Sr Quality Assurance Analyst

The Sr. Quality Assurance Analyst will serve as a technical consultant in the design and implementation of software test and release cycles for complex solutions. The role is responsible for leading the QA process for both internal and external NORC software projects, including automated functional testing efforts, to ensure software products meet high standards of functionality, usability, and reliability.

Qualified applicants must be eligible to work in the U.S. We regret that we are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this position. 

NORC's Information Technology program provides technology services to our staff and clients. Given the critical role technology plays in our day-to-day lives, we are committed to providing professional, high-quality solutions in order to further our collective goal of advancing social science research.​

• Review business requirements, functional specifications, use cases, design, and architecture documents to produce test strategies, test cases, and test data. Update and maintain test plans and result documentation.
• Utilize both manual and automated testing methodologies to perform smoke, system, integration, functional, performance, load, and regression testing to ensure successful implementation through established QA processes.
• Report and track defects using NORC's defect tracking system. Participate in peer reviews of project deliverables and communicate QA process updates using NORC's test management tools.
• Lead the technical architecture of NORC’s automated testing solutions and ensure that automation testing activities are fully integrated into the software development lifecycle.
• Assist in the continuous improvement of QA processes, including the development of automated testing scripts, and establish best practices for QA capabilities, efficiencies, and delivery quality.
• Mentor less experienced team members, provide technical guidance, and potentially take on lead roles in project meetings.
• Collaborate with survey projects to define test planning and implementation for project-specific applications.
• Solve complex problems by adapting existing procedures and using creative problem-solving techniques.
• Ability to commute to Chicago Loop office to perform on-site quality control tasks.

• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent experience in Information Technology or related field.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in software quality assurance, particularly in web applications.
• 2-4 years of test automation experience.
• Advanced knowledge of software development QA tools, methods, planning, and implementation for web and client-server environments.
• Understanding of application development methodologies and multiple IT technical platforms.
• Previous experience with Quality Assurance for research projects, focused on longitudinal studies.
• Previous experience with NORC's proprietary Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) data collection systems.
• Previous hands-on experience utilizing NORC's proprietary test case automation tools and Qase - Software Quality Assurance Test Management software.
• Previous experience with NORC Field Operations device testing and quality control processes.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent written and oral communication abilities, with the capacity to collaborate effectively with all levels of management and staff.
• Detail-oriented, organized, and able to manage multiple tasks/projects with minimal supervision in a fast-paced team environment.
• Flexibility to adapt to changing priorities and the ability to work under moderate direction.
• Previous NORC experience in IT required.
• Preferred:
• Experience with Microsoft client-server production environments.
• Knowledge of Excel, JIRA, JMeter, and various automated performance/load testing tools.
• Familiarity with complex data management portals and business-to-business, business-to-consumer, or government-to-citizen web applications.

The pay range for this position is $79,000 – $119,000. 

This position is classified as re