Business Analyst / QA Analyst

DSFederal is seeking a Business Analyst / QA Analyst to support a federal agency. The analyst will elicit and document requirements for each backlog work item, maintain the D&E backlogs, and plan and execute testing – functional, regression, data validation, user acceptance, and Section 508 accessibility – across grants management, reporting, and data applications. 

• Elicit, analyze, and document business and functional requirements for each work item in the Application Processing, Reporting, and Data backlogs

• Maintain the D&E backlogs in JIRA: write user stories and acceptance criteria, groom and prioritize items with stakeholders and the COR, and track backlog aging.

• Model as-is and to-be business processes; produce process documentation, workflows, and requirements traceability matrices.

• Analyze the impact of Presidential Executive Orders, USDA OSEC mandates, Government priorities, and external system changes (ASAP, FMMI, SAM, Grants.gov) on applications and data.

• Develop test plans, test cases, and scripts; execute functional, integration, regression, and data validation testing; log, track, and verify defects.

• Coordinate and support user acceptance testing with business users and obtain sign-off before deployment through change management.

• Perform Section 508 / WCAG Level A/AA accessibility testing.

• Validate reports and data outputs (GMRA, Data Gateway, LMD, Data Warehouse) for accuracy and data integrity.

• Prepare user guides, release notes, and knowledge transfer materials to support handoff of completed work and Transition-Out.

• Support the Project Manager with Integrated Project Team meeting agendas and minutes, Weekly and Monthly Status Report inputs, and backlog metrics.

• Apply the Quality Control Plan to deliverables and support readiness for Government QASP surveillance.

Experience Required

• Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) in Information Technology or Computer Science.

• Three or more years of experience in analytics and systems development, including business analysis and software QA/testing in an Agile SDLC.

• Proven analytical ability to identify and prioritize an organization’s functional and technical needs and requirements.

• Experience generating process documentation and reports

• At least 3 years writing and executing test plans and test cases, including regression testing and UAT coordination.

• At least 2 years performing Section 508 / WCAG accessibility testing and preparing VPATs/ACRs; DHS Trusted Tester certification preferred.

• Experience with federal grants management or financial systems preferred.

• Excellent communication skills, with an ability to translate data into actionable insights

• Must be a U.S. Citizen, Lawful Permanent Resident, or valid work-visa holder, and able to obtain and maintain a Public Trust (Moderate Risk or higher) background investigation (minimum NACI), fingerprinting, and an HSPD-12 PIV credential. Must complete annual Information Security Awareness (ISA) and Rules of Behavior (ROB) training.

• Preferred certifications: CBAP/CCBA or PMI-PBA, ISTQB, Certified ScrumMaster or Product Owner.

Technical Skills Required

• Requirements & Agile: JIRA (backlogs, user stories, dashboards, JQL), Confluence, SharePoint, Remedy.

• Modeling: Microsoft Visio or Lucidchart, BPMN, UML use cases, wireframing tools.

• Testing: Test management (Zephyr, Xray, or similar), defect lifecycle management, regression suites; API testing with Postman/SoapUI for REST and WSDL services; Selenium or Playwright familiarity a plus.

• Data Validation: SQL querying of Oracle 19c, MySQL, and SQL Server; advanced Excel (pivots, Power Query).

• Accessibility: ANDI, axe DevTools, WAVE, JAWS/NVDA, Colour Contrast Analyser; VPAT 2.x / ACR authoring; most current WCAG Level A/AA criteria.

• Application Familiarity: Working understanding of Oracle Forms/Reports, Oracle APEX, Java web applications, and Ruby on Rails applications to test and document them effectively.

• Office Tools: Microsoft Office and MS Project.