Senior/Staff Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET) (U.S. Air Force)

Skylight is partnering with a U.S. Air Force program office that manages civil engineering systems. The Senior/Staff SDET will own test strategy across the application portfolio, automate regression testing, integrate tests into the delivery pipeline, and coach government testers and engineers.

Responsibilities:

• Design the test strategy for a portfolio of web applications, and decide pragmatically what to automate first
• Build automated regression suites and integrate them into the CI/CD pipeline
• Move the team from manual to automated regression testing, shrinking the time from code freeze to production
• Lead a shared pool of four test engineers starting in February, and help them grow
• Communicate release confidence clearly to non-technical stakeholders
• Pair with and coach government testers and engineers so automated testing sticks after we leave

Requirements:

• Ability to write clean, working, and reusable code
• Familiar with how to build secure, compliant software and defend against common vulnerabilities
• Understand the different pieces of software systems and how to fit them together, while keeping performance, reliability, and availability in mind
• Understand the importance of always putting users at the center of your work, including thinking through the impact and implications of any code that you write
• Experience designing test strategy and building automated regression suites for web applications
• Experience leading testers or a test effort
• Experience working in a government or regulated environment with formal security authorization (ATO)
• Experience working on cross-functional teams (product, design, engineering, ops) in iterative delivery
• A track record of staying aligned and accountable on remote teams
• A mindset and work approach that aligns with our core values
• This contract requires U.S. citizenship to be eligible for employment
• You must be able to obtain a Common Access Card (CAC) and any special access required for this contract
• Experience with Selenium or behavior-driven test tools like Cucumber, and test case management in Zephyr Scale
• Experience integrating automated tests into CI/CD, ideally GitLab CI
• Experience testing COTS-based systems such as Esri or IBM TRIRIGA
• Experience using AI-assisted tools for test generation, paired with disciplined review
• Experience delivering technology in government, regulated industries, or other public-benefit settings