Principal Software Engineer

Principal Software Engineer – System Test & Validation (SONiC AI & Enterprise Networking)

Infrastructure Solutions Group (ISG) builds the products that power infrastructure, solutions, and data management our customers need most. Our teams design and develop the hardware and software that connect infrastructure, accelerate computational workloads, integrate across the stack, protect data continuity, and deliver the platforms, applications, and diagnostics our customers rely on every day at enterprise scale. 

Some product builders follow the rules. Ours rewrite them.

Within ISG, innovation isn't just about creating new technology- it's about challenging assumptions and reimagining how work gets done. Engineers define intent, author precise specifications, and orchestrate AI agents that execute at speed and scale. AI is embedded throughout our development process, helping us move faster, learn quicker, and deliver greater impact. Yet the most important contribution remains uniquely human: deciding what to build, designing how it should work, and applying the judgment needed to earn our customers' trust. When your products power critical infrastructure around the world, that responsibility matters.

We move quickly toward the work that matters most. We reward experimentation, encourage bold thinking, and remove unnecessary barriers so great ideas can become reality faster. Our teams embrace a customer-first, first-to-market mindset, transforming rapid feedback into better products and better outcomes. We aren't looking for people who are content with the status quo- we look for builders who question it, improve it, and occasionally rewrite it.

If you're energized by solving complex systems challenges, excited to work alongside AI to amplify your impact, and motivated by the opportunity to shape what's next instead of simply maintaining what's been done before, you'll find your place here.

Join us to do the best work of your career and make a profound social impact as a Principal Software Engineer on our System Test Engineering Team in Chennai, India.

Take the first step towards your dream career

Every Dell Technologies team member brings something unique to the table. Here’s what we are looking for with this role:

Essential Requirements

• System and solution validation: system testing and end-to-end validation of AI, data center, and enterprise networking solutions at multidimensional scale, including troubleshooting complex scale-up, scale-across, scale-out, and rack-scale networking and compute deployments.

• Networking technologies: VXLAN-EVPN, MLAG, EVPN-MH, ECMP, VRF, BGP, OSPF, IS-IS, SRv6, BFD, VLAN, LACP, LLDP, STP, multicast, and network services (DHCP, DNS, NTP, LDAP, RADIUS, TACACS+, 802.1X).

• AI fabric performance: RoCE, QoS, DCB (PFC/ECN), lossless Ethernet, link-level retransmission, latency, performance, and resiliency, including collective-communication traffic on GPU clusters.

• Automation and telemetry: strong Python and test automation skills, with automation frameworks, CI/CD pipelines, validation at scale, telemetry and northbound interfaces (CLI, REST, gNMI, NETCONF/YANG), packet analysis, and traffic generator testing (for example IXIA).

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Engineering in CSE, ECE, EEE, IT, Computer Networks, Cloud Computing, or equivalent.

Desirable Requirements

• Hands-on SpyTest and network test automation, spec-driven or test-driven development (SDD/TDD), familiarity with server and storage environments, and data analysis for trend and escape analysis (SQL, pandas).

• Experience building or using AI agents and AI-assisted workflows (AI models and tools, for example Claude, Devin, GitHub Copilot) for test development, automation, analysis, and troubleshooting, and exposure to emerging scale-up fabric standards (for example UALink and Ultra Ethernet).
  
  
  Application closing date: 16/11/2026.

What you’ll achieve

As a Principal Software Engineer, you will be responsible for system and solution-level validation of SONiC-based AI and enterprise networking platforms, from test strategy and automation through root-cause analysis. As a successful candidate, you will be a technically savvy, passionate, and strongly self-driven engineer who drives the deliverables and objectives entrusted to you, your team, and scrums, working with engineering and architecture teams on customer use-case and solution-centric validation at multidimensional scale across complex rack-scale networking and compute deployments. Hiring at the Principal Software Engineer level or below, based on technical expertise, experience, and demonstrated impact.

You will:

• Design and execute system and solution-level validation, translating product requirements, architecture documents, and specifications into comprehensive test plans and cases aligned with spec-driven and test-driven development (SDD/TDD).

• Validate use-case and solution-centric functional, performance, resiliency, interoperability, and end-to-end scenarios at multidimensional scale, including RoCE and lossless-fabric behavior under congestion (PFC, ECN, link-level retransmission, and retransmits).

• Track link-level health across test runs and releases, including error counters, link flaps, and FEC and CRC trends.

• Build and improve Python and SpyTest automation and AI agents that improve execution efficiency, impact, and value, accelerating CI/CD pipelines and test coverage.

• Analyze logs, telemetry, packet captures, and system behavior to identify root causes, close field escapes, and resolve complex issues through triage and closure.