This role sits across three responsibilities: turning ambiguous requirements into testable acceptance criteria, building and maintaining automated test coverage, and running human-led acceptance testing of the web portal with LLM tools accelerating the work rather than replacing the judgment behind it. We're looking for someone self-driven who can take an ambiguous problem, define what "done" actually looks like, and solve it without needing the path laid out step by step.
What you'll do
Work with product owners and stakeholders to translate functional and non-functional requirements into acceptance criteria a tester can actually execute against.
Design, build, and maintain automated test suites (UI, API, and regression) integrated into the CI/CD pipeline.
Test content management system (CMS) functionality — including Drupal and WordPress-based sites — covering content workflows, theming/templates, plugin or module updates, user roles and permissions, and upgrade/migration paths.
Plan and run manual and exploratory acceptance testing of the web portal, using LLM-assisted tools to draft test cases, generate edge-case scenarios, and triage defects. A human reviews and signs off on every acceptance decision; the tooling speeds up the work, it doesn't replace the sign-off.
Write and maintain test plans, test scripts, and defect reports that hold up to program and government review.
Track issues in Jira through the full lifecycle — logging defects with clear repro steps, linking them to the originating requirement or story, and verifying fixes before release.
Maintain Jira-based test reporting (test coverage, defect trends, release-readiness status) for the delivery team and stakeholders.
Identify gaps in requirements or test coverage on your own initiative, propose a plan to close them, and drive it to resolution rather than waiting for direction.
Support accessibility (Section 508) and basic security testing as part of acceptance criteria where applicable.
Required qualifications
5-7 years of QA engineering experience spanning both manual and automated testing.
Direct experience testing CMS-based web applications, including Drupal and/or WordPress — content workflows, roles/permissions, module/plugin behavior, and upgrade or migration testing.
Demonstrated experience writing test plans and acceptance criteria directly from requirements documents or user stories.
Hands-on experience with at least one test automation framework (Selenium, Playwright, Cypress, or similar) integrated with CI/CD.
Practical experience using Jira for issue tracking, defect logging, and test/release reporting.
Experience using AI/LLM tools inside a testing workflow (test case generation, exploratory test support, defect triage), paired with the judgment to know when a result needs direct human verification.
A track record of working independently: scoping a problem, deciding on an approach, and seeing it through with minimal oversight.
Comfortable working in an Agile/Scrum environment with product owners, developers, and government stakeholders.
Clear, professional written communication for defect reports and test documentation.
Preferred qualifications
Experience testing federal or public-sector web applications, including Section 508 accessibility testing.
Familiarity with FISMA-compliant environments and the documentation standards that come with them.
Experience with Drupal or WordPress migrations (e.g., version upgrades, platform migrations) from a QA perspective.
Experience with API testing tools (Postman, REST Assured) and basic performance/load testing.
Experience building Jira dashboards or reports for QA/release metrics.
ISTQB certification or equivalent formal QA training.
What we'll assess in the interview
A walkthrough of how you turned a real, imperfect requirement into testable acceptance criteria.
Your approach to testing a CMS-driven site — what breaks, what you check by default, and how you'd approach a Drupal or WordPress upgrade.
An example of a problem you identified and solved on your own, without being told exactly what to do.
Your approach to using an LLM tool inside a testing workflow, and specifically where you draw the line for human review.
How you structure a defect in Jira — repro steps, linking, severity, and status flow.
A sample of test automation code or a test plan you've written.
Terms
Full-time. On-site/remote arrangement and contract duration to be confirmed based on program assignment.