Staff Systems QA Specialist

The Software Enterprise Division is looking for a Junior or Staff level QA associate who enjoys learning and can think outside the box. We are not developing software. We are not testing software. We are testing a cloud environment designed for developers.

Candidates will look forward to working with a seasoned QA Lead to design and run tests from the developer, admin, and "I break things" perspectives, as well as help, monitor the environment to ensure things are running smoothly. Strong communication skills will be a must to interact with a dispersed team of cloud engineers, IT support staff, security professionals, and tenant representatives. Candidates will need to work from the ARA office, though work-from-home flexibility can be arranged when needed. This is a "Grow Me" opportunity in an encouraging environment. The ideal candidate is familiar with agile development practices, and cloud environments, and is up for a challenge.

Staff Systems QA Specialist Responsibilities:

• Plan and run tests against:
• Network changes
• Workspace and EC2 Instance Configuration changes
• AD changes
• Server updates
• Tenant issue reports
• New/updated AMIs
• New/updated Workspace Bundles
• Help maintain infrastructure monitoring
• Monitor CCB and daily standups to maintain awareness of upcoming testing needs
• Create Jira tickets for issues found during testing or environment use
• Implement and maintain a suite of automated tests to monitor server configuration, security controls, and EC2 configurations
• Advocate for the best possible user experience, across the project
• Review processes in place linking Tenants/Operations/Engineering/Security
• Suggest improvements to smooth the processes and implementations

Staff Systems QA Specialist Required Skills:

• Must be a US citizen and eligible to apply for and hold a US security clearance (selected applicants will undergo a security investigation and must meet eligibility requirements atthe time of employment)
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or equivalent along with 2 to 4 years of related experience OR8 to 10 years of experience in lieu of a degree
• Familiarity with cloud environments like AWS
• Familiarity with the DevSecOps pipeline
• Experience with Jira or other bug and task tracking tool
• Experience with Windows and Linux environments
• Experience writing tests (manual or automated)
• Security+ Certification, or willingness to get it
• Desire to learn and grow a wide variety of skillsets

Staff Systems QA Specialist Preferred Skills:

• Splunk
• Networking basics
• Permissions testing
• Infrastructure Monitoring
• Test automation

About Us:

Applied Research Associates, Inc. (aka ARA) is an employee-owned international research and engineering company known for providing technically superior solutions to complex and challenging problems in the physical sciences. We were founded in Albuquerque, NM in 1979 as the disco era was, thankfully, closing out and the personal computer era was beginning. We employ over 1,500 professionals and continue to grow. ARA offices throughout the U.S. and Canada provide a broad range of technical expertise in defense, civil, and health technologies, computer software and simulation, systems analysis, environmental technologies, and testing and measurement.

ARA also prides ourselves on having a challenging culture where innovation & experimentation are the norm. At ARA, employees are our greatest assets, so we give our employees the tools, training, and opportunities to take active roles as owners. The motto, "Engineering and Science for Fun and Profit" sums up the ARA experience. The company realizes employee ownership spawns greater creativity and initiative along with higher performance and customer satisfaction levels. We are also very proud of our Women's Initiative Network (WIN) whose purpose is to motivate, support, and encourage professional career development for women to maximize career and professional accomplishments.

To find out more about Software Enterprise Division visit our website at: https://www.ara.com/raleigh/

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities

The contractor will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor's legal duty to furnish information. 41 CFR 60-1.35(c)