Job Title: Quality Assurance Analyst - Project Lead Location: Columbia, SC 29210 (Hybrid - 4 days onsite, 1 day remote) Duration: 12 Months (Contract)Overview: We are seeking a skilled Quality Assurance Analyst - Project Lead to support mission-critical projects for a state healthcare agency. This role offers the opportunity to work on complex, change-driven initiatives within a structured software development environment. The ideal candidate is detail-oriented, highly collaborative, and experienced in QA practices within healthcare or government projects.Key Responsibilities:Design and execute test plans, test cases, and testing strategies for software and product development teams.Perform manual and automated testing to validate application functionality, reliability, and stability.Create and maintain traceability matrices between requirements, test cases, and technical components.Participate in system regression, usability, and interface testing.Collaborate with development teams to analyze and resolve defects through triage and retesting.Document test results, quality assurance artifacts, and defect reports.Ensure compliance with QA governance policies and recommend process improvements.Lead or participate in reviews, walkthroughs, and inspections to support quality delivery.Required Skills & Experience:Minimum 5 years translating business requirements or policy documentation into comprehensive test scenarios.Minimum 5 years of hands-on experience building and executing test cases in testing environments.At least 3 years of domain experience in healthcare operations (preferably Medicaid) and business processes.3 years' experience in reporting QA status, defects, and test progress to technical and non-technical stakeholders.3 years of experience using formal test design tools and practices.Preferred Qualifications:5+ years working in large enterprise or e-business systems.3+ years of experience with manual or automated testing tools (e.g., Azure DevOps, JIRA, Confluence).3+ years of experience working in both Waterfall and Agile development environments.Education:Bachelor's degree in a technical, business, healthcare, or related discipline. Relevant work experience may substitute for formal education.Certifications:Certifications in Quality Assurance, Technical Testing, or Project Management are preferred but not required.