Software Tester / QA Engineer Senior

The Software Tester / QA Engineer Senior leads quality assurance for mission-critical software across the full development lifecycle within a regulated federal IT environment. This role builds comprehensive test strategy, plans, cases, and requirements traceability, and validates both functional and non-functional requirements across integrated environments. The engineer designs and maintains automation and performs functional, regression, integration, system, performance, security, and end-to-end testing to confirm software readiness.

Serving as a senior quality authority, the role communicates defects, quality metrics, and release risk to technical and business stakeholders. The engineer partners with development, engineering, and operations teams to improve testability, testing processes, and overall software quality.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and own comprehensive test strategy, plans, and cases with full requirements traceability to validate functional and non-functional requirements across integrated environments.
• Design, build, and maintain automation frameworks spanning UI, API, services, databases, and integrated applications to expand coverage and accelerate feedback.
• Plan and execute functional, regression, integration, system, performance, security, and end-to-end testing to confirm software quality and deployment readiness.
• Manage test environments, dependencies, and test data, coordinating with delivery teams to ensure stable, representative conditions and validated release readiness.
• Document, triage, and track defects through root-cause analysis and confirmation testing, driving timely resolution and preventing recurrence.
• Integrate automated testing into CI/CD pipelines and enforce quality gates, providing clear reporting on results, coverage, and pipeline health.
• Analyze and communicate quality metrics and release risk to technical and business stakeholders to support informed go/no-go decisions.
• Participate in requirements and design reviews and collaborate across teams to improve testability, testing processes, and overall product quality.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, or a related field, or equivalent relevant experience.
• 8+ years of progressively responsible experience in software testing and quality engineering, or closely related systems engineering and analysis work.
• Advanced knowledge of QA methodologies, the software testing lifecycle, risk-based testing, and requirements traceability.
• Hands-on experience designing and maintaining test automation across UI, API, services, and databases.
• Demonstrated proficiency across a broad range of testing types and full command of the defect lifecycle.
• Active SECRET clearance, or the ability to obtain and maintain a SECRET clearance.
• U.S. citizenship.

Preferred Qualifications

• ISTQB certification or an equivalent testing/quality engineering credential.
• Experience testing in regulated government or other security-sensitive environments.
• Familiarity with performance, security, API, and automated test-management tools.
• Master's degree or an advanced computing certification aligned to the standard job title.

Compensation Ranges

Compensation ranges for ASM Research positions vary depending on multiple factors; including but not limited to, location, skill set, level of education, certifications, client requirements, contract-specific affordability, government clearance and investigation level, and years of experience. The compensation displayed for this role is a general guideline based on these factors and is unique to each role. Monetary compensation is one component of ASM's overall compensation and benefits package for employees.

EEO Requirements

It is the policy of ASM that an individual's race, color, religion, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation or national origin are not and will not be considered in any personnel or management decisions. We affirm our commitment to these fundamental policies.

All recruiting, hiring, training, and promoting for all job classifications is done without regard to race, color, religion, sex, disability, or age. All decisions on employment are made to abide by the principle of equal employment.

Physical Requirements

The physical requirements described in "Knowledge, Skills and Abilities" above are representative of those which must be met by an employee to successfully perform the primary functions of this job. (For example, "light office duties' or "lifting up to 50 pounds" or "some travel" required.) Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with qualifying disabilities, who are otherwise qualified, to perform the primary functions.

Disclaimer

The preceding job description has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities and qualifications required of employees assigned to this job.