Software Quality Assurance Specialist/Applications Tester (TS/SCI + Poly)

Description

The DarkStar Group is seeking a Software Quality Assurance Specialist/Applications Tester with a TS/SCI Poly clearance (applicable to this customer) to join one of our top projects in Chantilly, VA.  Below is an overview of the project, as well as information on our company, our benefits, and our $25,000 referral program.

THE PROGRAM

The DarkStar Group is a member of 100% of the winning teams for the largest technology program in the Intel Community.  We've been supporting this customer on many different sub-projects of this program since our founding in 2013.  We've grown on this effort by providing the customer with Engineers who have done exceptional work, and we've retained our staff by paying very strong salaries, and working hard to ensure each Engineer is doing work that aligns with their career interest.

THE PROJECT

The Sponsor’s office collects, exploits, and disseminates publicly available information in a timely, mission-impactful way. The Sponsor’s office environment is fast paced and requires specialized skills in cloud-based IT management, workflow automation, IT project management, innovative software development and integration of Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS)/Government Off-the-Shelf (GOTS) based applications. The Sponsor requires support for its Apps Team that provides a robust, scalable environment to standardize and centralize currently disparate enrichment efforts.

THE ROLE

• The Contractor shall develop, execute, and maintain comprehensive test strategies, plans, and scripts for web applications.
• The Contractor shall lead and perform functional, integration, regression, and performance testing on applications.
• The Contractor shall identify, log, and track software defects and work closely with developers to ensure timely resolutions.
• The Contractor shall design and implement automated testing for frontend (React/TypeScript) and backend (Node.js) components using modern testing frameworks.
• The Contractor shall conduct API testing and validate RESTful endpoints.
• The Contractor shall test Elasticsearch configurations, queries, and integrations to ensure optimal performance and accuracy.
• The Contractor shall collaborate with cross-functional teams to understand complex application requirements and user stories.
• The Contractor shall ensure thorough documentation of test results, issues, and test scripts.
• The Contractor shall continuously improve testing strategies, tools, and processes to enhance efficiency and effectiveness.
• The Contractor shall coordinate and collaborate across the appropriate groups within security, operations and other teams to provide system information and technical support.
• The Contractor shall create, manage, and update work tickets using JIRA.
• The Contractor shall provide weekly status updates regarding schedule deliverables, risks, and dependencies.
• The Contractor shall coordinate appropriately for problem resolution, task scheduling, new resource requirements, and task clarification.
• The Contractor shall work in partnership with an integrated team of Sponsor staff and contractors.

Required Skills

• Demonstrated experience in software testing, preferably with web applications.
• Demonstrated experience understanding of software testing methodologies, tools, and processes.
• Demonstrated hands-on experience testing applications built with React and TypeScript.
• Demonstrated hands-on experience testing Node.js server applications.
• Demonstrated experience or proficiency in using advanced testing frameworks and tools such as:
  • Frontend: Jest, React Testing Library, Cypress, or Playwright.
  • Backend: Mocha, Chai, Supertest, Postman, or Newman.
  • End-to-End (E2E): Cypress, Playwright, Selenium WebDriver or Katalon Studio.
• Demonstrated experience understanding version control systems (e.g., Git).
• Demonstrated experience with CI/CD pipelines and integrating automated testing into deployment workflows.
• Demonstrated experience monitoring the progress of multiple concurrent and highly visible projects and requirements.

Desired Skills (Optional)

• Demonstrated strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Demonstrated excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrated experience with advanced knowledge of containerization and testing in Dockerized environments.
• Demonstrated experience in accessibility testing tools (e.g., Axe, Lighthouse).
• Demonstrated experience with Elasticsearch Testing: Jest integration for Elasticsearch.
• Demonstrated experience with manual query validation.

About The DarkStar Group

Our Company

The DarkStar Group is a small business that solves BIG problems. We're one of the Inc. 5000 fastest-growing private companies in the US, and our engineers and scientists support the most critical national security missions in Virginia, Maryland, and elsewhere. Data Science, Software Engineering, Cloud/AWS Infrastructure, and Cyber/CNO are our core areas of expertise. We offer interesting and important work, job security, some of the best and most flexible benefits you'll find in the IC, and salaries so strong that they'll likely surprise you. 

Our Benefits

The DarkStar Group offers exceptional compensation and benefits:

• very strong salaries;
• 100% company-paid medical, dental, and vision premiums for you and all dependents;
• the ability to get increased salary if you don't need medical/dental/vision;
• 100% company-paid disability and life insurance benefits;
• a generously-funded HSA;
• an 8% 401(k) contribution; 
• 31 days of PTO/holidays to start (more with tenure);
• the ability to flex time across pay periods without using your PTO;
• a generous training budget;
• $25,000 employee referral bonuses;
• business development / growth incentives; and
• top notch company swag.

** We have a huge growth opportunity, so we are offering up to a $25,000 reward for anyone new you refer whom we hire. **

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.