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About This Role
Company Overview
Docusign brings agreements to life. Over 1.5 million customers and more than a billion people in over 180 countries use Docusign solutions to accelerate the process of doing business and simplify people’s lives. With intelligent agreement management, Docusign unleashes business-critical data that is trapped inside of documents. Until now, these were disconnected from business systems of record, costing businesses time, money, and opportunity. Using Docusign’s Intelligent Agreement Management platform, companies can create, commit, and manage agreements with solutions created by the #1 company in e-signature and contract lifecycle management (CLM).
What you'll do
We are seeking a Lead SDET to join our Quality Engineering team in San Francisco, driving excellence in both automation and manual testing to ensure the highest levels of product quality. You will design, develop, and execute automation frameworks using UiPath or other modern low-code automation tools, while also performing targeted manual testing for complex, high-value scenarios. A critical part of this role involves E2E customer journey life cycle testing—validations.
This position is an individual contributor role reporting to the Senior Manager SDET.
Responsibility
- Design, develop, and maintain robust, reusable automation frameworks for functional, regression, and integration testing
- Automate end-to-end business flows for SaaS and enterprise applications using UiPath or equivalent low-code automation platforms
- Build automation solutions that reduce manual effort for repetitive business processes
- Perform exploratory, functional, SIT, regression, and UAT testing for critical releases
- Perform production smoke test post Go live
- Provide hypercare support post go live
- Validate complex contract workflows, approval hierarchies, clause libraries, and integrations that require business and legal context
- Review business requirements and create detailed manual test cases aligned to acceptance criteria
- Execute last-mile manual validations before production release
Job Designation
Hybrid: Employee divides their time between in-office and remote work. Access to an office location is required. (Frequency: Minimum 2 days per week; may vary by team but will be weekly in-office expectation)
Positions at Docusign are assigned a job designation of either In Office, Hybrid or Remote and are specific to the role/job. Preferred job designations are not guaranteed when changing positions within Docusign. Docusign reserves the right to change a position's job designation depending on business needs and as permitted by local law.
What you bring
Basic
- Bachelor’s degree in computer science or equivalent
- 12+ years of experience in quality engineering with a strong mix of manual and automation testing
- Experience with UiPath or modern low-code automation tools (e.g., Power Automate, Automation Anywhere, Appian)
- Experience testing large-scale enterprise finance systems (ERP systems, CPQ tools, order management, etc)
- Experience serving as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) proactively establishing the QA process and as a point of contact for the business area
- Experience leading multiplatform end-to-end complex projects
- Experience mentoring and training junior members on the Docusign QA process, business flows, tools, and tech stack
- Experience leading cross-functional complex projects, managing risks and communications, and solving complex issues
- Experience innovating tools to reduce manual effort and bring productivity gains, such as building an AI agent testing experience or tool usage for day-to-day productivity gain
- Experience with API testing (REST, JSON, XML) and modern test automation frameworks (e.g., Selenium, Playwright)
- Experience with SDLC, Agile, and Test-Driven Development methodologies
- Experience with defect triage, debugging, and root cause analysis
- Experience with Quote to cash flows from Salesforce CPQ to Oracle ERP systems with 3rd party integrations
- A strong leader who can do multitasking and manage multiple parallel projects
- Strong hands-on experience in AI testing and building AI-related tools and technologies.
Preferred
- Expertise in balancing automation coverage with high-value manual validation
- Familiarity with performance testing tools such as JMeter, Gatling, Blazemeter
- Understanding of performance, stress, and volume testing concepts
- “Automate everything” mindset, with the judgment to know when manual testing adds more value
- Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills
- Strong leadership skills with managing projects with less mentoring and guidance.
Wage Transparency
Pay for this position is based on a number of factors including geographic location and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.
Based on applicable legislation, the below details pay ranges in the following locations:
California: $146,400.00 - $235,375.00 base salary
This role is also eligible for the following:
- Bonus: Sales personnel are eligible for variable incentive pay dependent on their achievement of pre-established sales goals. Non-Sales roles are eligible for a company bonus plan, which is calculated as a percentage of eligible wages and dependent on company performance.
- Stock: This role is eligible to receive Restricted Stock Units (RSUs).
Global benefits provide options for the following:
- Paid Time Off: earned time off, as well as paid company holidays based on region
- Paid Parental Leave: take up to six months off with your child after birth, adoption or foster care placement
- Full Health Benefits Plans: options for 100% employer paid and minimum employee contribution health plans from day one of employment
- Retirement Plans: select retirement and pension programs with potential for employer contributions
- Learning and Development: options for coaching, online courses and education reimbursements
- Compassionate Care Leave: paid time off following the loss of a loved one and other life-changing events
Life at Docusign
Working here Docusign is committed to building trust and making the world more agreeable for our employees, customers and the communities in which we live and work. You can count on us to listen, be honest, and try our best to do what’s right, every day. At Docusign, everything is equal.
We each have a responsibility to ensure every team member has an equal opportunity to succeed, to be heard, to exchange ideas openly, to build lasting relationships, and to do the work of their life. Best of all, you will be able to feel deep pride in the work you do, because your contribution helps us make the world better than we found it. And for that, you’ll be loved by us, our customers, and the world in which we live.
Accommodation Docusign is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities in our job application procedures. If you need such an accommodation, or a religious accommodation, during the application process, please contact us at [email protected].
If you experience any issues, concerns, or technical difficulties during the application process please get in touch with our Talent organization at [email protected] for assistance.
Salary Context
This $146K-$235K range is above the median for AI Architect roles in our dataset (median: $179K across 32 roles with salary data).
Role Details
About This Role
This role sits at the intersection of AI and engineering, building systems that bring machine learning capabilities into production environments. The scope varies by company, but the common thread is applying AI technology to solve real business problems at scale. Most AI roles today require a combination of software engineering fundamentals and domain-specific ML knowledge, with the exact mix depending on the team's maturity and the product they're building.
The AI job market is evolving fast. New role categories emerge as companies figure out what they need to ship AI-powered products. What matters most is the ability to learn quickly, build working systems, and iterate based on real-world performance data. The specific title matters less than the skills you bring and the problems you can solve. Companies are past the experimentation phase and want engineers who can deliver production-quality systems that work reliably at scale.
Across the 9,653 AI roles we're tracking, AI Architect positions make up 1% of the market. At DocuSign, this role fits into their broader AI and engineering organization.
AI hiring keeps growing across industries. Companies in tech, finance, healthcare, and retail are all building AI teams. The strongest demand is for people who can bridge the gap between AI research and production engineering. The shift toward generative AI has created new role types (LLM Engineer, Prompt Engineer, AI Agent Developer) that didn't exist three years ago, while traditional roles (Data Scientist, ML Engineer) have evolved to incorporate LLM capabilities.
What the Work Looks Like
Day-to-day work involves a mix of building, debugging, and collaborating. You'll write code, review pull requests, participate in design discussions, and work with cross-functional teams (product, design, data) to define what AI features should do and how they should behave. Expect to spend time on both technical implementation and communication. Most AI teams operate in two-week sprint cycles, with regular demos and retrospectives. The ratio of heads-down coding to meetings and reviews varies by seniority, with senior roles spending more time on architecture decisions and mentorship.
AI hiring keeps growing across industries. Companies in tech, finance, healthcare, and retail are all building AI teams. The strongest demand is for people who can bridge the gap between AI research and production engineering. The shift toward generative AI has created new role types (LLM Engineer, Prompt Engineer, AI Agent Developer) that didn't exist three years ago, while traditional roles (Data Scientist, ML Engineer) have evolved to incorporate LLM capabilities.
Skills Required
Python and cloud platform experience are common requirements. Specific skill needs vary by company and focus area, but familiarity with ML frameworks, data pipelines, and API design covers the basics for most roles. RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation), vector databases, and LLM API integration are increasingly standard requirements across role types.
Beyond the core stack, communication skills matter more than many technical candidates realize. The ability to explain AI capabilities and limitations to non-technical stakeholders is a differentiator at every level. Technical writing, documentation, and clear thinking about tradeoffs are underrated skills in AI roles. Experience with evaluation methodology (how to measure whether an AI system is working well) is becoming a core requirement, especially for roles that involve LLM integration.
Look for job postings that specify the problems you'll work on, the tech stack, and the team structure. Vague postings that list every AI buzzword are often a sign the company hasn't figured out what they need. Strong postings describe the product context, the team you'd join, and the specific challenges you'd tackle.
Compensation Benchmarks
AI Architect roles pay a median of $230,000 based on 212 positions with disclosed compensation. Senior-level AI roles across all categories have a median of $228,700. This role's midpoint ($190K) sits 17% below the category median. Disclosed range: $146K to $235K.
Across all AI roles, the market median is $213,400. Top-quartile compensation starts at $264,230. The 90th percentile reaches $319,400. For comparison, the highest-paying categories include AI Safety ($253,100) and Research Engineer ($252,000). By seniority level: Entry: $110,408; Mid: $193,200; Senior: $228,700; Director: $272,275; VP: $235,000.
DocuSign AI Hiring
DocuSign has 2 open AI roles right now. They're hiring across AI Architect, AI/ML Engineer. Based in San Francisco, CA, US. Compensation range: $235K - $342K.
Location Context
AI roles in San Francisco pay a median of $264,500 across 2,413 tracked positions. That's 24% above the national median.
Career Path
Common paths into AI Architect roles include Software Engineer, Data Scientist, Data Analyst.
From here, career progression typically leads toward Senior Engineer, AI Architect, Engineering Manager, Principal Engineer.
Focus on building things that work. A deployed project that solves a real problem is worth more than any certification. Contribute to open-source, build portfolio projects, and invest in fundamentals (software engineering, statistics, systems design) rather than chasing the latest framework. The AI field moves fast, but the engineers who succeed long-term are the ones with strong fundamentals who can adapt to new tools and paradigms as they emerge.
What to Expect in Interviews
AI interviews typically combine coding challenges (Python-focused), system design questions tailored to the role, and discussions about your experience with relevant tools and frameworks. Strong candidates demonstrate both technical depth and the ability to make pragmatic engineering tradeoffs. Prepare portfolio projects that demonstrate end-to-end capability rather than isolated skills.
When evaluating opportunities: Look for job postings that specify the problems you'll work on, the tech stack, and the team structure. Vague postings that list every AI buzzword are often a sign the company hasn't figured out what they need. Strong postings describe the product context, the team you'd join, and the specific challenges you'd tackle.
AI Hiring Overview
The AI job market has 9,653 open positions tracked in our dataset. By seniority: 193 entry-level, 4,500 mid-level, 3,455 senior, and 1,505 leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level). Remote roles make up 6% of the market (568 positions). The remaining 9,010 roles require on-site or hybrid attendance.
The market median for AI roles is $213,400. Top-quartile compensation starts at $264,230. The 90th percentile reaches $319,400. Highest-paying categories: AI Safety ($253,100 median, 57 roles); Research Engineer ($252,000 median, 419 roles); AI Engineering Manager ($251,622 median, 51 roles).
AI hiring keeps growing across industries. Companies in tech, finance, healthcare, and retail are all building AI teams. The strongest demand is for people who can bridge the gap between AI research and production engineering. The shift toward generative AI has created new role types (LLM Engineer, Prompt Engineer, AI Agent Developer) that didn't exist three years ago, while traditional roles (Data Scientist, ML Engineer) have evolved to incorporate LLM capabilities.
The AI Job Market Today
The AI job market spans 9,653 open positions across 16 role categories. The largest categories by volume: AI/ML Engineer (7,301), Data Scientist (441), AI Software Engineer (438). These three account for the majority of open positions, though smaller categories often have higher per-role compensation because of specialized skill requirements.
The seniority mix tells a story about where AI teams are in their maturity. Entry-level roles (193) are outnumbered by mid-level (4,500) and senior (3,455) positions, reflecting that most companies are past the 'build a team from scratch' phase and need experienced engineers who can ship production systems. Leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level) total 1,505 positions, representing the bottleneck between technical execution and organizational strategy.
Remote work availability sits at 6% of all AI roles (568 positions), with 9,010 requiring on-site or hybrid attendance. The remote share has stabilized after the post-pandemic correction. Senior and specialized roles (Research Scientist, ML Architect) are more likely to be remote-eligible than entry-level positions, partly because experienced hires have more negotiating power and partly because these roles require less hands-on mentorship.
AI compensation is structured in clear tiers. The market median sits at $213,400. Top-quartile roles start at $264,230, and the 90th percentile reaches $319,400. These figures include base salary with disclosed compensation. Total compensation (including equity, bonuses, and sign-on) runs 20-40% higher at companies that offer those components.
Category matters for compensation. AI Safety roles lead at $253,100 median, while Prompt Engineer roles sit at $141,440. The spread between highest and lowest-paying categories reflects the premium on specialized technical skills versus broader analytical roles.
The most in-demand skills across all AI postings: Python (1,605 postings), Aws (916 postings), Azure (724 postings), Rag (634 postings), Gcp (522 postings), Pytorch (495 postings), Kubernetes (384 postings), Claude (383 postings). Python dominates, appearing in the vast majority of role descriptions regardless of category. Cloud platform experience (AWS, GCP, Azure) is the second most common requirement. The newer entrants to the top skills list (RAG, vector databases, LLM APIs) reflect the shift from traditional ML toward generative AI applications.
Frequently Asked Questions
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