Software Development Engineer in Test

Location: On-Site – New Haven, CT

Department: Access Egress Hardware (AEH)

Team: Firmware QA – DevOps for Firmware QA HiL Pipeline Automation

Company: ASSA ABLOY – SARGENT Manufacturing

What This Role Is About

We're hiring a Software Development Engineer in Test I (SDET I) to join our on-site firmware testing lab, where physical hardware meets modern automation. This role is a blend of embedded systems, Python-based automation, hardware testing, and the integration of AI tooling into our test cycle.

You'll help develop and run tests for the Centrios smart lock platform—a dual-microcontroller embedded system used in commercial and residential access control. You'll also get to experiment with how tools like OpenAI's GPT, Anthropic Claude, and RAG pipelines can be used to create test cases, analyze logs, and improve QA documentation.

This is a hands-on, lab-based position. You'll be writing code, flashing microcontrollers, building automation scripts, and helping lay the groundwork for next-gen AI-assisted QA workflows.

What You'll Do

Embedded QA Responsibilities

• Build and run test suites for embedded firmware using Robot Framework + custom Python tooling.
• Program and interact with Nordic nRF52840, STM32, and RP2040 (Raspberry Pi Pico) hardware for automated test execution.
• Validate features like Privacy Mode, Fail-Secure, and DPS sensor behaviors.
• Contribute to lab setup, test station configuration, and test inventory maintenance.

AI-Integrated QA Initiatives

• Use LLMs (GPT-4, Claude, etc.) to generate test cases from specifications and firmware docs.
• Leverage AI to analyze logs and assist in bug triage for embedded system failures.
• Integrate AI tooling into our documentation pipeline using prompt engineering, RAG, and Chain-of-Thought prompting.
• Experiment with workflow automation tools (like n8n or Make.com) to orchestrate test flows and report generation.
• Support CI/CD integration of automated test cases—including AI-enhanced ones—into firmware release pipelines.

About You

• 0–2 years of professional experience (internships count!) in QA automation or embedded systems.
• Bachelor's in CS, EE, CE, or a related engineering field.
• Strong with Python, Linux, and basic shell scripting.
• Curious about (or experienced with) LLMs like OpenAI, Grok, DeepSeek, Gemini, or Claude.
• Interest in firmware, hardware programming, and QA tooling.
• You like seeing things work on real hardware, not just in a console.

Nice-to-Haves (Don't sweat these, we'll teach you)

• Familiarity with Robot Framework, BLE/Zigbee/UART comms
• Experience with AI-assisted workloads (e.g., AI-generated tasks in automation, RAG workflows)
• Use of agno.com, n8n.io, Make.com, Cursor IDE or Windsurf IDE, or similar automation tools
• Knowledge of Selenium/Appium or UI testing frameworks

Why You'll Love This Role

• Hybrid Future, Real-World Now: We're not chasing buzzwords — we're applying AI to improve product quality.
• Hands-On Hardware: You'll build things that blink, beep, and bolt.
• Mentorship + Innovation: Learn from firmware pros while helping shape the future of AI-enabled QA.

We are the ASSA ABLOY Group

Our people have made us the global leader in access solutions. In return, we open doors for them wherever they go. With nearly 63,000 colleagues in more than 70 different countries, we help billions of people experience a more open world. Our innovations make all sorts of spaces – physical and virtual – safer, more secure, and easier to access.

As an employer, we value results – not titles, or backgrounds. We empower our people to build their career around their aspirations and our ambitions – supporting them with regular feedback, training, and development opportunities. Our colleagues think broadly about where they can make the most impact, and we encourage them to grow their role locally, regionally, or even internationally.

As we welcome new people on board, it’s important to us to have diverse, inclusive teams, and we value different perspectives and experiences.