Systems Testing/QA Specialist – Senior

Client: Government Services Integration Cluster (GSIC)
Ministry: Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement
Location: Ontario, Canada
Work Arrangement: 100% Onsite – 5 days per week
Start Date: September 21, 2026
End Date: March 21, 2027
Extension: Up to 1 additional term
Openings: 1
Security Clearance: No clearance required
Closing Date: September 16, 2026 at 12:00 PM EST
Maximum Submissions: 1 candidate
Position Overview
Our client, the Government Services Integration Cluster (GSIC) within the Ontario Public Service, is seeking a Senior Systems Testing/QA Specialist with extensive experience testing enterprise-level IT environments and large-scale systems.
The successful candidate will be responsible for planning, coordinating, designing, executing, and documenting comprehensive testing activities across complex systems. The role requires strong hands-on experience in both manual and automated testing, performance testing, API testing, database validation, accessibility testing, defect management, and CI/CD environments.
The candidate will work closely with testing leads, IT leads, developers, business analysts, project managers, and other project team members throughout the software development and testing lifecycle.
Key Responsibilities

• Provide advice on testing strategies, test plans, testing tools, and resources required for testing.
  
• Plan and organize testing efforts for large systems across both GUI and non-GUI environments.
  
• Plan and execute system integration, specialized, user acceptance, stress, performance, and other testing activities.
  
• Develop and maintain test strategies, test plans, test scripts, test cases, and test data.
  
• Execute functional, integration, system, regression, non-functional, and acceptance testing.
  
• Validate that systems perform as expected under various conditions.
  
• Identify, document, track, and manage software defects using tools such as ALM, JIRA, Bugzilla, Azure DevOps, TestRail, Zephyr, or similar.
  
• Work closely with developers to reproduce, troubleshoot, and resolve defects.
  
• Develop and maintain automated test scripts using tools such as Selenium, Micro Focus/OpenText UFT, TestComplete, Postman, or similar.
  
• Integrate automated testing into CI/CD pipelines.
  
• Conduct performance, stress, and load testing using tools such as JMeter, LoadRunner, or similar.
  
• Analyze performance bottlenecks, system scalability, response times, and system capacity.
  
• Perform API testing and backend/data validation.
  
• Develop and execute database queries to validate data integrity, consistency, and accuracy.
  
• Perform data migration and transformation testing as required.
  
• Develop and manage robust test data strategies, including realistic test-data generation, privacy considerations, and test environment management.
  
• Conduct basic security testing and collaborate with security specialists for deeper penetration/security testing activities.
  
• Apply knowledge of Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) requirements and related accessibility standards.
  
• Collaborate with developers, business analysts, project managers, and technical teams to clarify requirements and ensure quality.
  
• Participate in Agile ceremonies, including sprint planning, daily stand-ups, and retrospectives.
  
• Maintain detailed documentation of test results, test coverage, quality metrics, and testing outcomes.
  
• Provide input into user manuals and release notes.
  
• Ensure testing activities comply with applicable industry standards, QA practices, and regulatory requirements.
  

Requirements

Mandatory Qualifications & Core Skills
Software Testing & QA – Must Have
Candidates must have 10+ years of experience in software testing within enterprise-level IT environments and large-scale systems, including:

• Extensive hands-on experience in manual and automated testing.
  
• Strong understanding and practical experience with Agile, Scrum, and Waterfall methodologies.
  
• Extensive experience with AODA testing and compliance.
  
• Experience developing and maintaining:
  
  • Test strategies
    
  • Test plans
    
  • Test cases
    
  • Test scripts
    
  • Test data
    
  • Test reports
    
• Proven experience performing end-to-end testing of complex systems, ensuring functional and non-functional requirements are covered.
  
• Experience executing:
  
  • Functional testing
    
  • Integration testing
    
  • System testing
    
  • Regression testing
    
  • Acceptance/UAT testing
    
  • Non-functional testing
    
  • Performance testing
    
  • Load testing
    
  • Stress testing
    
• Experience supporting and participating in User Acceptance Testing (UAT) activities.
  
• Strong knowledge of QA principles, practices, tools, and structured testing methodologies.
  
• Knowledge of the complete Software/System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) and Software Testing Life Cycle.
  

Test Automation
Hands-on experience with automated testing tools/frameworks such as:

• Selenium
  
• Postman for API testing
  
• Micro Focus/OpenText UFT
  
• TestComplete
  
• Cypress
  
• Other comparable automation tools
  

Experience coding automated test scripts and developing automated test cases is highly important.
Performance Testing
Experience with performance, stress, and load testing tools, including:

• JMeter
  
• LoadRunner
  
• Similar performance testing tools
  

Candidates should be capable of developing and executing performance test scripts and analyzing performance bottlenecks and system scalability.
Defect & Test Management Tools
Experience with one or more of the following:

• JIRA
  
• Azure DevOps
  
• ALM
  
• Bugzilla
  
• TestRail
  
• Zephyr
  
• Similar defect/test management platforms
  

Database & Data Validation
Strong understanding and hands-on experience with databases, including:

• SQL
  
• Oracle
  

Experience writing queries to:

• Validate backend data
  
• Perform backend testing
  
• Validate data integrity
  
• Validate data consistency and accuracy
  
• Support data migration and transformation testing
  

Cloud & DevOps
Knowledge and practical understanding of cloud technologies such as:

• Microsoft Azure
  
• AWS
  

Knowledge of CI/CD pipelines and integration tools, including:

• Jenkins
  
• Git
  
• GitLab
  
• Similar CI/CD and version-control technologies
  

Security Testing

• Knowledge of QA compliance standards and security testing best practices.
  
• Experience conducting basic security testing.
  
• Ability to collaborate with security specialists for deeper penetration/security testing.
  

Test Data Management
Experience developing and managing robust test-data strategies, including:

• Generating realistic and sufficient test data.
  
• Protecting data privacy.
  
• Managing test-data environments.
  
• Validating data across multiple system components and databases.
  

Accessibility

• Extensive AODA testing and compliance experience is mandatory.
  
• Knowledge and understanding of Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) and related regulations and standards.
  

General Skills
The successful candidate should demonstrate:

• Experience planning, organizing, and implementing testing efforts at the senior level.
  
• Knowledge of structured methodologies for application development, design, implementation, and maintenance.
  
• Experience using CASE tools and data-query tools to assist in developing test cases.
  
• Experience using automated testing tools and version-control systems.
  
• Experience with functional, non-functional, and systems-level integration testing.
  
• Experience supporting UAT activities.
  
• Strong knowledge of quality assurance principles, practices, tools, and structured methodologies.
  
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, decision-making, organizational, creativity, and perseverance skills.
  
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
  
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to collaborate effectively with technical and functional teams.
  
• Ability to work effectively as part of a large project team.
  
• Proven ability to meet deadlines.
  
• Ability to work under pressure and manage aggressive timelines.
  
• Adaptability to changing priorities and requirements.
  
• Demonstrated ability to write clear, comprehensive test cases and execute them effectively.
  
• Strong understanding of system, integration, regression, and acceptance testing.
  
• Clear understanding of software development and testing lifecycles.
  

Scripting & Programming
Knowledge of scripting/programming languages is required or strongly preferred, including:

• Python
  
• JavaScript
  
• Bash
  
• Or another programming language suitable for automation and test-data setup.
  

Knowledge and experience in at least one programming language is considered a desirable skill.
Public Sector / OPS Experience
Previous Ontario Public Service (OPS) or broader public-sector experience is considered an asset.
Candidates should have familiarity with:

• OPS quality assurance standards and practices.
  
• Public-sector testing and delivery environments.
  
• Government information-management principles, policies, and practices.
  

Additional Desirable Skills
The following experience is considered an asset:

• Experience planning and organizing testing efforts for both large and small systems.
  
• Experience coding automated test scripts to produce automated test cases.
  
• Experience testing Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) applications.
  
• Knowledge of information retrieval packages.
  
• Knowledge and understanding of testing methods in an object-oriented environment.
  
• Knowledge and understanding of Information Management principles, concepts, policies, and practices.
  
• Experience with one or more programming languages.
  
• Additional experience with accessibility testing and compliance.
  

Soft Skills
The successful candidate must demonstrate:

• Excellent written and verbal communication.
  
• Strong interpersonal and relationship-building skills.
  
• Ability to work effectively with functional and technical teams.
  
• Ability to participate effectively in a large project team.
  
• Strong analytical and systematic problem-solving capabilities.
  
• Ability to work under pressure and meet aggressive timelines.
  
• Flexibility and adaptability in a changing project environment.
  
• Strong organization, attention to detail, and commitment to quality.
  

Work Arrangement & Other Requirements

• 100% onsite – 5 days per week
  
• Ontario, Canada
  
• 1 position available
  
• No security clearance required
  
• Assignment duration: September 21, 2026 to March 21, 2027
  
• One potential extension term
  
• Maximum 1 candidate submission per supplier
  
• Candidates must be available to work onsite five days per week.
  

Mandatory Requirements – Quick Checklist
Candidates submitted for this position must clearly demonstrate:

1. 10+ years of enterprise-level software testing experience.
   
2. Hands-on manual and automated testing experience.
   
3. Strong Agile, Scrum, and Waterfall experience.
   
4. Extensive AODA testing and compliance experience.
   
5. Experience with Selenium and/or Postman.
   
6. Experience with JMeter, LoadRunner, or similar performance-testing tools.
   
7. Strong SQL and/or Oracle database experience.
   
8. Knowledge of Azure and/or AWS.
   
9. Experience with defect-management tools such as JIRA or Azure DevOps.
   
10. Experience developing test strategies, test plans, test cases, test scripts, and test reports.
    
11. Strong end-to-end testing experience across functional and non-functional requirements.
    
12. Knowledge of CI/CD, Jenkins, Git, or GitLab.
    
13. Knowledge of QA compliance and security-testing practices.
    
14. Strong communication, analytical, problem-solving, and teamwork skills.
    
15. Ability to work 100% onsite, 5 days per week.
    

Nice to Have: Previous Ontario Public Service (OPS) / public-sector experience.