Lead Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET) - Mobile & Infrastructure

About Yal

Yal is a high-growth, fast-paced AI communications platform building next-generation interaction systems. We operate in a high-agency, build-in-public culture where we prioritize rapid execution, technical depth, and close in-office collaboration.

We don't just look for testers; we look for software engineers who treat test frameworks and execution infrastructure with the same architectural rigor as production code. Because our platform relies heavily on seamless real-time interactions, building a flawless, lightning-fast mobile experience is one of our highest engineering priorities.

The Role

As our Lead SDET, you will own the end-to-end quality architecture of our platforms, with a primary mission to design, scale, and maintain a bulletproof automation ecosystem for our native mobile applications. You will transition our mobile QA from local, reactive testing to a highly scalable, parallelized continuous testing infrastructure.

This is a hands-on technical leadership role — you will write core framework code, configure cloud infrastructure, and act as a force multiplier for both our Mobile (iOS/Android) and Backend engineering teams.

Core Responsibilities

• Mobile Framework Architecture: Own the design, implementation, and scaling of robust automation frameworks for our native iOS and Android applications from scratch.
• Infrastructure & Device Farms: Build and maintain scalable continuous testing pipelines. Programmatically spin up headless emulators/simulators within our CI/CD pipelines and manage cloud device matrices (e.g., BrowserStack, AWS Device Farm).
• Test Flakiness & Stability Engineering: Eliminate flaky tests by implementing advanced synchronization patterns (FluentWaits) and isolating UI layers through network emulation and API mocking.
• Developer Collaboration & Testability: Partner directly with native Mobile Developers to enforce strict locator strategies (such as regular use of native accessibility identifiers) and optimize branching/PR testing policies.
• API & Backend Validation: Build out continuous integration tests for downstream RESTful APIs to ensure backend shifts never break client-facing mobile apps.
• Technical Quality Strategy: Define the strategy for what runs when — establishing lightweight, sub-10-minute smoke suites for Pull Requests and comprehensive regression matrices for nightly builds.
• Mentorship: Set the standard for clean, maintainable automation code through strict code reviews and mentor junior automation engineers.
  

Key Requirements & Technical StackTechnical Skills

• Mobile Test Stack: Expert-level proficiency with Appium (including deep understanding of Appium Server, WebDriverAgent, and UIAutomator2) and/or native mobile tools like XCUITest and Espresso.
• Mobile Realities: Deep understanding of mobile ecosystem nuances — handling asynchronous states, app lifecycles (background/foreground shifts), push notification loops, and tracking device-side performance (CPU, memory leaks).
• Programming Languages: High proficiency in Java, Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, or Swift. You write clean, production-grade code adhering to design patterns like Page Object Model or Screenplay.
• CI/CD & DevOps: Strong hands-on experience integrating mobile automation into modern CI/CD setups (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, etc.).
• API Testing: Proficient in API automation utilizing tools like RestAssured, Postman, or custom automated suites.
  

Experience & Traits

• 6+ years of professional experience in software test automation, with at least 2+ years explicitly leading technical QA or SDET tracks.
• Proven track record of architecting a mobile automation infrastructure from the ground up that drastically cut release cycles.
• Thrives in a rapid, entrepreneurial, high-autonomy startup ecosystem.
• Enjoys a 5-day-a-week in-office collaborative dynamic.
  

What We Offer

• The opportunity to shape the quality engineering culture of a scaling AI communications platform from the ground up.
• A hyper-collaborative, focused in-office culture alongside a high-caliber technical team.
• Competitive compensation package and high impact upside.

Recruitment Note for Candidates: Our evaluation process includes a hands-on technical live coding round. Be prepared to discuss framework design patterns, dynamic wait strategies, and how you scale mobile tests in CI/CD environments.