
Software Development Engineer in Test - Platform System Validation
Required skills
- low-level firmware
- operating systems
- Apple silicon
- software technologies
- test
- framework
- tool development
- SoCs
- silicon features
- bootloader technologies
Nice to have
- embedded systems
- computer architecture
- troubleshooting skills
- collaborative
- communication skills
- C/C++
Role summary
CoreOS Platform Enablement & Quality Engineering is seeking a Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET) with a focus on Platform System Validation. This role involves working with low-level firmware, operating systems, and Apple silicon to ensure high quality in Apple products. Responsibilities include devising testing strategies, developing and automating system-level tests, creating new test frameworks and infrastructure, and contributing to AI-driven initiatives. The ideal candidate will have 5+ years of experience in test automation, test infrastructure, or SDET, with proficiency in Python and experience in hardware bring-up or system-level validation. Familiarity with C/C++, computer architecture, and OS concepts is preferred.
Description
Devise a testing strategy for one or more major SoCs and products, focusing on low-level firmware, silicon features, and bootloader technologies. Gain a deep understanding of the design, requirements, and architecture. Influence the inclusion of testability into software design. Develop and automate system-level tests focused on software stress and stability. Define and drive quality metrics to track progress and improvements. Collaborate cross-functionally with systems, quality engineering, and development teams. Assess and represent the end-user impact of issues, shaping key product decisions. Explore novel approaches to create new test frameworks, automation, and infrastructure to streamline testing. Scale the team’s test automation infrastructure to support growing hardware and workload validation needs across the organization. Develop and validate system workloads and test cycles for new hardware bring-up across multiple chip platforms. Lead architecture efforts for core test infrastructure and tooling, driving both development and operational execution from design through release. Build and maintain tooling that integrates with CI/test frameworks to support continuous validation across hardware programs. Contribute to the team’s AI-driven initiatives, extending tooling for issue triage and workload generation for new product programs. Partner with cross-functional teams (hardware, software, program leads) to unblock validation dependencies and keep programs on schedule.
Minimum Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience. 5+ years of experience in software test automation, test infrastructure, or software development engineering in test (SDET). Demonstrated experience designing and building test automation frameworks or tooling from the ground up. Experience with hardware bring-up or system-level validation for silicon/chip platforms. Proficiency in Python (or a comparable scripting/programming language) and experience integrating tooling with CI/CD or test-execution pipelines.
Preferred Qualifications
Experience in software development and testing. Skilled in testing embedded systems and firmware. Familiarity with computer architecture and operating system concepts. Demonstrated strong critical thinking, debugging, and troubleshooting skills. Excellent collaborative and communication skills. Knowledge of C/C++ and Python programming.
Sample Apple interview questions
- 1
Design a typeahead box for a search engine
system designmedium - 2
Design a rate limiter
system designmedium - 3
Architect a key-value store for distributed systems.
system designmedium - 4
Design a system to schedule jobs in a distributed environment
system designmedium - 5
What is an API and how does it work?
technicalmedium
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