Scope and Purpose of Position The role of the Software Quality Assurance Lead is to provide the planning and strategy for Quality Assurance for the Transformation Programs. The SQA Lead will collaborate with key business and IT stakeholders to insure proposed testing activities align with enterprise business and IT strategic objectives. The SQA Lead will define and implement software quality assurance practices and procedures including building Testing processes as necessary. The SQA Lead will be responsible for managing a matrixed group of quality assurance professionals, who evaluate requirements, validate development practices, and thoroughly test and document software code changes prior to deployment to production. This position interprets product requirements and plans for automation, functional, performance, load, installation, and usability testing concepts. Responsibilities include writing strategy and planning testing documentation to be executed through formal testing practices and supported by quality assurance standards. Essential Functions Test Strategy and Plan Development Test Resource Planning - Estimate the testing resources Work with Program Manager to update project plans Track plan for IT to secure all test environments and resources Assess project defect severitypriority with business and IT Setup the Testing reviews with the project stakeholders Run testing review sessions (review defects) Track all testing metrics at projectprogram Manage UAT in collaboration with the Project Team Provide GoNo-go recommendation to stakeholderssteering Track and report on testing with the assistance of Programming staff and Business Analysts Designing test coverage plan for programs Recommend design improvements or corrections to engineers throughout the development process Validate that deliverables meet functional and design specifications and requirements Provide input to improve quality requirements and processes Provide input to improve software documentation to ensure technical accuracy, compliance, or completeness, or to mitigate risks Define and track quality assurance metrics such as open defect counts, production defects, etc Mentor SQA Team in best practices Support software quality assurance team to include selection, training and development, coaching, counseling, and performance management Collaborate with key stakeholders to develop project schedules and lead SQA team to execute tests within agreed upon timeframe Develop and maintain enterprise testing methodology including process, procedure, and strategy documentation Effectively communicate key stakeholders on testing status for strategic initiatives. Conduct periodic assessment of testing process, and recommend lessons learned for continuous improvement Collaborate with Application Development leadership to contribute to application development process improvement Participate in manual testing efforts as needed to support the team. Conduct risk assessment of software changes to guide testers on the scope of validation Develop and execute test strategy and detailed test plans for major software development initiatives Ensure test practices adhere to change management controls Coordinate release plans with business and IT leadership and communicate to stakeholders Review and approve final software quality assurance signoff prior to production release of products Communicate with developers, business analysts and QA team members to produce testable requirements and documentation Recommend modifications to existing or suggesting new standards, methods and procedures based on QA results Education Experience Preferred bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Computer Science or related field or equivalent combination or experience and education MBA or MS Information Science preferred, but not required Minimum of five years of QA testing and automation experience required. Experience with performanceload testing Experience working with tools such as Selenium, JMeter, LoadRunner, etc. Experience developing automated test systems and scripts beyond record and playback Experience using MS SQL to evaluate data output Strong SDLC understanding Minimum of 3 years' relevant work experience within health care or the insurance field Knowledge and understanding of the government-sponsored health plans and public sector managed care industry, more specifically Medicare Advantage plans and Medicaid Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) and their requirements highly desired Five (5) plus years of quality assurance experience as a manager, tester, configuration manager, or analyst Five (5) plus years of experience with information systems analysis, design, development, and documentation, preferably in insurance, health care, andor retail Knowledge of manual and automated testing tools ie, HP Quality Center, TestRails, TestComplete, SoapUI Knowledge of test automation techniques and best practices Knowledge of desktop tools such as Excel, Access, PowerPoint, Project, Visio. Management of remote team Competencies Requires understanding of a broad range of business processes and related systems Requires ability to develop good working relationships with business sponsors, business partners, and technical staff Exceptional communication skills, both written and verbal, required Strong analytical and problem solving skills Requires understanding of Software Development Lifecycle Requires understanding of managed care processes and terminology Requires solid understanding of MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, and Visio) Requires ability to provide training, presentation and facilitation Define precise and accurate requirements acceptance criteria that will be used by developers, testers and by product owners to ensure they can meet sprint deadlines Record issues identified during testing and make recommendations for scope impact or needed change Develop and execute test plans with the assistance of Programming staff, SQA and Project manager Create and maintain workflows, approval processes, and validation rules based on internal stakeholder requirements Using knowledge of business goals, help translate strategies and initiatives into action plans with required deliverables Coordinate with the groups who test, validate, evaluate new applications and functions, and determine issues in products, services and software Create reports and presentations using a variety of office productivity tools. Create documentation which may include requirements, reference manuals, and user guides Apply practical business knowledge to ensure project implementation is aligned with business needs Conduct software compatibility tests with programs, hardware, operating systems, or network environments