Systems Quality Assurance Specialist

Job Summary:

The Systems Testing/QA Specialist - Intermediate is responsible for planning, organizing, and executing comprehensive testing efforts for enterprise-level IT systems. This role involves developing test strategies, creating and executing test plans and scripts, performing manual and automated testing, and ensuring compliance with quality assurance standards including accessibility regulations. The specialist collaborates closely with development teams, project managers, and business analysts to verify that systems meet functional and non-functional requirements across various testing phases within Agile, Scrum, and Waterfall environments. Responsibilities:

• Advise on testing strategies, test plans, tool selection, and resource identification.
• Plan and organize testing efforts for GUI and non-GUI systems, including integration, stress, and user acceptance tests.
• Develop and execute test plans, test scripts, and test cases across system components.
• Perform functional, integration, system, regression, performance, stress, and load testing.
• Identify, document, and track software defects using tools like ALM, JIRA, Bugzilla, and Azure DevOps.
• Collaborate with developers to reproduce and resolve issues.
• Create and maintain automated test scripts using tools such as Micro Focus UFT, Selenium, TestComplete, and Postman.
• Integrate automated tests into CI/CD pipelines.
• Ensure compliance with Accessibility for Ontarians with Disability Act (AODA) and related standards.
• Participate in Agile ceremonies including sprint planning, daily stand-ups, and retrospectives.
• Maintain detailed documentation of test results, coverage, and quality metrics.
• Provide input for user manuals and release notes.
• Ensure testing processes comply with industry standards and regulatory requirements.
• Validate data integrity and perform data migration and transformation testing as needed.
• Conduct basic security testing and collaborate with security specialists for advanced testing.

Required Skills & Certifications:

• Minimum 2 years of software testing experience in enterprise IT environments.
• Hands-on experience with manual and automated testing tools and frameworks (e.g., Selenium, Postman).
• Strong knowledge of Agile, Scrum, and Waterfall testing methodologies.
• Experience with AODA testing and compliance.
• Proficiency in creating and maintaining test strategies, test cases, scripts, and reports.
• Experience with performance testing tools such as JMeter or LoadRunner.
• Familiarity with defect tracking tools like JIRA and Azure DevOps.
• Good understanding of software development and testing life cycles.
• Experience with databases (SQL, Oracle) and backend testing including query writing.
• Knowledge of CI/CD pipelines and integration tools (e.g., Jenkins, Git, GitLab).
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills.
• Ability to work effectively in teams and meet deadlines under pressure.

Preferred Skills & Certifications:

• Experience with programming languages for automation (e.g., Python, JavaScript, Bash).
• Knowledge of information retrieval packages and object-oriented testing methods.
• Experience testing Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) applications.
• Familiarity with automated testing tools like Micro Focus UFT, TestComplete, Cypress.
• Experience developing and managing test data strategies ensuring data privacy and environment management.
• Experience with cloud technologies such as Azure or AWS.
• Knowledge of QA compliance standards and security testing best practices.
• Public sector quality assurance standards and practices experience.

Special Considerations:

• Must comply with Accessibility for Ontarians with Disability Act (AODA) and related regulations.
• Testing must adhere to industry and regulatory quality assurance standards.
• Collaboration within Agile teams and participation in Agile ceremonies is required.
• Work involves handling sensitive data with strict privacy and security requirements.
• Onsite presence required for 5 days during the assignment.

Scheduling:

• Standard work schedule with adherence to project deadlines.
• May require flexibility to work under aggressive timelines and adapt to changes.
• Participation in Agile sprint cycles and meetings as scheduled.