
Quarantine, troubleshoot, and fix nondeterministic tests
Qualifications
REQUIREMENTS
Technical Qualifications
Deep expertise in the JVM platform, including fluency with Java, and familiarity with JVM languages such as Kotlin or Scala
Proven experience developing and maintaining high test automation coverage for large-scale codebases (1M+ lines)
Experience with the verification of mission-critical, high-reliability, near-real-time systems
Experience with JVM testing and mocking frameworks such as JUnit, AssertJ, Mockito, and MockK
Familiarity with C++ and related test automation frameworks such as Doctest and Google Mock
Experience with automated performance testing using tools such as JMeter or Gatling
Solid understanding of concurrent programming on the JVM, including classic Threads, the Executor Framework, Futures and Promises, Virtual Threads, the Reactor framework, and Kotlin Coroutines
Experience testing concurrent and asynchronous code, including with utilities such as Reactor Test and Kotlinx Coroutines Test
Thorough knowledge of object-oriented and functional design patterns; software design principles; refactoring techniques, code and test smells, and domain-driven design
Experience with RPC and message-oriented distributed systems
Experience with network programming, networking protocols, and the low-level processing of binary data
Experience leading successful large-scale, phased refactoring projects
Experience mentoring developers and testers in test automation best practices
Experience with dependency injection and the Spring family of frameworks, including Spring Boot, Spring Data, and Spring Security, and their related integration testing utilities
Test-driven development experience, and team-based development experience via pairing or mobbing, with an eagerness to work collaboratively
Experience designing and developing solutions iteratively and incrementally via Agile methodologies such as Scrum, Extreme Programming, or Lean Software Development
Experience with continuous integration and modern deployment practices for edge and cloud systems, in Gradle-built projects
Credentials and Education
Bachelors and nine (9) years or more experience; Masters and seven (7) years or more experience ; PhD or JD and four (4) years or more experience.
Must be a U.S. Citizen
Must be able to obtain a Secret Clearance after start
Desired Skills
Public contributions to open-source projects
Familiarity with any of the following
Tactical data link standards such as MIL-STD-6016, MIL-STD-6017, MIL-STD-3011, MIL-STD-6020, MIL-STD-6040, MIL-STD-2525, MIL-STD-1553, etc.
Tactical terminals and radios such as MIDS JTRS, STT, BATS-D, AN/ARC, and AN/PRC
Navigation and avionics standards such as NMEA 0183, GPS-153, ARINC 429, and ARINC 661
Security standards such as DISA STIGs, NIST SP 800-171, and NIST SP 800-207
Target salary range $120,001 - $160,000. The estimate displayed represents the typical salary range for this position based on experience and other factors.

Work arrangement
Yes