Software Quality Assurance Engineer

Peraton is seeking a highly experienced Software Quality Assurance Engineer to serve as the technical authority for all quality assurance and test automation activities on the BASIS program. This senior role carries full ownership of the program's QA strategy, automation framework, and compliance posture across the entire deployment pipeline. The Senior QA Engineer will test automation design, and quality control processes — directly shaping the program's ability to deliver zero-defect software to a mission-critical Program In addition to driving technical execution, the Senior QA Engineer will define and enforce the automation-first QA mandate, lead the team across Agile sprint cycles, and interface directly with Government stakeholders on quality metrics, audit readiness, and continuous improvement. The selected candidate will mentor mid-level and junior engineers, establish internal QA standards and procedures, and serve as the authoritative QA voice at program reviews, Government briefings, and DevSecOps governance forums.

The position will be responsible for the following but not limited too:

This position is remote.

Responsibilities

QA Strategy, Leadership & Program Ownership

• Serve as the senior technical authority and subject matter expert for software quality assurance and test automation activities.
• Define and enforce the program's automation-first QA strategy, ensuring all quality assurance activities are automated
• Establish internal QA standards, processes, and procedures that govern test design, execution, reporting, defect management, and release gate criteria across the program.
• Lead and mentor other QA engineers; conduct regular technical reviews of test artifacts, automation scripts, and quality reports to ensure consistency, completeness, and accuracy.
• Represent QA at Integrated Progress Reviews (IPRs), Monthly Status Reviews (MSRs), sprint ceremonies, and Government governance forums; brief leadership and Government stakeholders on quality posture, metrics, open risks, and improvement initiatives.

Test Automation Architecture & Development

• Assist in designing and govern the program's automated test framework, ensuring scalability, maintainability, and full integration into the Government-managed DevSecOps pipeline.
• Lead the development of automated test scripts for unit, integration, regression, system, and end-to-end functional testing across the application portfolio.
• Champion and enforce Test-Driven Development (TDD) — ensuring test cases are authored prior to code development across all functional delivery teams.
• Own the Test Automation State Assessment — analyze current state automation coverage, deliver a comprehensive assessment report with automation completion estimates, and develop Government-approvable automation completion project plans with milestone tracking.
• Direct the systematic automation of adjacent legacy test cases per Government-approved schedules and LOE’s, ensuring 100% automation of all existing test cases and all new functionality is automated.
• Continuously evaluate the automation framework for efficiency, reliability, and coverage; drive improvements to reduce technical debt and increase sprint-level test throughput.

Test Planning, Documentation & Deliverable Ownership

• Own and deliver all QA-related program deliverables on schedule, including RTMs, UAT plans, test reports, release notes, VPATs, and the QCP.
• Develop and maintain Requirements Traceability Matrices (RTMs) at the end of each development cycle/sprint, ensuring 100% traceability and complete test coverage of all functional and non-functional requirements.

Quality Metrics, Defect Management & Compliance

• Define, monitor, and enforce all contractual Acceptable Quality Level (AQL) thresholds.
• Lead defect triage and root cause analysis in JIRA; manage the full defect escalation lifecycle from identification through closure and communicate status.

Section 508 / Accessibility Testing

• Govern and own the program's Section 508 / WCAG 2.0 Level AA accessibility testing program, ensuring compliance testing is integrated at planned intervals throughout every development lifecycle.
• Prepare and Deliver Compliance Documentation
• Report Section 508 compliance posture and metrics in the monthly MSR QA section; escalate accessibility deficiencies and drive remediation.

Required Qualifications

• Minimum of 12 years with BS/BA; Minimum of 10 years with MS/MA; Minimum of 7 years with Ph.D, 16 years with HS diploma
• Active Public Trust
• Must be US Citizen
• Cybersecurity workforce certification (e.g., Security+, CASP+)
• Progressive experience in software quality assurance and test automation, with at least 3 years in a senior or lead QA role on DoW or Federal government programs.
• Demonstrated expertise designing and governing enterprise-scale automated test frameworks using tools such as Selenium, JUnit, TestNG, Cucumber, REST Assured, Python, Java, or equivalent.
• Deep working knowledge of Test-Driven Development (TDD), Agile/Scrum methodologies, and DevSecOps QA integration practices.
• Experience developing and owning formal QA program artifacts including RTMs, UAT plans, test reports, and SMP/CMPs.
• Proficiency with JIRA for defect management, sprint tracking, and AQL reporting.
• Experience leading Section 508 / WCAG 2.0 Level AA accessibility testing programs and preparing VPATs.
• Strong leadership, communication, and stakeholder engagement skills; proven ability to brief quality posture and metrics to Government customers and senior program leadership.

Preferred Qualifications

• ISTQB Advanced Level (Test Manager or Test Analyst) certification or equivalent.
• Certified Software Quality Engineer (CSQE) certification.
• Experience with eMASS and Fortify Software Security Center for vulnerability management and POA&M administration.
• Prior experience supporting DMDC, DEERS, TRICARE, or other large-scale  healthcare/benefits IT systems.
• Knowledge of NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5 security controls and their application in test compliance contexts.
• Familiarity with ISO/IEC 14764 (software maintenance) and ISO/SEI-CMM quality process frameworks.
• Experience with performance and load testing tools (e.g., JMeter, LoadRunner) for production-simulation environment testing.
• Working knowledge of ServiceNow, SharePoint, and Microsoft Project Server in a program management context.
• Experience governing QA on Oracle / PL/SQL or Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) application environments.