Senior QA Tester

Job Description

• Work Policy: Remote (Iowa-based or local candidates strongly preferred)
• Job Type: Contract, 12+ months
• Experience Level: 5+ years of QA and software testing (5 to 10 years listed)
• Client: State of Iowa, Department of Management
• Must Have: Accessibility certification (CPACC, WAS, or equivalent)

About the Role

The Department of Education is looking for a Senior QA Tester to support ongoing enhancements to applications used to monitor and administer Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) grants, including Parts B and C. Current project initiatives include adding two AEA funding streams, a fiscal monitoring tool, and three stand-alone form upload processes that support budget and claims workflows.

The role covers both manual and automated testing, with a primary emphasis on manual testing and automation where appropriate. The ideal candidate has experience developing and executing test plans, validating business and technical requirements, performing API and database testing, and supporting defect triage throughout the software development lifecycle. You’ll work closely with business analysts, developers, and business stakeholders to make sure solutions meet functional, usability, accessibility, and quality standards.

Top Priorities

• Accessibility certification (CPACC, WAS, or equivalent)
• Deep understanding of WCAG 2.2 AA and Section 508
• Experience testing applications for government accessibility compliance
• Strong manual testing background (functional, regression, UAT, usability)
• API testing and SQL/database validation experience

Titles the client is looking for include Senior QA Analyst, Accessibility Tester, Government/Public Sector QA Tester, and Accessibility Compliance Specialist.

What You’ll Do

• Perform a range of software testing: functional, regression, user acceptance (UAT), usability, and accessibility testing
• Develop, execute, and maintain manual test cases, test scripts, and test plans
• Use testing tools to support and expand automated testing where practical
• Review business requirements and technical documentation to ensure comprehensive test coverage
• Work with Business Analysts to clarify requirements and develop test scenarios, including limited requirements gathering needed for test planning
• Perform API testing and database validation to ensure data accuracy and system integrity
• Run SQL queries to validate application functionality and data processing
• Document testing results, defects, and recommendations
• Take part in defect triage, troubleshooting, and production support as issues arise
• Work with development teams to make sure changes are successfully migrated into production
• Support projects ranging from small enhancements to large-scale application initiatives
• Help maintain user and system documentation as business processes evolve
• Take part in business process improvement and validation activities

What You’ll Need

• 5+ years of Quality Assurance and software testing experience
• Strong experience with manual testing methodologies and best practices
• An accessibility certification (such as CPACC, WAS, or equivalent) with a thorough understanding of accessibility principles and WCAG 2.2 AA standards, not just surface-level familiarity
• Experience creating and maintaining automated test scripts
• High-level proficiency with SQL queries and database validation
• High-level proficiency with API testing and web service validation (Postman, SOAP UI, and similar)
• Experience developing test plans, test cases, and test documentation from business requirements
• Ability to analyze requirements and translate them into comprehensive testing strategies
• Experience tracking and managing defects through the software development lifecycle
• Certification in accessibility testing and knowledge of Section 508 accessibility standards
• Experience testing applications for government accessibility compliance
• Familiarity with accessibility testing tools and methodologies
• Experience validating WCAG and Section 508 compliance requirements
• Excellent troubleshooting and problem-solving skills
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Ability to work effectively with business stakeholders, developers, project managers, and other IT teams
• Experience working in Agile or similar collaborative development environments

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting government applications or public-sector technology environments
• Experience testing compliance-driven or grant management systems
• Test automation experience (Selenium, Playwright, Cypress, and similar)