PRIMARY FUNCTION

The Lead Tester provides leadership and oversight of software testing and quality validation activities for enterprise application modernization efforts supporting the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR). This individual is responsible for developing and managing the overall testing strategy, coordinating testing activities, ensuring requirements-to-test traceability, overseeing defect management, and evaluating solution readiness throughout the system development lifecycle.

The Lead Tester works closely with project management, business analysts, functional subject matter experts, developers, security personnel, system administrators, Testing Engineers, and Government stakeholders to ensure applications, integrations, data, and system components are thoroughly validated against approved requirements. This individual provides direction to testing personnel, monitors testing progress and quality, communicates risks and results to project leadership, and supports Government acceptance and successful solution implementation.

This position is contingent upon contract award

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Lead the planning, coordination, execution, and oversight of testing activities throughout the system development lifecycle.
• Develop and maintain the overall test strategy, test plans, test schedules, testing standards, and supporting documentation.
• Define testing approaches for functional, integration, system, regression, end-to-end, accessibility, data migration, and user acceptance testing.
• Coordinate testing activities across application components, integrations, interfaces, data, environments, and releases.
• Provide technical direction and guidance to Testing Engineers and other personnel participating in testing activities.
• Review test cases, test scripts, scenarios, expected results, and testing evidence for completeness, accuracy, and alignment with approved requirements.
• Establish and maintain requirements-to-test traceability to ensure appropriate test coverage across business, functional, and technical requirements.
• Collaborate with business analysts and Functional SMEs to define acceptance criteria, expected outcomes, business scenarios, and validation requirements.
• Coordinate with developers, integration personnel, database engineers, security personnel, and system administrators to ensure solutions and environments are ready for testing.
• Lead defect management and triage activities, including defect review, prioritization, assignment, tracking, retesting, and closure.
• Monitor testing progress, test coverage, defect trends, unresolved issues, and other quality indicators to identify potential risks to delivery or implementation.
• Evaluate testing results and provide recommendations regarding solution readiness, release readiness, and outstanding risks.
• Coordinate regression testing following application changes, defect remediation, configuration updates, and new releases.
• Oversee testing of migrated data to validate completeness, accuracy, integrity, reconciliation, and expected application behavior.
• Coordinate and support User Acceptance Testing (UAT), including test preparation, stakeholder coordination, execution support, defect management, and validation of results.
• Ensure accessibility and usability requirements, including applicable Section 508 requirements, are incorporated into testing activities.
• Develop and provide testing status reports, metrics, dashboards, defect summaries, readiness assessments, and other testing information to project and Government stakeholders.
• Identify testing risks, dependencies, resource constraints, and schedule impacts and communicate them to project leadership.
• Participate in requirements reviews, design reviews, solution demonstrations, release planning, Agile ceremonies, and project status meetings.
• Ensure testing artifacts and supporting evidence are maintained in accordance with established project, quality, and Government requirements.
• Support production readiness, implementation, post-deployment validation, stabilization, and continuous improvement activities.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES: Yes

DESIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, & ABILITIES:

• Experience supporting the Department of Justice (DOJ), EOIR, or other Federal civilian agencies.
• Experience leading software testing and quality assurance activities for enterprise application modernization or digital transformation initiatives.
• Experience developing and managing comprehensive test strategies, test plans, schedules, and testing processes.
• Experience leading functional, integration, system, regression, end-to-end, data migration, accessibility, and user acceptance testing activities.
• Strong knowledge of requirements-based testing, requirements traceability, test coverage, and acceptance criteria.
• Experience managing software defects through identification, triage, prioritization, remediation, retesting, and closure.
• Experience leading and coordinating testing personnel across multiple technical workstreams.
• Familiarity with manual and automated testing methodologies, frameworks, and tools.
• Experience testing web-based, cloud-based, Microsoft, and/or Power Platform solutions.
• Experience with API, integration, and data validation testing.
• Experience supporting data migration testing and reconciliation activities.
• Knowledge of Section 508 accessibility requirements and accessibility testing practices.
• Experience planning and coordinating User Acceptance Testing (UAT) with business and Government stakeholders.
• Experience developing testing metrics, status reports, dashboards, and readiness assessments.
• Experience working within Agile software development and DevSecOps environments.
• Familiarity with Azure DevOps, Jira, or similar requirements, test management, and defect-tracking tools.
• Strong leadership, analytical, organizational, communication, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to communicate testing results, technical issues, quality concerns, and delivery risks to technical and non-technical stakeholders.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Must be a US Citizen.
• Must be able to successfully obtain and maintain the appropriate Department of Justice (DOJ) Public Trust Investigation (PTI) as required for the position.
• Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university and relevant professional experience in software testing, quality assurance, information technology, computer science, or a related discipline.
• Ability to successfully pass a pre-employment drug test and background check.

PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

The principal place of performance will be EOIR Headquarters located in Falls Church, VA.

PREFERENCE STATEMENT
Preference will be given to Calista shareholders and their descendants and to spouses of Calista shareholders, and to shareholders of other corporations created pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, in accordance with Title 43 U.S. Code 1626(g).