Senior QA Tester // Local to Iowa

Mahantech; Des Moines (IA); On-site; USD 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Mahantech is seeking a Senior QA Tester for a contract role to support enhancements to IDEA grant applications and related systems. The position emphasizes manual testing with automation where appropriate and requires strong API and database testing capabilities.

You will develop test plans and scripts, validate requirements, and collaborate with analysts, developers, and stakeholders to ensure accessibility, usability, and quality across government-facing systems.

Qualifications

• 5+ years QA and software testing experience.
• Experience with manual testing methodologies and best practices.
• Certified in accessibility with WCAG 2.2 AA knowledge (CPACC, WAS, or equivalent).
• Experience creating and maintaining automated test scripts.
• SQL queries and database validation expertise.

Responsibilities

• Perform functional testing, regression testing, UAT, usability and accessibility testing.
• Develop, execute and maintain manual test cases and test plans.
• Utilize tools to support automated testing where practical.
• Review requirements and ensure test coverage.
• Perform API testing and database validation.
• Document results, defects, and recommendations.
• Collaborate with analysts, developers and stakeholders.
• Support production issues and deployment validation.
• Participate in defect triage and SDLC workflows.

Skills

Manual testing

Automation scripting

SQL queries

API testing

Test planning

Defect tracking

Accessibility testing

WCAG 2.2 AA

Section 508

Agile

Communication

Collaboration

Tools

Testing tools

Job description

Engagement Type

Contract

Short Description

The Department of Education is seeking a senior QA Tester. This position will do QA testing on applications that support a variety of systems.

Complete Description

Position Overview

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

This role will be responsible for both manual and automated testing, with a primary emphasis on manual testing and automation where appropriate. The ideal candidate will have experience developing and executing test plans, validating business and technical requirements, performing API and database testing, and supporting defect triage activities throughout the software development lifecycle.

The Senior QA Tester will collaborate closely with business analysts, developers, and business stakeholders to ensure solutions meet functional, usability, accessibility, and quality standards.

Key Responsibilities

• Perform a variety of software testing activities including:
• Functional Testing
• Regression Testing
• User Acceptance Testing (UAT)
• Usability Testing
• Accessibility Testing
• Develop, execute, and maintain manual test cases, test scripts, and test plans.
• Utilize testing tools to support and expand automated testing efforts where practical.
• Review business requirements and technical documentation to ensure comprehensive test coverage.
• Collaborate with Business Analysts to clarify requirements and develop test scenarios, including limited requirements gathering activities necessary for test planning.
• Perform API testing and database validation to ensure data accuracy and system integrity.
• Execute SQL queries to validate application functionality and data processing.
• Document testing results, defects, and recommendations.
• Participate in defect triage activities, troubleshooting, and production support efforts as issues arise.
• Work closely with development teams to ensure changes are successfully migrated into production environments.
• Support projects ranging from small enhancements to large-scale application initiatives.
• Assist with maintaining user and system documentation as business processes evolve.
• Participate in business process improvement and validation activities.

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years of Quality Assurance and Software Testing experience.
• Strong experience with manual testing methodologies and best practices.
• Certified in accessibility (e.g., CPACC, WAS, or equivalent) with a thorough, deep 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
• API testing and web service validation
• 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.
• 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.

Required/Desired Skills

Skill Required/Desired Amount of Experience

5+ years of Quality Assurance and Software Testing experience. Required 5.0 Years Certified in accessibility (e.g., CPACC, WAS, or equivalent) with a thorough, deep understanding of accessibility principles and WCAG 2.2 AA standards, not just surface-level familiarity. - Upload CERT in reference - Don't submit candidate if you don't have them. Required Strong experience with manual testing methodologies and best practices. Required 5.0 Years Experience creating and maintaining automated test scripts. Required 5.0 Years High-level proficiency with: Required 5.0 Years SQL queries and database validation Required 5.0 Years API testing and web service validation Required 5.0 Years Experience developing test plans, test cases, and test documentation from business requirements. Required 5.0 Years Ability to analyze requirements and translate them into comprehensive testing strategies. Required 5.0 Years Experience tracking and managing defects through the software development lifecycle. Required 5.0 Years Certification in Accessibility Testing. Required 5.0 Years Experience with Section 508 Accessibility Standards. Required 5.0 Years Experience testing applications for government accessibility compliance. Required 5.0 Years Experience with accessibility testing tools and methodologies. Required 5.0 Years Experience validating WCAG and Section 508 compliance requirements Required 5.0 Years Excellent troubleshooting and problem-solving skills. Required 5.0 Years Strong verbal and written communication skills. Required 5.0 Years Ability to work effectively with business stakeholders, developers, project managers, and other IT teams. Required 5.0 Years Experience working in Agile or similar collaborative development environments. Required 5.0 Years Experience supporting government applications or public-sector technology environments. Highly desired 5.0 Years Experience testing compliance-driven or grant management systems. Highly desired 5.0 Years

Skills

5+ years of Quality Assurance and Software Testing experience.,Certified in accessibility (e.g.,CPACC,WAS,or equivalent) with a thorough,deep understanding of accessibility principles and WCAG 2.2 AA standards,not just surface-level familiarity. - Upload CERT in reference - Don't submit candidate if you don't have them.,Strong experience with manual testing methodologies and best practices.,Experience creating and maintaining automated test scripts.,High-level proficiency with:,SQL queries and database validation,API testing and web service validation,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.,Experience with Section 508 Accessibility Standards.,Experience testing applications for government accessibility compliance.,Experience 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.,Experience supporting government applications or public-sector technology environments.,Experience testing compliance-driven or grant management systems.