Staff System Test Automation Engineer, AI at Sonatus
Sunnyvale, CA
$148,500–$204,000
Jun 29, 2026
Sunnyvale, CA
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A staff-level quality engineering role focused on testing AI models and automation within automotive embedded and cloud-connected systems. Day-to-day work involves building and executing test plans, triaging integration issues, overseeing release gating, and orchestrating AI model deployment and scoring pipelines. Suited to engineers with a solid background in embedded software, end-to-end cloud-connected product testing, and hands-on experience with AI/ML model validation and Python-based test tooling.
Senior level · 5+ years · San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA · Bachelor's required · Full-time
Pay in the description: $148,500–$204,000
Advertised as Staff, but the requirements read as Senior.
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
Posted 2 times — it's one opening, so apply once.
We read this from the posting text with AI. Skim the description below before ruling yourself out.
How this req sits in the market our data
Roughly 35 people in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA area plausibly meet what this posting asks for (software quality assurance analysts and testers). range 10–55
Applicant volume Moderate — A normal amount of company. The rare requirements below are what will separate a shortlisted application from the rest.
Rare in this occupation — lead with these, and say what you built with them.
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $170,192 (middle half $126,400–$188,281). This posting is about at that midpoint.
Estimated from BLS employment for this occupation and area, per-skill prevalence across our listing corpus, and published wage benchmarks — as of Jul 28, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (9)
The title says 'Staff' but the requirements (5+ years total, 1+ year AI, team-level QA scope) are consistent with a Senior-level role rather than a true Staff-level (cross-team technical authority) position. Seniority is assessed as Senior.
The JD requires a Bachelor's degree in CS/CE/EE or related field; an MS is stated as preferred, not required — the degree requirement is set to Bachelors accordingly.
PyTest, Playwright, and Behave are listed together as interchangeable examples of 'common test frameworks'; they are captured as a single skill with alternatives.
JIRA and Jenkins are listed with 'or similar tools' — the named tools are treated as the primary requirement with the open-ended qualifier noted.
'Familiarity with test tools in the data analytics space' is explicitly called out as 'a plus' — marked as preferred.
The role is hybrid (3 days/week on-site at Sunnyvale HQ); remote=false.
The 1+ year AI model development/testing experience is a separately stated minimum alongside the 5-year embedded software requirement; both are captured (AI/ML model testing skill carries the years demanded of 1; the overall years minimum reflects the 5-year embedded software gate).
'Cloud platform testing' and 'embedded systems testing' are retained as skills because the JD explicitly gates on system-level testing of physical devices and QA for cloud platforms — these represent distinct, required testing competencies even though they are not named tools.
Ignored 2 non-technology phrase(s) as skills (responsibilities/concepts, not named tools): AI/ML model testing, data analytics test tools.
Read the full posting
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