SME Quality Assurance Specialist with Security Clearance

GovCIO is seeking a SME Quality Assurance Specialist to support a critical government computer system for the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Software Yard - Product Delivery Service. This role is primarily responsible for writing, refining, and translating customer operational needs into clear, testable, and actionable requirements for applications developed by platform-aligned Product Teams. This position will be located in Kearneysville, WV, and will be a hybrid position. Responsibilities As a SME Quality Assurance Specialist, you will serve as a primary technical resource for ensuring delivered software products meet user needs, achieve operational adoption, and sustain mission performance. You will ensure that all requirements provide a solid foundation for user-centric design, robust testing, and rapid deployment. Key responsibilities include: * Facilitate user engagement sessions and workshops to capture operational needs, clarify ambiguities, and translate them into actionable software requirements. * Write, refine, and maintain comprehensive customer requirements documents, user stories, and acceptance criteria. * Ensure all requirements are testable, traceable, and aligned with mission objectives to support robust automated and manual quality assurance testing. * Assist Product Owners and end users in articulating their functional needs and prioritizing requirements based on operational impact and urgency. * Collaborate closely with development teams and platform-aligned Product Teams to ensure requirements are technically feasible and accurately incorporated into product backlogs. * Maintain rigorous requirements documentation and matrices that support test planning, user acceptance testing (UAT), and user training frameworks. * Support modern software delivery models within the Software Yard to enable reliable, secure, and rapid deployment of mission-critical software. * Ensure all documented requirements and product baselines comply with federal software standards and government compliance regulations. Qualifications High School with 9+ years (or commensurate experience) Required Skills & Experience * Proven experience facilitating user discovery sessions and translating complex operational workflows into structured functional requirements. * Comprehensive operational understanding of software testing lifecycles, traceability matrices, and defining clear, testable criteria for developers. * Strong experience collaborating with Product Owners, end users, and engineering teams to refine, manage, and prioritize product backlogs. * Proficiency using modern Agile tools (such as Jira, Azure DevOps, or ServiceNow) to document, track, and manage requirements throughout the software development lifecycle. * Strong foundational understanding of diverse IT domains, user-centric design principles, software quality gating, and release planning. Clearance Required: Active Secret Clearance Preferred Skills & Experience * Experience supporting U.S. Coast Guard, Software Yard, or Department of Homeland Security (DHS) programs. * Familiarity with USCG mission software systems, maritime operational contexts, or PEO C5I environments. * Relevant professional certifications preferred (e.g., Certified Software Quality Analyst (CSQA), ISTQB Certified Tester, or Agile/Scrum certifications like PMI-PBA or PSPO). * Experience transitioning programs from legacy workflows to modern DevOps/DevSecOps software delivery models. * Understanding of automated testing frameworks and how requirements feed into behavioral-driven or test-driven development processes. Posted Salary Range USD $112,000.00 - USD $142,000.00 /Yr.