Senior Software Development Engineer In Test Jobs in USA with Visa Sponsorship
Senior Software Development Engineer in Test roles attract strong H-1B visa sponsorship from major tech employers. Your degree in computer science or software engineering is the foundation, and SDET experience in automation frameworks like Selenium or Cypress makes you a competitive candidate for U.S. visa sponsorship. For detailed occupation requirements, see the O*NET profile.
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INTRODUCTION
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 $111,449 to $136,215. 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.
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Get Access To All JobsTips for Finding Senior Software Development Engineer In Test Jobs
Target employers with a history of SDET sponsorship
Large tech companies and enterprise software firms file the most H-1B petitions for SDET roles. Focusing your applications on companies with established immigration programs significantly improves your odds of receiving a sponsorship offer.
Emphasize automation expertise in your application
Employers sponsoring SDETs need to demonstrate the role requires a specialized degree. Highlighting deep expertise in test automation frameworks, CI/CD pipelines, and performance engineering strengthens the specialty occupation case for your H-1B petition.
Understand the H-1B cap and lottery timing
H-1B registrations open each March for an October 1 start date. If you're on OPT or STEM OPT, confirm your work authorization covers the gap between registration and approval before accepting a sponsorship offer.
Ask about cap-exempt employer options
Universities, nonprofit research institutions, and certain government-affiliated organizations are exempt from the H-1B lottery. SDET roles exist at these institutions, and a cap-exempt petition can be filed any time of year with faster processing.
Prepare your degree equivalency documentation early
If your computer science degree is from a non-U.S. institution, get a credential evaluation from a NACES-approved agency before your employer files. A confirmed equivalency to a U.S. bachelor's degree removes a common H-1B petition obstacle.
Negotiate premium processing into your offer
Premium processing guarantees a USCIS decision within 15 business days for an additional fee paid by the employer. Requesting it upfront prevents months of uncertainty and lets you plan your start date and relocation with confidence.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a Senior SDET role qualify as a specialty occupation for H-1B purposes?
Yes, Senior SDET positions consistently qualify as H-1B visa specialty occupations because they require at least a bachelor's degree in computer science, software engineering, or a closely related field. USCIS evaluates whether the degree requirement is standard for the position industry-wide. For senior-level SDET roles involving architecture-level test design and automation engineering, that standard is well established. Employers with strong documentation of degree requirements in job descriptions and internal standards have the highest approval rates.
Which visa types are most common for Senior SDET sponsorship?
The H-1B is by far the most common visa for Senior SDET roles. Australians may also qualify for the E-3 visa, which has no lottery and is easier to obtain. Canadians and Mexicans may qualify under the TN visa as computer systems analysts. L-1B intracompany transfers are another option if you're already working for a multinational employer abroad and transferring to a U.S. office.
What degree does an employer need to sponsor me for an SDET role?
Most employers require a bachelor's degree in computer science, software engineering, computer engineering, or information systems. Some accept degrees in related STEM fields if paired with strong automation experience. A three-year bachelor's degree from Australia or India is generally accepted as equivalent to a U.S. four-year degree for H-1B purposes, particularly when supported by a credential evaluation. Degrees in unrelated fields make sponsorship significantly harder to justify.
How competitive is H-1B sponsorship for SDET roles compared to other engineering positions?
SDET roles are sponsored at high volumes by major tech companies, so competition within the lottery is real. However, the specialty occupation case for SDETs is strong and well-understood by USCIS, meaning approval rates once selected are solid. The biggest variable is lottery selection, not petition approval. Targeting employers with cap-exempt status or those filing under the advanced degree exemption improves your chances of bypassing the general lottery pool.
Where can I find Senior SDET jobs that offer visa sponsorship?
Migrate Mate is built specifically for international candidates seeking U.S. visa sponsorship and filters roles by sponsorship status, visa type, and employer track record. Browsing Senior SDET listings on Migrate Mate lets you identify which employers are actively sponsoring rather than cold-applying to companies that may not have established immigration programs, saving significant time in your job search.
What is the prevailing wage requirement for sponsored Senior Software Development Engineer In Test jobs?
U.S. employers sponsoring a visa must pay at least the prevailing wage, which is what workers in the same role, area, and experience level typically earn. The Department of Labor sets this rate to make sure companies aren't hiring foreign workers simply because they'd accept lower pay than a U.S. worker. It varies by job title, location, and experience. You can look up current prevailing wage rates for any occupation and location using the OFLC Wage Search page.
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