Senior Project Manager (Test and Quality Assurance)

Job Title: Senior Project Manager (Test and Quality Assurance)

Location: Remote

Duration: 4000 Hours

Project Overview

We are seeking an accomplished and results-driven Test & Quality Assurance (QA) Manager to lead the comprehensive testing efforts for a critical enterprise initiative focused on the implementation and upgrade of Payroll and Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS). This strategic role is pivotal in ensuring the successful delivery of a secure, compliant, and high-performing solution that aligns with business objectives, regulatory requirements, and end-user expectations.

The ideal candidate will bring a wealth of experience in managing test programs for large-scale enterprise software projects-particularly within the HRIS and payroll domains-and will possess deep technical and leadership expertise in quality assurance practices, test lifecycle governance, resource management, and stakeholder coordination.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Test Leadership

• Define and implement the overarching test strategy and QA framework to support all phases of the project lifecycle, including unit, system, integration, regression, and user acceptance testing (UAT).
• Establish and manage quality standards, KPIs, and metrics to ensure adherence to project objectives, compliance protocols, and performance benchmarks.
• Identify and assess quality-related risks early in the project lifecycle and develop robust risk mitigation and contingency plans.

Test Planning & Execution Oversight

• Develop and maintain comprehensive test plans, test cases, and traceability matrices derived from business requirements and technical specifications.
• Oversee and coordinate the execution of test activities, including manual, automated, performance, and regression testing, ensuring all defects are tracked, triaged, and resolved in a timely manner.
• Lead the development and validation of test data and environments, ensuring readiness and consistency throughout each testing cycle.

Resource & Team Management

• Manage a cross-functional team of QA analysts, test engineers, and UAT coordinators, providing strategic direction, mentorship, and performance oversight.
• Align QA resource capacity with project milestones, ensuring optimal utilization, skill alignment, and coverage across concurrent testing streams.

Stakeholder Engagement & Communication

• Serve as the primary point of contact for all QA-related matters, providing regular status reports, dashboards, and executive summaries to project sponsors, business stakeholders, and technical leadership.
• Facilitate test readiness reviews, walkthroughs, and sign-off processes for each phase of testing, ensuring alignment on scope, quality, and release criteria.
• Collaborate closely with project managers, business analysts, developers, and infrastructure teams to drive alignment, resolve dependencies, and maintain testing momentum.

Governance, Compliance & Continuous Improvement

• Ensure all testing activities comply with organizational policies, industry regulations, and data security standards, especially those related to payroll data integrity, employee privacy, and financial accuracy.
• Conducting post-implementation reviews and root cause analyses to drive ongoing improvements in QA processes, tools, and team capabilities.
• Champion test automation, reusability, and innovation in QA practices to enhance quality, reduce testing cycles, and increase cost efficiency.

Required Qualifications & Experience

• Minimum of 10 years of progressive experience in software quality assurance and testing, with at least 5 years in a QA/Test Manager capacity overseeing complex enterprise technology initiatives.
• Demonstrated expertise in HRIS and payroll system testing, including experience with leading platforms such as Workday, Oracle HCM, ADP, SAP SuccessFactors.
• Proven ability to lead the testing lifecycle for payroll system upgrades, including validation of pay processing, tax calculations, benefit administration, compliance audits, and integrations with ERP/finance systems.
• Strong proficiency in test management tools such as JIRA, Azure DevOps (ADO), HP ALM, Selenium, TestRail, or equivalent platforms.
• Deep understanding of testing methodologies (Agile, Scrum, Waterfall, Hybrid) and the ability to adapt QA processes accordingly.
• Exceptional analytical, organizational, and communication skills, with the ability to translate complex business needs into executable QA plans.
• Awareness of Mainframe technologies (e.g., COBOL, JCL, VSAM, DB2) and their relevance in legacy system testing environments.

Preferred Qualifications (Nice to Have)

• ISTQB or equivalent Quality Assurance certification.
• Familiarity with federal and state payroll compliance laws, including FLSA, ACA, and multi-jurisdictional tax regulations.
• Prior experience working with public sector clients, educational institutions, or government entities.
• Experience with data migration, transformation, and validation in large-scale system implementations.
• Knowledge of DevOps pipelines and test automation frameworks for CI/CD environments.