Principal Software Quality Engineer

This position can be remote in the US or hybrid in our American Fork, UT office 2-3 days per week.

The Principal Software Engineer in Test is the highest-level individual contributor role within the Software Engineering in Test discipline. This role combines deep expertise in test automation, quality engineering, and performance testing with strategic leadership and departmental influence. The Principal SET drives quality strategy, testing standards, and performance testing capabilities across the Dentrix Engineering department, ensuring quality is built into every phase of the Software Development Life Cycle and performance issues are identified before impacting customers.

• Drive testing standardization across Dentrix Engineering organization
• Define, document, and maintain testing best practices, guidelines, and standards
• Ensure consistent test planning, execution, and documentation across teams
• Partner with Release Management to define and enforce quality gates for all releases
• Establish and own quality tracking metrics and reporting across Dentrix teams
• Lead initiatives to reduce defect escape rates and improve overall product quality

• Own and drive the Dentrix Engineering performance testing strategy, ensuring performance issues are identified and resolved before impacting customers
• Assess and improve the performance testing lab environment (infrastructure, tools, processes)
• Develop and execute a roadmap to mature Dentrix Engineering's performance testing capabilities

• Research, evaluate, and recommend emerging testing technologies, tools, and frameworks
• Partner with Architecture to gain alignment and approval for new testing approaches
• Guide Dentrix department‑wide test architecture and quality strategy, with secondary influence on organization‑wide practices
• Provide leadership to testing and quality engineering guilds within Dentrix Engineering
• Champion positive changes in quality culture, shift‑left testing practices, and proactive defect prevention
• Present testing strategy, quality metrics, and performance trends to senior management

• Design and architect complex test automation solutions that meet business requirements
• Build test systems with an emphasis on reliability, scale, maintainability, and timely defect detection
• Establish and maintain test automation architecture, including frameworks and CI/CD integration
• Implement comprehensive test strategies including unit tests, integration tests, automation tests, and performance tests

• Mentor and coach engineers in test automation, performance testing, and quality engineering
• Provide technical leadership and guidance on test architecture decisions across Dentrix teams
• Deliver training and enablement sessions on testing tools, frameworks, and best practices

• Travel typically less than 10%
• Office environment with no special physical demands required

• 10+ years of experience in software engineering and/or software engineering in test with 5+ years in senior or lead test engineering roles
• Strong hands‑on experience in 2+ programming languages (e.g., C#, Python, JavaScript/Type Script, Power Shell, etc.)
• Expert ability to design, build, and scale test automation frameworks
• Deep expertise in CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and API/contract testing
• Advanced experience with performance testing, database testing, and modern system architectures
• Proven ability to define, implement, and enforce testing standards across multiple teams
• Strong understanding of quality metrics, reporting, and shift‑left quality practices
• Demonstrated success driving continuous quality improvement and a quality‑first culture
• Ability to lead and influence without direct authority
• Excellent communication and executive‑level presentation skills
• Expert‑level problem‑solving and diagnostic abilities in complex systems

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field
• ISTQB Expert‑Level certifications (CTEL‑ITP or CTEL‑TM)
• Cloud certifications…