Principal Software Engineer In Test (SDET)

We are looking for a Principal Software Engineer in Test to lead and evolve our quality engineering practice across backend services and client applications. This role is hands\-on, highly technical, and focused on building robust, scalable test automation for REST and WebSocket APIs, as well as web, mobile, and desktop client UIs. As a principal\-level engineer, you will define testing strategy, design automation frameworks, and partner closely with backend, frontend, mobile, and platform teams to ensure quality is built into the system. **This is not a manual QA role.** ### **Employment Type** ***This is a full\-time independent contractor position. We are not currently hiring for direct employee positions.*** ### **Location** This is a fully remote position. Work where you perform your best. ### **Key Responsibilities** * Own the end\-to\-end test automation strategy, architecture, and integration across backend services and client applications * Design, build, and maintain scalable test automation frameworks for: * + REST APIs + WebSocket / real\-time messaging APIs + Web UIsMobile (iOS / Android) clients + Desktop clients * Design, build, and maintain automated tests for authentication, authorization, data validation, error handling, and backward compatibility * Design, build, and maintain complex tests for WebSocket/streaming protocols * Collaborate with backend teams on contract testing and schema validation * Integrate automated testing into CI/CD pipelines * Define and enforce quality gates for merges, releases, and deployments * Analyze test failures, improve signal\-to\-noise ratio, and reduce flakiness **Requirements** ### **What You Bring** * Bachelor’s degree in a technical field (Computer Science, Physics, or Engineering) or equivalent professional experience * 10\+ years professional experience in a related technical field * 3\+ years in a senior/lead role * Expert\-level coding skills in at least one major language (Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, Java, or Go) with the ability to read and possibly debug other languages (Kotlin, Swift, Objective\-C, C\#) * Deep experience testing REST APIs and real\-time systems (WebSocket, gRPC, or similar) * Hands\-on experience with UI automation frameworks for: * + Web (e.g., Playwright, Cypress, Selenium) + Mobile (e.g., Appium, XCUITest, Espresso) * Strong understanding of distributed systems, asynchronous behavior, and microservices architecture * Proficiency with CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, Jenkins, Spinnaker, etc) and Docker/Kubernetes * Ability to debug complex issues across backend services and client applications ### **Nice to Have (Preferred Qualifications)** * Master's degree or higher in a technical field * Experience testing high\-scale or real\-time systems (chat, presence, streaming, collaboration tools) * Experience validating contracts and schemas (Pact, Postman, Specmatic, Buf, AsyncAPI Studio, or similar) * Performance and load testing for APIs and WebSockets (k6, JMeter, Gatling, or similar) * Experience with observability tools (logs, metrics, traces) to support test diagnostics * Experience working closely with product and UX teams