Job Description & Details
This role puts you right in the middle of quality assurance for critical public-facing applications used across Michigan's Quality of Life agencies. You'll be bridging the gap between DTMB teams, project stakeholders, and end users to ensure state systems actually work smoothly without breaking under pressure. If you like seeing the direct impact of your testing work on citizen services, this one is worth a serious look.
What You'll Actually Be Doing
Your day-to-day will revolve around building out robust test plans, executing test cases, and hunting down regressions before public releases happen. You'll be embedded in Agile sprints, working closely with developers and stakeholders to refine acceptance criteria, validate user stories, and triage defects. A lot of your energy will also go toward communicating testing impacts and quality strategies directly to senior management and state agency leaders.
The Core Tech Stack
You need a solid foundation in manual and automated test planning, with at least five years under your belt designing test cases and tracking defects. Agile familiarity is non-negotiable since you'll be living in sprint ceremonies and writing acceptance criteria on the fly. Experience with public-facing applications, ADA/WCAG accessibility testing, and security/vulnerability scan triage will set you apart from other applicants because the state heavily prioritizes compliance and inclusivity.
Interview Expectations
Expect the hiring team to push you on how you handle shifting priorities and evolving agency requirements when a hard release date is breathing down your neck. They are secretly looking to see if you can push back constructively and maintain quality standards without alienating stakeholders. You'll also likely get grilled on a specific time you managed a critical defect escalation with senior leadership, so have a real-world war story ready to share.
Application Advice
Make sure your resume explicitly highlights your experience with Agile user story validation, test case design, and direct communication with management. Do not just list tools; emphasize your background in accessibility testing like ADA/WCAG and security vulnerability assessments if you have them, as these are massive selling points for this specific client.