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Dell is standing up validation and test engineering for SONiC, an open-source network operating system, across both AI data center fabrics and enterprise networking, signaling that a traditional hardware vendor is betting on open networking software as core to its AI infrastructure products.
Principal Software Engineer – System Test & Platform 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.
What you’ll achieve
As a Principal Software Engineer, you will be responsible for validating SONiC-based networking platforms for AI, data center, and enterprise environments, covering functional validation of hardware-software integration, optics and cable qualification, UDS (Uni-Dimensional Scale) and stress testing, and platform security. 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 platform, firmware, and hardware teams to solve complex hardware and system integration challenges and deliver reliable, secure, production-ready SONiC platforms across air-cooled and liquid-cooled deployments. Hiring at the Principal Software Engineer level or below, based on technical expertise, experience, and demonstrated impact.
You will:
Drive board bring-up and platform qualification with ODM and OEM partners across BMC (Baseboard Management Controller) platforms, including Dell iDRAC (Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller)-based and non-iDRAC-based systems.
Validate optics, cables, transceivers, and sensors end to end, up to 1.6T: link bring-up, signal integrity, pre- and post-FEC (Forward Error Correction) errors, bit error rate (BER), and digital optical monitoring (DOM) readings.
Validate platform stability, performance, and reliability across air-cooled and direct liquid-cooled (DLC) architectures, including thermal, power, and operational readiness, UDS (Uni-Dimensional Scale), stress, longevity, failover, recovery, and fault injection.
Validate platform security through threat modeling, vulnerability assessment and CVE remediation validation, secure boot, PFR (Platform Firmware Resilience), firmware and image integrity validation, security scans, and platform hardening.
Develop test plans and cases aligned with spec-driven and test-driven development (SDD/TDD), Python and SpyTest automation, and AI agents that improve execution efficiency, impact, and value, and analyze logs, telemetry, diagnostics, and packet captures to close field escapes through triage and closure.
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
Platform functional knowledge: functional understanding of platform features and their behavior, UDS (Uni-Dimensional Scale) validation, board bring-up, and hardware diagnostics across scale-up, scale-across, and scale-out systems, air-cooled and DLC-based platforms, with working knowledge of BIOS/UEFI, CPLD (complex programmable logic device), switch ASIC and SerDes, I2C/SMBus, power, thermal, and BMC-based management.
Optics and cabling: validation of optics, cables, and transceivers, including DAC (direct-attach copper), AOC (active optical cable), QSFP-DD and OSFP up to 1.6T, DOM, and BER analysis.
Platform automation: strong Python and test automation skills, with SpyTest, CI/CD, traffic generator testing (for example IXIA), packet analysis, and telemetry and northbound interfaces (CLI, REST, gNMI, NETCONF/YANG, Redfish).
Platform networking, compute, and security: Layer 2/3, BGP, VXLAN-EVPN, ECMP, QoS, RoCE, high availability, and rack-level compute integration, plus secure boot, PFR (Platform Firmware Resilience), image integrity, and vulnerability management.
Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Engineering in CSE, ECE, EEE, IT, Computer Networks, Cloud Computing, or equivalent.
Desirable Requirements
Hands-on SONiC and SpyTest experience, spec-driven or test-driven development (SDD/TDD), and exposure to security scanning and network analysis tools, for example OpenSCAP, Nessus, Qualys, Trivy, OpenVAS, Lynis, and Nmap.
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: 30 November 2026
Who We AreWe believe that each of us has the power to make an impact. That’s why we put our team members at the center of everything we do. If you’re looking for an opportunity to grow your career with some of the best minds and most advanced tech in the industry, we’re looking for you.
Dell Technologies is a unique family of businesses that helps individuals and organizations transform how they work, live and play. Join us to build a future that works for everyone because Progress Takes All of Us.
Dell Technologies is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all employees and to providing employees with a work environment free of discrimination and harassment. Read the full Equal Employment Opportunity Policy.
Visit our Culture Code page to learn more about how we work and lead.
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