Software Quality & Testing Analyst - with Scrum Master Experience - CTIS, Inc.

This position is for a Software Tester with Scrum Master experience to support the development of Clinical Trials Research Management applications for CTIS, which is a CMMI Level 3 certified company. This job entails working in an Agile DevOps environment and providing thorough test coverage based on regulatory and project requirements along with supporting scrum master activities. This unique role combines the technical expertise of a Quality Assurance Analyst and the leadership skills of a Scrum Master for bridging the gap between business needs and technical solutions. Using your technical expertise in agile methodologies, you will ensure the quality of deliverables by integrating QA principles into the software development lifecycle. Using your leadership skills, you will work with a cross-functional team and guide the team toward continuous improvement and successful product delivery.

The candidate is expected to contribute part of the time to the QA activities including manual, automation testing configuration, development, execution and reporting and part of the time to the Scrum Master activities, managing all SAFe® agile scrum ceremonies/ responsibilities.

This is a hybrid role, requiring two days per week in the office located in Rockville, MD.

• Ensure the integration of QA processes such as test planning, test automation, and performance testing into the product development cycle.
• Oversee the design, implementation, and validation of programming code alongside QA teams to ensure high standards of quality
• Create quality measurements to track improvement in products
• Support design, development and coding of software products
• Work closely with project team to define release and regression test plans
• Use critical thinking to design and execute test cases and scenarios based on requirements, acceptance criteria documented in Stories and Features, and other support documents
• Write, debug, execute, and analyze results of automated scripts and resolve issues
• Identify, investigate, and prioritize software defects
• Write basic SQL scripts to inspect data loaded to database in support of verification activities
• Effectively communicate with project manager and other team members both orally and in writing
• Share acquired skills with team members
• Facilitate and coordinate all scrum ceremonies including PI planning, Sprint planning, daily stand-ups, sprint reviews/retrospective, Backlog grooming, Inspect and Adapt etc.
• Guide and coach the Scrum Team on how to use Agile practices and principles to deliver high quality products and services to our customers.
• Get team to a high performing level by recognizing areas of strength and improvement and employing appropriate coaching and development techniques.
• Responsible for ensuring Scrum is understood and the team adheres to Scrum theory, practice, and guidelines.
• Coach the Scrum team in self-organization, cross-functional skillset, domain knowledge and communicates effectively, both internally and externally working within the Scrum team.
• Work with Scrum Team, as well as internal and external stakeholders, to influence and drive decision making and support organizational project or product teams.
• Responsible for identifying when the internal and external dependencies must be met for the team to meet their PI goals.
• Supports the Product Owner in their efforts to manage the backlog and guide the team while facilitating a healthy intra-team dynamic with respect to priorities and scope.
• Resolve team impediments with other Scrum Masters to increase the effectiveness of the application of Scrum in the organization.
• Contributes to the advancement and improvement of Agile practices within the organization.
• Guide the team in establishing normalized estimates and help the team and the ART estimate larger Features.

• A bachelor’s degree in computer science, Engineering, or related field; Scrum Master certification preferred.
• Minimum 5 years of experience in software testing. 
• SAFe Agile methodology and best practices
• Acceptance test driven development
• Continuous integration tools for software development and build life cycles focused on automation
• Proven experience as a scrum master
• Methodical approach and attention to detail
• Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to effectively communicate and collaborate with cross-functional teams.
• Experience with Acceptance test driven development.
• Must be able to quickly adopt and understand automation framework and applications, perform automation activities with less guidance.
• Continuous integration tools for software development and build life cycles focused on automation.
• Advanced knowledge on test automation using Selenium/Java/TestNG/Cucumber/ Gherkin.

Annual Salary Range: $67,756.35 - $74,531.98