Senior UAT & Business Analyst

Position Summary The Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL) is seeking a Senior UAT & Business Analyst to support the Childcare and Parent Services (CAPS) division. Reporting to the CAPS Senior Manager of Technical Solutions, this role serves as a senior-level resource responsible for User Acceptance Testing (UAT), Quality Assurance (QA), Business Analysis, Requirements Management, and Release Readiness activities across enterprise applications and integrated systems. The ideal candidate will possess strong expertise in manual and automated testing, test strategy development, defect management, requirements analysis, business process improvement, and stakeholder collaboration. This position requires a hands-on professional capable of functioning as both a Senior Business Analyst and UAT Lead while supporting complex enterprise initiatives. Key Responsibilities User Acceptance Testing (UAT) & Quality Assurance Develop and maintain comprehensive UAT strategies, testing approaches, test plans, and test scenarios. Create and execute manual and automated test scripts for:Functional TestingIntegration TestingRegression TestingEnd-to-End TestingData Validation TestingUser Acceptance TestingLead and coordinate UAT execution activities across projects and operational initiatives. Review requirements, system designs, interfaces, and workflows to ensure comprehensive test coverage. Manage the complete defect lifecycle including:IdentificationLoggingTriagePrioritizationEscalationRetestingResolution ValidationTrack and report testing metrics, defect trends, test coverage, execution progress, and quality risks. Support post-production validation and production issue analysis. Business Analysis & Requirements Management Participate in Joint Application Requirements (JAR) and Joint Application Design (JAD) sessions. Gather, analyze, validate, and document business and functional requirements. Collaborate with SMEs, Business System Owners (BSOs), vendors, project managers, and technical teams. Develop user stories, use cases, acceptance criteria, and business process documentation. Facilitate requirements walkthroughs, knowledge-sharing sessions, and stakeholder reviews. Translate business requirements into testable scenarios and validation criteria. Test Automation & Continuous Improvement Lead test automation initiatives and identify opportunities to reduce manual testing efforts. Develop automation strategies and roadmap recommendations. Implement and maintain automated regression testing solutions. Evaluate and recommend testing frameworks, methodologies, and automation tools. Improve regression coverage and testing effectiveness across CAPS systems. Stakeholder Collaboration & Program Support Partner with vendors performing Unit Testing and System Integration Testing (SIT). Coordinate testing schedules, dependencies, risks, and release readiness activities. Support business users throughout testing, implementation, and adoption phases. Provide status reporting and executive updates on testing activities and quality outcomes. Support continuous process improvement and enterprise quality assurance initiatives. Required Qualifications Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Business, Engineering, Mathematics, or related discipline; equivalent experience accepted. Minimum 5 years of experience in:Quality Assurance (QA)User Acceptance Testing (UAT)Business AnalysisEnterprise Application SupportMinimum 3 years of experience in:Test AutomationAutomation Strategy DevelopmentAutomated Testing FrameworksStrong experience developing:Test StrategiesTest PlansTest CasesTest ScriptsUAT DocumentationExperience analyzing:Business RequirementsFunctional RequirementsUse CasesUser StoriesExperience with:Data ValidationData ReconciliationEnterprise Application TestingReporting ValidationHands-on experience with:JiraAzure DevOpsSmartsheetSimilar QA/Test Management PlatformsExperience with automation tools such as:SeleniumPlaywrightCypressTestCompletePower AutomateUFTExperience with:Power BIMicrosoft FabricStrong communication, facilitation, stakeholder management, and problem-solving skills. Preferred Qualifications Experience working with automated business processes and enterprise data systems. Experience supporting Georgia Gateway Integrated Eligibility System. Experience with Agile and Scrum methodologies. Experience with:Data WarehousingETL ProcessesData PipelinesExperience with system configuration and implementation support. Advanced Microsoft Office skills, particularly Excel. Experience working in government, human services, eligibility, or benefits environments. Certifications & Clearance Preferred Certifications Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP)PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA)ISTQB Certified TesterCertified ScrumMaster (CSM)Microsoft Power Platform CertificationsAzure Fundamentals (AZ-900) Clearance Must satisfy State of Georgia background and security requirements. About Varmoda Varmoda is a federal IT solutions provider founded in 2020 and headquartered in McLean, Virginia, delivering citizen-centric public services across Financial Assistance, Public Benefits, and Security & Defense domains. Our five-layer architecture — Salesforce (Engagement), Databricks (Data), ServiceNow (Orchestration), Pega (Decisioning), and Oracle HR (Capacity) — puts data at the common thread of every solution we build for federal agencies and the citizens they serve. Varmoda holds CMMI Maturity Level 3, ISO 9001, ISO 20000, and ISO 27001 certifications, and is recognized as a V3 veteran-friendly employer. Why Varmoda Growth opportunity within a fast-scaling federal IT firmDirect impact on citizen-facing federal programsCompetitive benefits including 401k, health insurance, Paid Time Off, Life Insurance and others — customize per role/locationVeteran-friendly (V3) workplace culture Equal Employment Opportunity Varmoda is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status. Varmoda and its affiliated entities never request payment, banking details, or financial information from candidates during hiring. All legitimate communication comes from a varmoda.com address or JobDiva — report suspicious contact to info@varmoda.com. Varmoda and its affiliates are Equal Opportunity Employers; all qualified applicants are considered without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, age, or any other legally protected characteristic.