Quality Assurance Lead

Quality Assurance (QA) Lead – Enterprise Fare Collection Modernization

Location:

Hybrid – Onsite 1 day/week in St. Paul, MN

Duration:
April 2026 – October 2026 (with extension potential)

Job Type: Full-Time, Contract

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced Quality Assurance Lead to support a large-scale transformation initiative focused on modernizing fare collection and payment systems for a major public-sector transit environment. This role combines strategic QA leadership with hands-on testing execution and will oversee QA activities across multiple enterprise, cloud-based SaaS projects.

The QA Lead will direct QA Analysts, collaborate with technical and business teams, validate vendor testing, and ensure delivery of reliable, fully tested solutions in a complex, multi-system integration environment. Experience working in mass transit, public sector, or similar operational infrastructure programs is highly valued.

Key Responsibilities

• Leadership & QA Strategy
• Serve as the primary QA Lead across multiple enterprise-level projects.
• Develop and implement enterprise QA strategies, standards, and test frameworks.
• Provide leadership and direction to QA Analysts, including assignment of work streams and mentoring.
• Influence and enforce QA governance across all phases of the project lifecycle.

• Testing & Execution
• Perform hands-on manual testing including functional, integration, regression, and end-to-end testing.
• Create test plans, test cases, test scripts, and defect management processes.
• Support configuration management and ensure full traceability throughout the QA lifecycle.
• Track and report QA metrics such as defect density, coverage, and release readiness.

• Vendor & Stakeholder Collaboration
• Oversee vendor-led testing and validate alignment to program standards.
• Coordinate defect prioritization and resolution with internal and external teams.
• Work closely with program managers, developers, business analysts, and multi-vendor stakeholders.

• QA Planning & Risk Management
• Develop QA schedules and manage testing dependencies across concurrent projects.
• Identify risks and develop mitigation strategies related to testing and system quality.
• Contribute to continuous improvement activities for QA processes and team practices.

Minimum Qualifications

• 10+ years of QA or software testing experience.
• 5+ years leading QA teams or managing QA efforts on large programs.
• 1+ year experience with cloud-based SaaS solution implementations.
• 2+ years leading QA in multi-vendor or multi-system integration projects.
• 2+ years manual and automation testing experience.
• 2+ years developing QA strategies, test plans, test cases, and quality metrics.
• 1+ year experience with Azure Dev Ops, JIRA, or HP ALM.
• Experience applying QA processes within Agile, Iterative, and Waterfall methodologies.
• Ability to work onsite at least one day per week.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or related field.
• Experience with government, public sector, utilities, transportation, or mission-critical systems.
• Experience with fare collection, mass transit systems, or operational analytics platforms.
• Familiarity with performance testing, test data management, and vendor validation.
• Working knowledge of automation frameworks or tools.
• Certifications such as QA, PMP, CSM, SAFe, or related.

Core Competencies

• Strong leadership and ability to guide cross-functional QA teams.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to translate technical QA concepts for business audiences.
• Strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills.
• Skilled in conflict resolution and managing multi-stakeholder teams.
• Ability to balance leadership responsibilities with hands-on testing.

Work Environment

• Hybrid work model — onsite presence required at least once per week.
• Collaborative team setting involving multiple vendors and stakeholders.
• In-person interviews required.