A Quality Assurance Analyst II works on multiple programs/systems as a team member and is considered a subject matter expert for a single program/system. They work on projects of moderate to high complexity within one or more development environments.
Members of this job family need to have an understanding of applicable programming languages, software development life cycles, testing tools and a strong knowledge of quality management. They must be able to understand business requirements, technical specifications and change management documentation in order to develop test plans.
Individuals within the Quality Assurance (QA) job family are responsible for verifying and validating whether products or services meet specified requirements. They are involved in all phases of the QA process. They implement quality assurance objectives and processes, monitor and evaluate testing results against the predetermined objectives, and apply recommended actions for improvements. Quality control activities may include functional and non-functional testing such as regression, system, integration, security and performance testing. Senior level professionals within this job family are responsible for establishing and implementing quality assurance and compliance processes for the IT organization. They work closely with IT leaders to develop and implement an overall quality maturity road map and plan for each IT functional area.
QA professionals are responsible for defining the test environment used by the organization. They interact with all members of the project team including architects, business analysts, systems analysts and project managers. They also work with the development team to successfully integrate testing into each development phase. Other responsibilities include developing and executing formal test plans, writing and executing test cases/scripts, and validating results.
They define and track quality assurance metrics such as defects, defect counts, test results and test status. QA professionals communicate testing results and provide recommendations based on issues discovered. They also monitor, evaluate and make recommendations on QA tasks within enterprise-wide processes such as change and release management.
QA Strategy:
- May participate in developing and implementing QA strategies and activities.
Business Technical Requirements:
- Works with the Business and Systems Analysts to interpret QA needs as requirements are being developed.
- Reviews business requirements and technical specifications for completeness and logic.
- May participate in technical specification review and provides feedback on content and testability.
Test Development:
- Identifies, creates and maintains test data.
- Translates business and technical requirements into test cases, test scenarios and scripts.
- Creates and updates test plans and test cases for the test environment.
- Develops and/or implements reusable components.
- Verifies and schedules test environment.
Test Execution:
- Executes test scripts/cases and monitors testing results.
- Assigns severity levels to each test issue discovered during the test cycle.
- Identifies technical and operational problems on installed networks, systems and products.
- Captures and documents defects, metrics, and testing results.
- Reviews testing results with appropriate IT teams.
- May make recommendations regarding software defects.
Documentation:
- Prepares, maintains and reviews all required testing documents.
- Captures and documents defects and testing results.
Test Automation:
- Develops and implements test case automation criteria.
- Develops and implements functional and regression automation scripts/code from test case requirements.
- Assists with setup and maintenance of test environments for both manual and automated testing.
Quality Control:
- Maintains and reviews documentation all QA phases as per defined requirements and established standards.
- Contributes and adheres to requirements traceability matrix ensuring quality delivery.
- Reviews and evaluates system functions and response times. Documents and may evaluate system functions and response times based on SLAs.
- May suggest changes for efficiencies within or between systems, as it impacts projects and enhancements prior to implementation.
Quality Improvements:
- Participates in lesson learned sessions for improvement of testing process.
- Identifies and proposes areas of improvement throughout the QA process.
Audits:
- Assists in the preparation of all documentation for audits.
- Performs detailed audit procedures and testing. Prepares documentation on the audit performed.
- Identifies and raises all issues that arise during the execution of an audit or risk assessment.
Research/Evaluation:
- May evaluate the environment, conditions and criteria under which test case automation should occur.
Policies & Standards:
- Assists in creating standard operating procedures and metrics based on best practices for the QA team.
- Complies with established QA processes.
Training:
- Provides training on established processes, policies and tool sets to team members and others.
Coaching/Mentoring:
- Mentors less experienced individuals.
- Familiarity with different types of testing tools and their uses.
- Demonstrated proficiency in Software Testing applications.
- Knowledge of the Software Development Methodology.
- Understanding of databases and services including the ability to programmatically interact with data formats.
- Typically requires 3-5 years of systems development and/or business experience.
- Requires 1-3 years of quality assurance experience.
- Willingness and ability to travel domestically and internationally, as necessary.
- Effective in written and verbal communication in English.
Preferred Skills, Knowledge and Experience:
- Knowledge and Experience in using QA or ALM tools like HP-ALM, Microsoft Test Manager is a plus.
- Knowledge and Experience in Automated Testing and Performance Testing is a plus.
Work Environment/Travel:
- The position requires ability and willingness to travel domestically and internationally up to 20% of the time.