QA Lead, IT​/Tech, Systems Analyst

****** THIS ROLE IS HYBRID IN PEORIA, IL — ONLY LOCAL OR WITHIN DRIVING DISTANCE CANDIDATES WILL BE CONSIDERED.******

6-9 months W2 contract.

We are seeking a QA Lead to act as the QA Quarterback for a large-scale modernization program. This role owns the execution of the Master Test Strategy and ensures alignment across internal teams and offshore partners. The ideal candidate brings hands‑on leadership in planning, coordination, and governance across all testing phases.

• Interpret and enforce Master Test Strategy and quality governance across all testing phases (Smoke, FET, Integration, UAT, Performance).
• Act as liaison between internal QA and offshore testing teams.
• Review and approve test plans, test suites, test cycles, execution traceability matrices, and exit criteria documentation.
• Drive automation strategy using Playwright, Postman, and Beyond Compare.
• Oversee test data management and validate integration points with external systems.
• Lead defect triage and resolution workflows.
• Prepare and present test execution reports, quality metrics, and risk assessments.
• Provide mentorship and guidance to QA Analysts and cross‑functional teams.
• Own the Software Test Life Cycle (STLC), including planning, execution, and reporting.
• Ensure risk‑based prioritization of test scenarios and adherence to quality gates.

• Strong understanding of functional and integration testing for modernization projects.
• Expertise in Azure Dev Ops test and defect management features.
• Familiarity with automation frameworks (Playwright, Selenium) and API testing tools (Postman, SoapUI).
• Solid knowledge of SQL Server, data migration validation, and comparison tools.
• Excellent coordination and communication skills across distributed teams.
• Strong understanding of relational databases, distributed architecture, and web application concepts.
• Strong understanding of the software development lifecycle;
  Agile experience is a plus.
• Excellent reasoning and research skills with the ability to see the big picture while managing details.
• “Test to break” mindset with the ability to understand complex business processes.
• Meticulous and detail‑oriented with experience in collaborative, team‑based environments.
• Intermediate SQL skills with data migration project experience preferred.
• Insurance domain experience is a plus.

• 7+ years of Quality Assurance experience, with at least 3 years in a lead role.
• Experience supporting large-scale modernization or migration projects.

• Familiarity with mainframe‑to‑modern platform migrations.
• Experience coordinating offshore teams and managing vendors.

• Mid‑Senior level

• Contract

• Information Technology