Senior Software Development Engineer Jobs in California

Brain Corp is a San Diego, California, USA-based AI company creating transformative core technology for the robotics industry. Our purpose is to create autonomous technology that helps the real world work better. Brain's robotic and AI solutions help retailers ensure that the right product is on the right shelf at the right price, in a clean environment. Through the BrainOS Robotics Platform, which powers the largest global fleet of the Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) in operation in commercial public spaces, Brain Corp delivers insightful and efficient automated solutions in both commercial floor cleaning and inventory management, empowering organizations and their employees to achieve more. Brain Corp currently powers more than 30,000 AMRs, representing the largest fleet of its kind in the world. Brain Corp is funded by the SoftBank Vision Fund, Clearbridge, and Qualcomm Ventures.

Named a top workplace by the San Diego Union Tribune and USA today in 2025, we make life-changing impacts through innovation, helping workers globally unlock their abilities in orchestration with intelligent machines.

Position Overview:

The Senior Software Development Engineer in Test (Sr. SDET) is a software engineer responsible for designing and implementing automated validation systems that ensure the reliability and quality of software applications and services.

Working closely with product developers, platform engineers, and quality teams, the Senior SDET builds automation frameworks, validation tools, and testing strategies that support reliable releases across web applications, cloud services, mobile platforms, and supporting data systems.

Unlike traditional QA roles, the Senior SDET contributes code alongside development teams and plays a key role in improving testing practices, automation coverage, and CI/CD workflows. This role also provides technical guidance to other engineers and helps drive improvements in quality engineering practices across the team.

Essential Job Functions:

Automation Development & Test Engineering

• Design and implement automated testing solutions for web applications, APIs, backend services, and supporting systems
• Develop and maintain test automation frameworks and validation tools using Python in Linux-based environments
• Create automated tests for functional, integration, and regression validation of software systems
• Define and implement testing strategies for features and services within a product area
• Contribute to the improvement of automation frameworks, testing infrastructure, and engineering tooling

Simulation-Based Validation

• Develop complex simulation scenarios that replicate real-world environments and edge cases to support system validation and regression testing
• Collaborate with engineering teams to integrate simulation-based testing using tools such as NVIDIA Isaac Sim into automated testing workflows

CI/CD & Engineering Workflow Integration

• Integrate automated validation into CI/CD pipelines to support reliable and efficient release processes
• Collaborate with product developers to ensure systems are testable, observable, and reliable
• Participate in architecture discussions and design reviews to ensure new systems can be effectively validated

Quality Insights & Reporting

• Investigate complex test failures, analyze system behavior, and support root cause analysis with engineering teams
• Develop and maintain quality dashboards and reporting tools that provide insight into product health and system reliability
• Help ensure traceability between requirements, implementation, and validation activities

Engineering Documentation & Collaboration

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure clear requirements, acceptance criteria, and validation strategies
• Document validation approaches, testing strategies, and key findings to support engineering teams and product development

AI-Assisted Development & Testing

• Apply Generative AI (GenAI) tools to improve software development workflows, test generation, debugging, and engineering productivity
• Contribute to efforts that incorporate GenAI capabilities into development or product features where applicable

Technical Leadership & Mentorship

• Mentor SDET I and SDET II engineers on automation practices, debugging, and software engineering techniques
• Provide technical guidance to team members and help promote modern quality engineering practices across the team

Education and/or Work Experience Requirements: 

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering or equivalent practical experience 
• 5+ years of professional experience developing software, test automation, or validation tooling for production software systems
• Demonstrated ability to design and implement automated testing solutions using Python within Linux-based development environments
• Hands-on experience developing or improving test automation frameworks and validation tooling used to validate application or service behavior
• Strong understanding of software testing methodologies, including designing and implementing unit, integration, and system-level testing strategies
• Practical experience validating web applications, APIs, and distributed services, including identifying integration issues and supporting root cause analysis
• Demonstrated experience integrating automated validation into CI/CD pipelines to support continuous delivery and reliable release workflows
• Proficiency using Git-based version control workflows and collaborating through issue tracking systems such as Jira or similar platforms
• Experience working across the full software development lifecycle within Agile development environments, collaborating closely with developers and product teams
• Strong debugging and analytical skills, including the ability to investigate complex failures and identify root causes in distributed systems
• Excellent communication, collaboration, and technical documentation skills

Preferred Experience:

• Hands-on experience developing automated tests using modern web automation frameworks such as Playwright, Cypress, or Selenium
• Practical experience validating cloud-hosted services or applications deployed on AWS, GCP, or Azure
• Working knowledge of containerized development environments, including running applications or automated tests using Docker
• Experience validating data pipelines or data platforms, including validating structured data used by services or analytics workflows
• Experience using observability or monitoring platforms (e.g., logs, metrics, tracing) to troubleshoot failures and analyze system behavior
• Demonstrated use of Generative AI tools to improve development or testing workflows, such as generating test cases, debugging assistance, or documentation
• Experience developing or executing simulation-based validation scenarios in virtual environments to support system-level testing

Things that make a difference:

• Master's degree in Computer Science, CE, EE
• Experience validating machine learning systems or ML-enabled applications, including model inference services, training data pipelines, or model output validation
• Experience with NVIDIA Isaac Sim or similar robotics simulation platforms
• Experience working in environments that combine cloud services, mobile applications, and data platforms
• Experience in mobile robotics or industrial automation is a plus
• Experience with common sensors used in robotics, including cameras (RGB and Depth), LIDARs, IMUs and Sonars is a plus

Physical Demands:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The physical activity of this position includes, kneeling; reaching; pushing; pulling; sitting, standing and walking for periods of time; using hands to finger and grasp; repetitive motion; talking and hearing. close visual acuity to prepare and analyze data and figures; transcribing; viewing a computer terminal; extensive reading; visual inspection involving small defects, small parts, and/or operation of machines; use of measurement devices; and/or assembly or fabrication parts at distances close to the eyes; push or pull up to 20 pounds.

Work Environment:

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. The noise level in the work environment is usually quiet to moderate. Employees are exposed to the typical office environment with computers, printers and telephones.

Salary Range:

The anticipated salary range for candidates who will work in San Diego, California is $134,383 to $167,979.The final salary offered to a successful candidate will be dependent on several factors that may include but are not limited to the type and length of experience within the job, type and length of experience within the industry, education, etc. Brain Corp is a multi-state employer and this salary range may not reflect positions that work in other states.

In addition to base pay, our competitive total rewards package consists of:

• A discretionary annual target bonus
• Stock options
• 401(k) plan with match (no waiting period and immediate vesting)
• Comprehensive suite of insurance benefits for employees (and their families) to include a variety of medical plan options (including an HSA with employer contribution), dental, vision, life and disability insurance, Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Legal/Identity support plans, pet insurance.
• Access to Flexible Spending Accounts (Medical and Dependent Care)
• Generous paid time off including flexible vacation, Paid Sick Leave, time off for volunteering in the community, 10 paid company holidays, and a winter company shutdown

Additional Perks include:

• Daily on-site lunch available in the San Diego office
• On-campus gym including pool and tennis courts in the San Diego office
• Opportunities to connect with colleagues including monthly game nights, hikes, wellness challenges, and community events 
• Internal continuous learning events 
• Opportunities to share your own interests and hobbies with the Company