Test Phase Manager

State of Washington • Thurston County – Olympia, WA

3d • Hybrid

About The Position

This role coordinates and oversees testing activities within a complex, statewide Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation involving multiple agencies, system integrators, and technical teams. The Test Phase Manager ensures that testing phases operate as a single, integrated enterprise effort across interdependent systems, while navigating differences in agency readiness, system complexity, resource availability, and competing priorities. Responsibilities include coordinating the resolution of issues that span testing phases or agencies, such as misaligned schedules, environments, data readiness, and defect resolution. The role works within established program governance, testing strategies, and escalation processes, collaborating with Test Phase Leads, technical teams, and program leadership to address issues that cannot be resolved at the phase level and maintain alignment across the testing program. The Test Phase Manager manages risks and dependencies throughout system integration and validation, assessing the potential impact of defects, environment constraints, and changing readiness timelines on downstream testing and go-live preparedness. By applying established testing methodologies and governance standards, the role evaluates options, supports timely resolution, and maintains alignment with the enterprise testing strategy and deployment schedule. The position balances competing priorities while helping maintain testing integrity across all phases and providing the information needed to support final system validation and go-live decisions. The One Washington (OneWA) project is an enterprise-wide transformation project focused on replacing outdated technology with a cloud-based Workday solution for finance, procurement, budget, HR, and payroll processes. This is a long-term, fast-paced project anticipated to fully implement all phases by 2030. The project’s core business hours are Monday through Friday, and all project positions are full-time. Flexibility in schedules is offered around core business hours with prior supervisory approval, but it is common to work beyond the typical 40-hour workweek to meet rigorous operational needs and business deliverables required for go-live timelines.

Requirements

• Program and Workstream Leadership: Knowledge of program delivery principles, complex project environments, and structured approaches for coordinating large-scale, interdependent work efforts. Ability to lead and coordinate complex initiatives involving multiple stakeholder groups, workstreams, and organizational partners by establishing direction, sequencing activities, and ensuring alignment with broader program objectives.
• Governance and Operational Frameworks: Knowledge of governance models, operational frameworks, decision-making structures, and management practices that support complex enterprise initiatives. Skill in developing, implementing, and applying governance structures, standards, processes, and operational plans that promote accountability, consistency, and effective coordination across teams and organizations.
• Risk Management and Decision Support: Knowledge of risk management principles, issue management practices, and approaches for evaluating impacts within complex operational environments. Skill in identifying, assessing, prioritizing, and managing risks; evaluating potential impacts; developing mitigation strategies; and escalating issues with clear analysis and recommended solutions.
• Matrixed Leadership and Collaboration: Skill in building relationships, influencing outcomes, and facilitating collaboration across diverse teams, stakeholder groups, and organizational boundaries. Ability to lead through influence in a matrixed environment where staff, resources, and stakeholders do not report directly to the position.
• Executive Communication and Stakeholder Engagement: Skill in translating complex technical, operational, and program information into clear, concise, and actionable communications. Ability to communicate effectively with executive leadership, project teams, and diverse stakeholder groups to support alignment, transparency, and informed decision-making.
• Strategic Prioritization and Alignment: Skill in managing competing priorities, evaluating organizational impacts, and maintaining focus across multiple concurrent initiatives. Ability to establish alignment among workstreams, dependencies, and stakeholders while navigating changing priorities in a high-complexity environment.
• Quality Management and Process Improvement: Knowledge of quality management principles, operational standards, and continuous improvement practices. Ability to establish structures, processes, and performance expectations that promote consistency, quality, accountability, and successful delivery of large-scale operational initiatives.
• Strategic Leadership and Organizational Alignment: Knowledge of enterprise strategy, organizational priorities, and the relationship between operational delivery, technology initiatives, and business outcomes. Ability to align diverse teams around shared objectives, anticipate organizational impacts, and guide decision-making to support successful program outcomes and sustainable operational readiness.
• Equity Minded: The ability to learn and grow: Curious about themselves and others, who take responsibility for knowing their own strengths and weaknesses, and who use their learning to make government programs and processes more efficient and effective to serve all in Washington.
• The ability to meet the needs of others: Flexible, adaptable, customer-service focused, and willing and able to empathetically respond to the unique needs of the people we work with and serve.

Nice To Haves

• Strategic Prioritization and Alignment: Skill in managing competing priorities, evaluating organizational impacts, and maintaining focus across multiple concurrent initiatives. Ability to establish alignment among workstreams, dependencies, and stakeholders while navigating changing priorities in a high-complexity environment.
• Quality Management and Process Improvement: Knowledge of quality management principles, operational standards, and continuous improvement practices. Ability to establish structures, processes, and performance expectations that promote consistency, quality, accountability, and successful delivery of large-scale operational initiatives.
• Strategic Leadership and Organizational Alignment: Knowledge of enterprise strategy, organizational priorities, and the relationship between operational delivery, technology initiatives, and business outcomes. Ability to align diverse teams around shared objectives, anticipate organizational impacts, and guide decision-making to support successful program outcomes and sustainable operational readiness.
• Equity Minded: The ability to learn and grow: Curious about themselves and others, who take responsibility for knowing their own strengths and weaknesses, and who use their learning to make government programs and processes more efficient and effective to serve all in Washington.
• The ability to meet the needs of others: Flexible, adaptable, customer-service focused, and willing and able to empathetically respond to the unique needs of the people we work with and serve.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain the enterprise test strategy and master test plan for the One Washington ERP program, ensuring all testing phases are sequenced, integrated, and aligned to support end-to-end validation of system functionality, data integrity, and business processes across agencies.
• Supervise, lead and direct Test Phase Leads, including Individual System Testing (IST/MST), Workday Testing, End-to-End Testing, and Regression Testing, ensuring consistent execution, alignment to strategy, and effective resolution of cross-phase dependencies.
• Oversee enterprise-level testing risk management, including identification, assessment, and escalation of issues such as coverage gaps, defects, environment constraints, schedule risks, and readiness concerns that could impact program go-live success.
• Ensure coordination of testing activities across agencies, cohorts, system integrators, and technical teams, resolving cross-organizational dependencies and ensuring testing execution aligns with enterprise priorities and deployment timelines.
• Provide structured testing governance and executive-level reporting, including readiness assessments, status reporting, and recommendations to program leadership to inform go/no-go and deployment decisions.

Benefits

• An environment of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging
• Medical, Dental, Vision, and Life Insurance
• 12 paid holidays, 14 paid vacation days (minimum), and 12 days of sick leave per year
• State retirement programs

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed