Senior Testing Consultant

Benefits: Competitive salary Location Remote. Occasional onsite availability may be required if requested. Experience Level Senior Level (7 or more years of experience) Role Overview The Senior Testing Consultant serves as a subject matter expert in test design, test execution, defect evaluation, and testing process improvement. This role provides advanced quality assurance and user acceptance testing (UAT) leadership for a large-scale health insurance marketplace transformation project. Operating across both Agile and traditional delivery models, the consultant collaborates closely with business partners, technical teams, and vendors to ensure systems meet requirements, adhere to quality gates, and deliver expected business value. Key Responsibilities Test Strategy, Planning, & Governance • Define overall release-level test strategies, testing approaches, entry/exit criteria, and quality gates across agile and traditional delivery models. • Develop and maintain comprehensive test plans outlining project scope, schedules, environments, resources, assumptions, and risk mitigations. • Maintain and update the Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM) to ensure complete test coverage across functional requirements, workflows, and edge cases. • Provide QA/UAT effort estimates, risk assessments, and go/no-go recommendations during sprint, release, and project planning ceremonies. Test Design, Execution, & Automation Collaboration • Review user stories, requirements, and process flows to design, update, and execute complex manual UAT scenarios, test cases, and test suites. • Conduct integration testing across systems, web services, and APIs, as well as regression testing, exploratory bug hunts, and system validation. • Prepare, manage, and curate complex test datasets while validating data quality, environment readiness, and data setups. • Identify test automation candidates, support coverage planning, and collaborate with automation engineers on automated smoke and regression testing. Defect Management, Analytics, & Quality Assurance • Log, track, retest, and evaluate defects using tools such as Azure DevOps and Jira, providing clear reproduction steps and evidence. • Lead defect triage sessions, analyzing defect trends, root causes, severity, aging metrics, and business impact to drive quality improvements. • Support performance, load, security, and web accessibility (WCAG) testing activities. • Escalate quality risks, environmental blockers, and unresolved defects to project leadership with actionable mitigation strategies. Stakeholder Coaching & Continuous Improvement • Provide UAT guidance, support, and training to business subject matter experts (SMEs) during testing execution cycles. • Develop and maintain testing documentation, standard operating procedures, templates, and best practices. • Deliver daily and weekly test execution metrics, status summaries, and quality reports to cross-functional stakeholders. Required Qualifications • 7 or more years of experience in quality assurance, UAT processes, SDLC, and Agile/Scrum delivery models. • 4 or more years of hands-on experience using test management and defect tracking platforms such as Azure DevOps and Jira. • Demonstrated experience leading QA/UAT activities, defining release test strategies, and creating test plans, RTMs, and defect reports for complex enterprise projects. • Strong expertise in the defect lifecycle, risk-based testing, test coverage analysis, and release quality criteria. • Proven experience designing and executing complex test scenarios across integrated systems, APIs, and business workflows. • Understanding of web accessibility standards (WCAG), performance considerations, and security testing fundamentals. • Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills to challenge unclear requirements and advocate for software quality. Preferred Qualifications • Experience working within government, public sector, or highly regulated healthcare environments. • Familiarity with test automation tools and frameworks (such as Selenium, Playwright, or Robot Framework). • Experience preparing, managing, and masking complex test datasets. • Background or training in business analysis or broader software engineering disciplines beyond UAT. Core Skills & Attributes • Strong leadership, stakeholder management, and interpersonal communication skills to bridge technical and business teams. • Highly proactive and independent problem-solver capable of driving testing quality with minimal direction. • Strategic mindset with the ability to influence quality outcomes, challenge assumptions, and negotiate testing scope adjustments based on risk. • Excellent organizational and documentation skills. This is a remote position. Established in 2004, Smart Tech Skills is a top technology and professional services firm specializing in innovative technologies. Headquartered in Marlborough, MA, the company effectively addresses clients’ technology needs nationwide, making advanced technology management easier.