Test Automation Lead

TISTA Science and Technology Corporation•Rockville, MD

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

TISTA is seeking a Test Automation Lead to support the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Supply Chain Management DevSecOps program. This role will partner with VA stakeholders and Agile delivery teams to translate business needs into clear, actionable requirements supporting supply chain and logistics solutions. The Test Automation Lead is the quality engineering authority for TISTA's prime contract performance on the Department of Veterans Affairs Supply Chain Management DevSecOps (SCMDSO) task order supporting VA's supply chain and logistics Product Line. This is a designated Key Personnel position that VA requires be maintained for the life of the contract, and any substitution must be coordinated with the Contracting Officer, VA Program Manager, and CORs with equal or greater qualifications. The Test Automation Lead owns the product line test strategy, the automation framework, requirements-to-test traceability, defect management discipline, and the release readiness quality gates that govern every product moving to production across legacy VistA, COTS/GOTS, custom, SaaS, and low-code delivery paths. At TISTA, you’ll do meaningful, mission‑driven work that improves lives alongside teammates you trust and leaders who are transparent and supportive. We invest in your learning and internal mobility so you can build a career that keeps advancing. We’re proud to serve and hire Veterans, and we put people first in everything we do.

Requirements

10+ years in software quality engineering, including at least 5 years leading test automation for multiple Agile teams on federal IT programs.
5+ years of hands-on experience designing reusable test automation frameworks integrated into CI/CD pipelines (using tools like Selenium, Cypress, Jenkins, and GitLab) for regression, API, and performance testing.
Proven ability to test across diverse technology stacks, spanning legacy systems (e.g., VistA/MUMPS), SaaS platforms (Nuvolo, ServiceNow), cloud-hosted workloads, and complex healthcare interfaces (HL7, FHIR).
Deep expertise in managing strict defect lifecycles, enforcing release readiness gates, and building bi-directional Requirements Traceability Matrices using Jira, Xray, and the VA Quality Manager tool.
Extensive experience ensuring compliance by coordinating security vulnerability scans (e.g., Fortify, WASA) and conducting Section 508/WCAG 2.0 accessibility testing using automated tools and assistive technologies.
Skilled in supporting all phases of deployment, including User Acceptance Testing (UAT), Initial Operating Capability (IOC) validation, post-deployment hypercare, and managing PHI/PII-safe synthetic test data.
Strong core competencies in quality leadership, cross-team collaboration, analytical problem-solving, and clear communication, all driven by a focus on the VA/VHA mission.
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Systems, or related field.
Tier 2 / Moderate Risk Background Investigation; ability to obtain a VA PIV credential.

Nice To Haves

Highly desired background includes specific VA supply chain experience (e.g., Maximo, IFCAP), Oracle Health EHR integration testing, data migration testing, and past Key Personnel designation.
Preferred experience with modern engineering practices, including tracking Agile/DORA metrics, supporting ATO/A&A activities, and validating AI-generated test scripts with human-in-the-loop governance.
ISTQB Certified Tester Foundation Level with Agile Tester extension (CTFL-AT), SAFe Practitioner (SP), SAFe Agilist (SA), or SAFe DevOps (SDP).
Master's degree preferred.

Responsibilities

Serve as the primary accountable leader for overall test strategy, automation, and release quality, directing QA teams and representing the organization during VA release readiness reviews.
Define and maintain comprehensive testing strategies—covering functional, security, performance, and accessibility testing—while developing formal Test Plans using VA-approved tools.
Build and maintain a reusable test automation framework using approved tools (like Selenium, Cypress, and CI/CD pipelines) to ensure breaking changes fail before promotion.
Develop and maintain a Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM) to guarantee complete bi-directional alignment between agile requirements, test cases, defects, and validation evidence.
Manage the end-to-end defect lifecycle by logging issues within one business day and strictly enforcing resolution timelines (e.g., 5 days for Critical defects, 10 days for High).
Control the release quality gate by ensuring at least 95% test execution, zero unaccepted critical/high defects or vulnerabilities, and supporting the strict 10-day error-free Initial Operating Capability (IOC) period.
Lead Section 508 accessibility testing for all deliverables and closely coordinate with security teams to validate vulnerability scans and remediation evidence.
Mentor QA staff, conduct technical interviews to build a strong talent bench, and support business development by contributing quality engineering metrics and strategies to proposals.
Advance corporate innovation by optimizing reusable testing frameworks, validating AI-generated test scripts, and leading the internal quality engineering community of practice.