Senior QA​/Data Engineer; Retail Systems

About the Company. This a client of ours for 10-plus years, where people convert to perm or contract long-term. This quasi-government client, and we can accept H1, GC or US Citizens.

Position Type: Contract (Initial 12 Months)

Location: Grand Prairie, TX (Onsite)

We are seeking a detail-oriented Data Engineer and QA Manual Tester to support our Forecasting, Allocation, and Replenishment (FAR) system along with our Core Merchandising System. This unique hybrid role bridges data engineering and quality assurance. On the data engineering side, you will build, manage, and maintain reliable data flows, integrations, and data sets across merchandising, supply chain, and store systems.

On the quality assurance side, you will ensure these systems and their underlying data are accurate and reliable through structured manual testing.

You will work closely with business analysts, developers, and merchandising users, leveraging AI tools to manage, validate, and analyze data to ensure inventory planning, item management, and store fulfillment run on trusted information.

• Test Planning & Execution: Review business requirements, user stories, and functional specs to write test plans, test cases, and test scripts. Run manual functional, integration, regression, system, and user acceptance (UAT) tests.
• Core Logic Validation: Check forecasting outputs, allocation logic, replenishment orders, and inventory calculations against established business rules.
• Merchandising System Testing: Test core merchandising functions including item setup, pricing, vendor management, purchase orders, hierarchies, and promotions.
• Data Flow Integrity: Confirm data flows correctly between merchandising, FAR, warehouse, and point-of-sale (POS) systems.
• AI-Driven Data Management: Use AI tools to create, organize, cleanse, and validate large test data sets. Leverage AI to find data anomalies, inconsistencies, and quality issues in forecast and inventory data.
• AI Output Verification: Check that AI-driven forecasts and recommendations are accurate, reasonable, and consistent with business rules.
• Defect Management: Log, track, and retest defects in a defect management tool, appropriately setting their severity and priority.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Support UAT by working with business users and documenting results. Maintain strict traceability between requirements, test cases, and defects. Participate in Agile ceremonies to provide status updates and quality metrics.

• Experience: 5+ years of manual software testing experience, preferably with retail or merchandising systems.
• AI-Enhanced Data
  
  Skills:
  
  Experience using AI tools (such as Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT, Perplexity, or similar) to prepare, analyze, and validate data.
• Data Principles: Strong understanding of data quality, data governance, and data integrity principles.
• Model Validation: Experience checking AI and machine learning outputs, such as demand forecasts, for accuracy and bias.
• Data Security: Proven ability to handle sensitive data responsibly and follow corporate data security policies.
• Domain Knowledge: Solid understanding of forecasting, allocation, replenishment, or supply chain processes.
• Technical Proficiency: Basic SQL skills for querying and validating data. Experience with test management tools such as Jira, Azure Dev Ops, or ALM.
• Soft Skills: Strong analytical, communication, and problem-solving skills with a track record of writing clear test cases and defect reports.

• Experience with core merchandising platforms (such as Oracle Retail, SAP, Blue Yonder, or similar).
• ISTQB or a similar QA certification.
• Proficiency with Excel, Power BI, or other data analysis tools.
• Experience working in Agile/Scrum environments.
• Understanding of retail inventory and planning metrics