Testing Lead / Manager

Spatial Front, Inc.•Arlington, VA

7h•Hybrid

About The Position

Spatial Front, Inc. (SFI), a two-time USA Today Top Workplaces awardee and Washington Top Workplaces honoree, is seeking a Testing Lead / Manager to oversee testing activities for enterprise application projects. This role requires someone who understands testing frameworks, QA processes, test lifecycle management, automation testing concepts, and structured delivery environments. The Testing Lead / Manager will be responsible for coordinating testers, assigning and tracking testing work, verifying the quality and completeness of test execution, managing defects and risks, and communicating testing status to project managers, technical teams, and client stakeholders. This is a leadership and coordination role, but the successful candidate must also be able to get hands-on when needed. The ideal candidate should have enough technical understanding to review testing work, ask the right questions, identify gaps, validate results, understand system behavior, and support the team when issues require deeper investigation. The candidate should have strong communication, management, analytical, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to work effectively with testers, developers, business analysts, project managers, and client stakeholders.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, Business, or a related field (or equivalent work experience)
5+ years of experience in software testing, quality assurance, or enterprise application testing
Experience leading testing efforts, managing testers, or coordinating QA workstreams
Strong understanding of testing frameworks, QA methodologies, and the software testing lifecycle
Experience with test planning, test case development/review, execution tracking, defect management, and release readiness reporting
Familiarity with automated testing tools and frameworks such as Selenium, Cypress, Playwright, Cucumber, TestNG, JUnit, Postman, SoapUI, Tricentis, Tosca, or similar
Ability to oversee testers while maintaining sufficient technical depth to validate their work
Experience reviewing test artifacts, including test cases, results, defects, logs, screenshots, and supporting documentation
Ability to provide hands-on support for testing, validation, and issue analysis when needed
High-level technical understanding of enterprise applications, including workflows, data, integrations, interfaces, and defect analysis
Strong communication skills with both technical and non-technical stakeholders
Experience collaborating with cross-functional teams, including project managers, developers, business analysts, testers, and client stakeholders
Proven ability to manage multiple priorities, deadlines, risks, and blockers simultaneously
Strong analytical, problem-solving, and critical-thinking skills
Close attention to detail and commitment to enforcing quality standards
Proficiency with Microsoft Office tools (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Teams)

Nice To Haves

Experience in a QA leadership role (e.g., QA Lead, Test Lead, Test Manager, UAT Lead, SIT Lead, or Release Testing Lead)
Experience testing enterprise systems, including business applications, case management, financial, HR, or government systems
Experience working in Agile, Scrum, SAFe, or hybrid delivery environments
Ability to review and interpret technical documentation, including user stories, requirements, acceptance criteria, interface specifications, and system design materials
Experience coordinating both manual and automated testing efforts within the same release cycle
Experience reviewing automated test execution results, including failure reports, logs, screenshots, and supporting test evidence
Experience leading or coordinating User Acceptance Testing (UAT) with business users or client stakeholders
Experience developing testing dashboards, metrics, executive summaries, and release readiness reports
Experience supporting federal government projects
Active Secret clearance or ability to obtain one
Relevant certifications such as ISTQB, CSM, SAFe, PMP, or similar

Responsibilities

Lead and manage testing activities across enterprise application projects.
Develop and maintain test plans, test schedules, testing processes, and execution tracking.
Coordinate testing work across functional testers, technical testers, automation testers, developers, business analysts, project managers, and client stakeholders.
Assign testing tasks, monitor progress, follow up on open items, and ensure testing deadlines are met.
Review and verify test cases, test scripts, test results, supporting evidence, and completion status.
Validate that testing work is accurate, complete, properly documented, and aligned with project requirements.
Step in to support hands-on testing, issue analysis, documentation review, or validation activities when needed.
Understand system workflows, data flows, integrations, interfaces, reports, and application behavior at a high level.
Track testing progress, pass/fail results, defects, blockers, risks, and overall release readiness.
Lead defect triage meetings and coordinate retesting, validation, and defect closure.
Work with developers and analysts to understand defects, clarify expected behavior, and verify fixes.
Review automated test results, identify potential gaps, and coordinate with automation resources when needed.
Identify testing gaps, risks, and quality concerns, then communicate them clearly to project leadership.
Prepare and present testing status reports, dashboards, metrics, and go/no-go recommendations.
Support functional, regression, integration, user acceptance, system, automated, and end-to-end testing activities.
Help improve testing processes, standards, templates, reporting methods, and quality controls.
Ensure testers follow defined QA processes, testing frameworks, and project documentation standards.
Work onsite or in a hybrid capacity in Crystal City, VA, based on project and client needs.