Principal Autonomy Validation Engineer, Tech Lead

Summary

Join Blue River Technology, a John Deere company, as a Validation Lead for autonomous systems. You will be responsible for developing and executing test plans, establishing requirements for automated test tooling, and providing leadership to individuals executing system-level testing. This role offers the opportunity to contribute directly through developing and executing tests as well as establishing test strategy and long-term road mapping. You will collaborate with software engineers, data scientists, and field engineers to validate and verify sensor data and perception outputs. This is a fully remote position in the US.

Requirements

• 7 or more years of software development or testing experience, preferably on embedded systems
• 5 or more years of experience in developing and executing test plans, test cases, and test scripts for complex systems
• Proven experience in systems engineering, including the integration and testing of complex systems, preferably in the autonomy or automation domain
• Proven ability to lead QA teams and collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams, including software engineers, data scientists, and field engineers
• Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to identify issues, analyze data, and provide actionable insights
• Familiarity with agile methodologies and tools (e.g., JIRA, Confluence)
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related technical field

Responsibilities

• Work with Product and Engineering to develop and implement QA strategies and plans for testing perception algorithms and autonomous systems
• Integrate safety requirements into test plans, review automated test coverage for requirement fulfillment, and provide automation team roadmapping input
• Execute or enable others to execute test plans, reviewing results, and ranking issues found
• Provide leadership to field test engineers and weekly software delivery input
• Own software quality, reviewing customer defects, and create tactical short and long term plans to reduce defect escapes; track and report progress

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior autonomy development or testing experience
• Prior work with start-ups or agile organizations
• Work on safety safety-critical projects

Benefits

The US annual base salary range for this position is $166,000 - $293,000, along with eligibility for Blue River’s bonus and benefit programs