IT Quality Assurance - Senior/Specialist

State of Washington•Thurston County – Olympia, WA

3d•Hybrid

About The Position

This position leads Quality Assurance (QA) Test activities for assigned projects and plays a critical role in the DCYF IT software development process. It is responsible for designing and executing comprehensive testing strategies, including defining test approaches, developing acceptance criteria, creating and managing test data, and building both manual and automated test scripts. The role independently evaluates software solutions and development processes to ensure they meet business objectives, while identifying defects, risks, and opportunities for improvement. It also involves analyzing performance and security, maintaining test artifacts, and leveraging advanced tools and methods to support high-quality, reliable system delivery.

Requirements

Ten years of testing experience in a software development environment such as: writing manual and automated test scripts, executing test scripts, smoke test, system test, performance test, regression test, user-acceptance test.
OR A bachelor's degree and 7 years of testing experience in a software development environment such as: writing manual and automated test scripts, executing test scripts, smoke test, system test, performance test, regression test, user-acceptance test.
The ability to take action to learn and grow.
The ability to take action to meet the needs of others.

Nice To Haves

Five years of experience in leading QA test projects such as; coding automated test scripts, design test automation platform, executing test scripts, generating test data, managing user acceptance test programs, troubleshooting test systems, running bug triage meetings, evaluating conformance to technical requirements. (may be gained concurrently with the experience above).
Demonstrated ability to learn and apply emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, in a public sector environment
Ability to evaluate automated or AI-generated outputs for accuracy, fairness, and appropriateness
Understanding of data governance, privacy, and ethical considerations in technology use
Commitment to continuous learning and adaptation to evolving technologies

Responsibilities

Manage test activities on assigned project teams.
Leads, mentors, and coaches lower-level testers by assigning and reviewing their work, providing advanced support in complex problem-solving.
Represent QA in agile team meetings and design sessions to collaborate with development staff on test approach and to refine acceptance criteria.
Research system requirements, user stories, topic papers, technical documents, and design documents to design test plans for each release.
Create system and business relevant test cases, system test scripts & dependency data.
Conduct usability testing to verify software meets UI standards and complies with ADA requirements.
Oversee test resources, maintain shared test environments, and coordinate test activities.
Develop, maintain and execute manual and automated test scripts, run system batches and coordinate testing with interface partners.
Conduct User Acceptance Testing by setting up complex dependency data and validating potential incidents.
Develop and conduct performance and stress tests using automated testing tools.
Track test results, document outcomes using the incident tracking application.