IMPORTANT ENGAGEMENT REQUIREMENTS

• Local Illinois candidates only — candidates must currently be local to Illinois and able to work onsite in Peoria, IL.
• No C2C / No Third-Party Vendors — this opportunity is open to direct candidates only. C2C, vendor, subcontractor, and third-party submissions will not be considered.
• Candidates must be available to work onsite in Peoria, IL.

Lead QA Engineer

Location: Peoria, IL 61629
Work Arrangement: Onsite
Duration: 48 Weeks
Employment Type: Contract
Industry: Manufacturing / Industrial Technology

IMPORTANT — LOCAL CANDIDATES ONLY

Candidates must currently be local to Illinois and able to work onsite in Peoria, IL.

This is a hands-on Lead QA Engineer opportunity for an experienced quality professional who can lead testing strategy, test planning, execution, defect management, and quality activities across multiple software projects and releases.

We are looking for someone who can work independently on complex testing assignments while partnering closely with software engineers, product owners, end users, and other cross-functional teams.

ROLE OVERVIEW

The Lead QA Engineer will support large-scale digital platform initiatives and help drive software quality throughout the development lifecycle.

This position combines hands-on software testing with QA leadership. You will be responsible for developing and executing test strategies, identifying testing gaps, managing defects, validating fixes, supporting release quality, and using data and analysis to help technical and business teams make informed decisions.

The ideal candidate has 7+ years of experience in software QA, software testing, or software development and is comfortable working across functional, regression, integration, performance, and user acceptance testing.

Strong experience with SQL, SDLC, Agile, AWS, Power BI, Azure DevOps/ADO, and Excel is important for this role.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Lead QA strategy, test planning, test execution, and quality activities across multiple projects and software releases.
• Develop testing approaches based on application requirements, business needs, technical dependencies, and release objectives.
• Plan and execute functional, regression, integration, performance, and user acceptance testing (UAT).
• Review requirements and identify gaps in test coverage, test scenarios, and validation activities.
• Independently handle complex software testing and quality assurance assignments.
• Validate new and existing software defects through the complete defect lifecycle.
• Reproduce application issues and collect the logs, screenshots, test data, and other artifacts required for troubleshooting.
• Perform defect management, including defect documentation, prioritization, tracking, retesting, and closure.
• Validate software fixes and enhancements before release.
• Participate in field follow-up testing for features requiring detailed planning and execution.
• Work closely with software developers, engineers, product owners, business users, and internal customers to identify and resolve application issues.
• Validate application functionality for accuracy, integrity, interoperability, reliability, and completeness.
• Coordinate with Product Owners to understand functionality, open issues, enhancements, upgrades, and business requirements.
• Identify high-impact quality issues and drive them toward resolution.
• Perform root cause analysis and provide actionable information to development and leadership teams.
• Use SQL, Power BI, Excel, and other data-analysis techniques to investigate issues and support quantitative decision-making.
• Monitor quality trends and identify opportunities to improve testing coverage and QA processes.
• Support release readiness by communicating test results, outstanding defects, risks, and quality concerns.
• Provide technical guidance and mentoring to other QA team members.
• Promote QA standards, testing best practices, and consistent quality processes across projects.
• Communicate technical testing information clearly to engineering teams, business stakeholders, product owners, and leadership.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• 7+ years of experience in software testing, quality assurance, software development, or a related technical discipline.
• Strong hands-on experience with software quality assurance and software testing.
• Strong understanding of Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC).
• Experience working in Agile development environments.
• Strong knowledge of QA and QC methodologies.
• Experience developing test strategies, test plans, test cases, and test execution plans.
• Hands-on experience with regression testing.
• Experience with functional, integration, performance, and UAT testing.
• Strong experience with defect management and defect lifecycle processes.
• Strong SQL skills for data validation, troubleshooting, and analysis.
• Experience with AWS.
• Experience with Power BI.
• Experience with Microsoft Excel for data analysis and reporting.
• Experience with Azure DevOps (ADO) or a similar application lifecycle/work management platform.
• Strong analytical and data-mining skills.
• Experience working with cross-functional engineering, product, development, and business teams.
• Previous QA leadership and/or project management experience.
• Strong written, verbal, presentation, and stakeholder communication skills.

TECHNICAL SKILLS

Quality Assurance / Testing

• Software Testing
• Quality Assurance
• Quality Control
• Test Strategy
• Test Planning
• Test Execution
• Functional Testing
• Regression Testing
• Integration Testing
• Performance Testing
• User Acceptance Testing (UAT)
• Defect Management
• Defect Tracking
• Root Cause Analysis
• Test Validation

Development & Methodologies

• SDLC
• Agile
• QA Methodologies
• QC Methodologies
• Software Development Lifecycle
• Release Testing

Data & Reporting

• SQL
• Data Validation
• Data Analysis
• Data Mining
• Power BI
• Microsoft Excel

Cloud / Development Tools

• AWS
• Azure DevOps
• ADO

Leadership

• QA Leadership
• Test Leadership
• Project Management
• Cross-Functional Collaboration
• Technical Mentoring
• Stakeholder Management

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

In this role, you will be expected to:

• Establish effective test coverage across projects and releases.
• Identify quality risks before they impact production.
• Drive defects from discovery through resolution and validation.
• Provide clear, data-supported quality reporting.
• Work independently on complex testing assignments.
• Partner effectively with development and product teams.
• Help improve QA processes, standards, and testing practices.
• Mentor QA team members and raise overall testing discipline.
• Communicate quality risks and release readiness clearly to stakeholders.