Ascension LLC is seeking a detail-oriented QA / Testing Specialist to support the testing, validation, and quality assurance of a secure, AI-enabled SaaS solution for the Maryland Department of Labor’s Federal Worker Loan Programs. This role is critical to ensuring that the applicant portal, application review system, repayment workflows, file transfer processes, dashboards, customer support integrations, and AI-enabled eligibility features operate accurately, securely, and consistently before launch and throughout contract performance.

The ideal candidate will bring hands-on experience developing and executing test plans, user acceptance testing, manual and automated testing, defect tracking, regression testing, and production readiness validation for public-sector, financial assistance, benefits, loan, case management, or customer-facing SaaS platforms. This individual will help ensure the platform is fully tested and ready for use by the required launch date, supports high-volume application processing, and maintains compliance with data security, accessibility, privacy, and workflow requirements.

The RFP requires the selected solution to be fully tested and ready for use by March 10, 2027, and specifically calls for automated and manual UAT, test case development, test execution, issue tracking, retesting, and sign-off support.

Summary of the Contractor Role

The QA / Testing Specialist will support Ascension’s project management, software engineering, implementation, cloud/security, and customer support teams by validating system functionality across the full application lifecycle. The role will focus on ensuring the Federal Worker Loan Program platform performs as intended for applicants, State reviewers, administrators, customer support staff, and reporting users.

This position will support test planning, test case development, manual and automated testing, defect documentation, regression testing, UAT coordination, workflow validation, accessibility testing, data validation, file transfer testing, AI-enabled process validation, and post-launch monitoring. The specialist will help verify that the solution supports application intake, document upload, W-2 parsing, deduplication, automated data comparisons, applicant communications, payment tracking, repayment servicing, reporting, dashboards, and secure data exchange through State-approved methods.

The ideal candidate should be highly organized, methodical, quality-driven, and comfortable working in a fast-paced implementation environment where the system must support surge application volume during federal shutdown events. The candidate must be able to translate requirements into test scenarios, communicate defects clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders, and support timely resolution of issues that could affect program launch, applicant experience, eligibility determination, payment processing, reporting, or compliance.

Ascension’s capabilities in Agile software development, application design and development, data analytics, dashboard development, business process automation, and customer experience solutions directly align to the type of testing and validation support required for this role.

Position’s Expected Day-to-Day Activities

The QA / Testing Specialist is expected to perform the following activities:

• Develop test plans, test scripts, test cases, and acceptance criteria based on RFP requirements, user stories, workflows, business rules, system designs, and MD Labor-approved processes.
• Execute manual functional testing across the applicant portal, application review system, document upload workflows, reviewer workflows, appeals processes, correspondence functions, payment tracking, repayment features, reporting tools, and administrative dashboards.
• Support automated testing activities by helping define repeatable test scenarios for workflow validation, regression testing, data validation, application routing, notifications, and system-triggered actions.
• Validate AI-enabled and automation-supported features, including document processing, confidence scoring, application summaries, discrepancy flags, automated routing, applicant self-service assistance, and reviewer-facing recommendations.
• Test data parsing and extraction workflows for uploaded documents, including W-2 document parsing, SSN validation, employer EIN capture, address capture, and automated comparison against applicant-entered data.
• Verify deduplication logic using SSN/ITIN, mailing address, bank account information, and other applicant data fields.
• Confirm that USPS address validation, identity verification integrations, document upload formats, and automated data comparison workflows operate as expected.
• Perform user acceptance testing support by coordinating test cases, documenting test results, capturing issues, tracking retesting outcomes, and preparing UAT status summaries.
• Document defects using clear reproduction steps, screenshots, severity levels, expected results, actual results, affected requirements, and recommended resolution priorities.
• Track defects through resolution using the project’s approved issue management tool, ticketing system, backlog, or defect tracker.
• Conduct regression testing after configuration updates, workflow changes, bug fixes, security updates, or enhancements to verify that existing functionality remains stable.
• Validate file transfer requirements, including SFTP data exchanges, incremental file generation, transmission reports, retransmission capability, manual export to CSV, and file format compliance.
• Support accessibility testing to verify that forms, content, and web experiences meet WCAG 2.1 AA and State of Maryland Digital Accessibility Policy requirements.
• Review applicant communications, stored templates, automated notifications, additional documentation request workflows, repayment reminders, and late notice triggers.
• Test customer support workflows, including support ticket creation, escalation routing, dashboard visibility, customer support reporting, and applicant response mechanisms.
• Coordinate with software engineers, implementation specialists, project managers, cloud/security engineers, customer support leads, and MD Labor stakeholders to resolve testing issues.
• Prepare QA status updates, testing metrics, defect reports, readiness summaries, risk logs, and acceptance recommendations for project leadership.
• Support post-launch monitoring by reviewing issue patterns, system performance indicators, user feedback, defect trends, and operational risks.
• Ensure testing activities support privacy, security, data quality, fraud prevention, and accurate eligibility determination.