Principal Software Development Engineer in Test

Quick Facts

• Work Policy: Remote within the United States, with up to 10% CONUS travel
• Job Type: Full Time
• Experience Level: Principal; Bachelor’s with 9+ years, Master’s with 7+ years, or PhD/JD with 4+ years of experience
• Core Tech Stack: Java, Kotlin, C++, JVM testing frameworks, Spring, Gradle
• Clearance: U.S. citizenship required; must be able to obtain a Secret clearance after start

About the Role

SAIC is looking for 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, you must be a U.S. citizen, and the job involves up to 10% CONUS travel.

JRE is a combat-proven data link gateway that plays a vital role in defending the United States and its 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 mostly in Java and Kotlin, with some C++ components, and it is deployed everywhere from handheld devices and small-form-factor drones to strategic bombers, guided-missile destroyers, and global command-and-control centers.

You’ll work closely with other developers and with the testers and test engineers on the test team. Through test automation, you’ll play an essential role in enabling rapid, agentically developed, high-quality JRE releases that meet the current and future mission needs of the warfighter. Your impact will reach beyond the code you write: you’ll lead projects and build up the test engineering skills of the people you work with.

What You’ll Do

• 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, and support the 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 defining and continually verifying the minimum system requirements for JRE’s full range of deployment platforms
• Refactor JRE code for testability, introducing API, RPC, and messaging seams that enable more white-box and gray-box testing
• Mentor developers, testers, and less-experienced test engineers in test automation best practices as automated coverage expands across the codebase
• Optimize the performance and quality of the test automation suites
• Quarantine, troubleshoot, and fix nondeterministic tests

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 verifying 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 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 through pairing or mobbing, with an eagerness to work collaboratively
• Experience designing and developing solutions iteratively and incrementally through 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

• Bachelor’s degree and nine or more years of experience, Master’s degree and seven or more years, or PhD or JD and four or more years
• 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 tactical data link standards such as MIL-STD-6016, MIL-STD-6017, MIL-STD-3011, MIL-STD-6020, MIL-STD-6040, MIL-STD-2525, and MIL-STD-1553
• Familiarity with tactical terminals and radios such as MIDS JTRS, STT, BATS-D, AN/ARC, and AN/PRC
• Familiarity with navigation and avionics standards such as NMEA 0183, GPS-153, ARINC 429, and ARINC 661
• Familiarity with security standards such as DISA STIGs, NIST SP 800-171, and NIST SP 800-207

About SAIC

SAIC is a premier mission integrator focused on advancing technology and innovation to serve and protect the world. Its portfolio spans the defense, space, intelligence, and civilian markets, with secure high-end solutions in mission IT, enterprise IT, engineering services, and professional services, integrating emerging technology rapidly and securely into mission-critical operations. The company has about 23,000 employees, is headquartered in Reston, Virginia, and has annual revenues of roughly $7.3 billion. SAIC is an Equal Opportunity Employer.