Senior Manual Quality Assurance Tester

As a Senior Manual Quality Assurance Tester, your key responsibilities encompass developing testing strategies, conducting rigorous functional testing, and performing regression testing for enhancements. You will partner with the lead QA to create robust testing plans and ensure compliance with DoD STIG and ATO requirements. Additionally, you’ll document testing workflows, analyze outcomes, and provide training sessions for client IT staff to promote quality standards.

To qualify for a Senior Manual Quality Assurance Tester position, candidates typically need over 5 years of experience in the field, particularly in functional, non-functional, and performance testing. A strong background in testing Unity-based applications and a solid understanding of containerized services is essential. Familiarity with DoD compliance requirements and CI/CD pipelines can set you apart in your application.

For a Senior Manual Quality Assurance Tester, being proficient in testing methodologies and tools, especially for Unity-based applications and containerization technology in Kubernetes environments, is crucial. Familiarity with database testing, particularly for Postgres in high-concurrency scenarios, and automation frameworks used in CI/CD pipelines is highly advantageous.

The role of a Senior Manual Quality Assurance Tester significantly enhances product quality by ensuring that every functional aspect of the application is rigorously tested. This includes identifying potential defects before the product reaches the end user, ensuring reliability in multi-user environments, and providing actionable insights that drive continuous improvements throughout the product lifecycle.

Most Senior Manual Quality Assurance Tester roles offer flexibility, including remote work options. In this position, you'll collaborate with a team of QA professionals, often in a virtual setting, to strategize testing approaches and execute comprehensive testing plans, with additional travel requirements for occasional onsite meetings.

Typically, a contract role for a Senior Manual Quality Assurance Tester lasts about 12 weeks. However, this can vary based on the client's needs, project complexities, and the overall scope of work within the current project environment.

As a Senior Manual Quality Assurance Tester, you will be responsible for providing frequent updates in the form of weekly and monthly progress reports. These reports should summarize testing outcomes, identified issues, and your recommendations for improvement, ensuring that all stakeholders are informed of the product's quality status.

In responding to this question, it's important to detail your approach in developing comprehensive testing strategies. Discuss how you balance functional, non-functional, and performance testing while ensuring compliance with DoD requirements. Include examples of past testing scenarios and how those strategies led to successful outcomes.

Here, you should share specific instances or projects where you were directly involved with Unity-based applications. Discuss the challenges you encountered, techniques you applied, and how your testing ensured the applications' excellent performance and quality.

You’ll want to describe your methodology for conducting regression tests to ensure that existing functionality remains unaffected post-update. Mention the tools you use, how you prioritize which functionalities to test, and your collaborative experience with automation QA teams in CI/CD environments.

Discuss the various metrics that provide insights into testing effectiveness, such as defect rates, test coverage, and time-to-resolution for defects. Explain how you utilize these metrics to drive quality improvements and make informed decisions about product readiness.

Provide a detailed account of a specific incident where you found a critical bug. Discuss your analysis process, how you communicated the findings to the development team, and what steps were taken to mitigate the risks associated with that issue.

Your answer should include specific practices you use to adhere to DoD compliance standards, such as conducting risk assessments, maintaining documentation aligned with compliance requirements, and keeping abreast of changes in regulations that could affect your testing.

Discuss your organizational skills and techniques for prioritizing tasks under pressure. Mention your ability to collaborate with your team effectively to ensure that even with tight deadlines, quality assurance remains a top priority.

Explain your documentation practices, including the tools used and how you ensure that all findings are recorded comprehensively. Detail how thorough documentation benefits the team and serves as a reference for future tests and audits.

Emphasize the importance of collaboration in QA testing. Discuss previous experiences where teamwork led to successful project outcomes and how you engage with cross-functional teams, sharing insights that enhance product quality.

Share your perspective on the balance between manual and automated testing. Highlight the importance of manual testing in scenarios requiring intuition and human insights, and where automation can streamline repetitive tasks to maximize efficiency in the testing process.