Senior QA/Test Lead

Position Overview

The Land & Resources Cluster is seeking a highly experienced Senior QA/Test Lead to support quality assurance and testing activities across application development and integrated systems. The successful candidate will be responsible for developing and maintaining test strategies, test plans, test scenarios, test cases, test scripts, and test data while coordinating comprehensive manual testing activities.

The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in functional, integration, regression, accessibility (AODA), User Acceptance Testing (UAT), and non-functional testing. Strong knowledge of Azure DevOps or similar defect management tools, requirements traceability, Agile methodologies, and stakeholder collaboration is essential.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain test strategies, test plans, test scenarios, test cases, test scripts, test data, and acceptance criteria in collaboration with project managers, product owners, business analysts, developers, and other stakeholders.
  
• Plan, coordinate, and execute manual testing across front-end and back-end application components.
  
• Perform functional, integration, regression, accessibility, performance, load, non-functional, and post-implementation testing.
  
• Conduct end-to-end testing across multiple applications, environments, interfaces, and integrated systems.
  
• Validate application integrations, data integrity, system response times, security requirements, user permissions, workflows, and business rules.
  
• Analyze business requirements, user stories, and acceptance criteria to determine testing impacts, expected outcomes, and coverage requirements.
  
• Create and maintain requirements traceability matrices to ensure alignment between business requirements and testing activities.
  
• Identify, document, track, prioritize, retest, and validate defects using Azure DevOps or similar defect management tools.
  
• Support and coordinate UAT activities, including test scenario preparation, test data setup, test execution, defect management, and validation of outcomes.
  
• Apply AODA accessibility requirements and testing practices to assess application accessibility.
  
• Communicate testing progress, results, risks, issues, defects, and mitigation strategies through meetings, status reports, Agile ceremonies, and defect reviews.
  
• Participate in requirements workshops, sprint planning, daily stand-ups, sprint reviews, retrospectives, and project walkthroughs.
  
• Collaborate with business and technical teams to clarify requirements, resolve defects, manage testing dependencies, and support successful releases.
  
• Maintain complete testing documentation and artefacts throughout the assignment.
  
• Provide ongoing knowledge transfer to ministry staff and ensure all testing deliverables are stored in designated repositories.
  

Requirements

Required Qualifications and Experience

1. Manual Testing Skills and Experience

• Minimum of 8 years of demonstrated QA/testing experience, including developing technical testing strategies and test plans.
  
• Proven experience creating test scenarios, test cases, test scripts, test data, and executing manual testing activities.
  
• Demonstrated experience in:
  
• Functional testing
  
• Integration testing
  
• Unit testing
  
• Regression testing
  
• User Acceptance Testing (UAT)
  
• Accessibility testing, including AODA
  
• Non-functional testing
  
• Working knowledge of AODA accessibility requirements and accessibility testing practices.
  
• Experience testing data-driven applications, including data validation, data integrity, user roles, permissions, workflows, and business rules.
  
• Experience developing and maintaining requirements traceability matrices.
  
• Hands-on experience with Azure DevOps or similar tools for defect tracking, management, retesting, and validation.
  
• Proven ability to perform end-to-end testing across multiple applications, environments, interfaces, and integrated systems.
  
• Strong analytical skills to interpret business requirements, user stories, and acceptance criteria and translate them into effective testing strategies and test coverage.
  

2. Soft Skills

• Experience working in Agile development environments and iterative delivery models.
  
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
  
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
  
• Effective meeting facilitation and requirements clarification abilities.
  
• Strong stakeholder management, relationship-building, and collaboration skills.
  
• Ability to communicate testing progress, risks, issues, and mitigation strategies to project teams, project leads, and management.
  
• Excellent organizational, prioritization, and time-management skills.
  
• Ability to independently manage competing priorities and testing deliverables in a fast-paced environment.
  

Knowledge Transfer Requirements

The successful candidate must:

• Conduct regular knowledge-sharing meetings, touch points, and working sessions with Land & Resources Cluster staff.
  
• Transfer all testing artefacts, documentation, test scripts, test cases, test results, traceability matrices, defect logs, and related deliverables to the ministry.
  
• Store all documentation and deliverables in designated ministry repositories.
  
• Participate in dedicated knowledge transfer sessions to ensure documentation completeness and address questions from ministry staff.
  
• Maintain documentation throughout the assignment to support ongoing operations and future testing activities.
  

Mandatory Requirements

Candidates must demonstrate:

1. 8+ years of QA/testing experience, including test strategy development, test planning, test case and script creation, test data preparation, and manual test execution.
   
2. Hands-on experience across multiple testing types, including integration, unit, regression, functional, UAT, AODA accessibility, and non-functional testing.
   
3. Experience with defect management tools such as Azure DevOps or equivalent.
   
4. Strong requirements analysis, test coverage, and traceability skills.
   
5. Availability to work onsite 3 days per week in Guelph or Toronto, Ontario.