Quality Assurance Lead

STATEMENT OF WORK (SOW)The Vermont Cannabis Control Board (CCB) is responsible for administering the adult-use and medical cannabis programs within the State of Vermont. The CCB utilizes an application developed in the State of Vermont's Salesforce platform to accomplish business processes related to the licensing and oversight of the cannabis industry in Vermont. The CCB is currently utilizing IT support for the system from a combination of Agency of Digital Services and vendor provided resources. The CCB is seeking consulting services for avendor to provide the role of an IT Quality Assurance Analyst (QA). The purpose of the IT Quality Assurance Analyst will be to support the business and development teams by facilitating the completion of the necessary testing plans and testing scenarios for the application as well as participating in quality assurance activities for future activities.The current system is used by 22 internal users and at minimum, 1200 external users to perform the following functions:" Licensing of cultivators, manufacturers and retailers of Vermont's adult use and medical cannabis products" Licensing of employees that work in the adult use and medical cannabis industry in Vermont" Licensing review, approval and issuance" Licensing renewals and amendments" Product inventory tracking and management from cultivation to Point of Sale" Payment of fees related to licensing and renewalsThe CCB's Salesforce application was implemented in 2022. The original project plan proposed implementing the system in two phases:" Phase I - Licensing & Inventory tracking activities" Phase II Inspections, Enforcement & Compliance activitiesThe CCB engaged with vendors to implement Phase I of the application system, which included providing licensing and inventory tracking functionality. Phase I was implemented in 2023 and shifted to vendor supported maintenance with the intent to have the backlogitems completed as part of that contract. Support was transferred to the Agency of Digital Services (ADS) in 2025. The current development support team is working on an initiative to stabilize the system, identify and correct defects (stabilization effort), as well as complete any high priority backlog items. The CCB is seeking a vendor to provide consultant services in the role of an IT Quality Assurance Analyst to increase the capacity of the Business & development teams.The IT Quality Assurance Analyst will work with State and Vendor resources to ensure that critical testing activities are performed to ensure the reliability, usability, and performance of the CCB Salesforce Application. Demonstrated experience with the planning, design and execution of testing methodologies and strategies as part of an Agile/Scrum Team is required. Knowledge of general business and functional requirements development and establishing criteria for testing completeness and coverage is essential. Knowledge of business practices involved in licensing, inventory tracking and handling, regulation, enforcement, and particularly the Cannabis Control Industry is highly preferred. The CCB has also released a separate SOW RFP to engage with a Product Owner.The vision is to have the IT Quality Assurance Analyst work closely with the ADS, vendor teams, and the selected Product Owner. Another responsibility of the IT Quality Assurance Analyst will be to provide services when, and if, the CCB moves forward with Phase II. While requirements in the form of user stories have been created, they need refinement and to be tailored to advance and improve the original application. The IT Quality Assurance Analyst will assist the Product Owner in addressing new and/or undocumented requirements resulting from the evolution of the business processes and requirements for the CCB as well as any new State and Federal Legislative changes. The selected IT Quality Assurance Analyst, in conjunction with the State, will utilize the State's Azure DevOps environment as the single source of truth for the tracking of projectplanning in the form of test scenarios and plans as well as the planning, scheduling, development and execution of user acceptance testing to include bug and issue tracking. Experience with the Cannabis Regulatory Industry, Azure Dev Ops, Salesforce and AgileProject Management methods is preferred.EXISTING TECHNOLOGY ENVIRONMENTThe CCB's existing application is developed with custom code in the State of Vermont's Salesforce platform. The project is managed in Azure Dev Ops by the ADS Constituent Engagement Team and is integrated with Copado for automating and managing releases.There are three API's that exchange inventory, cultivation and sales data with external software providers. Testim is used for some automated testing.IT Quality Assurance Analyst Major Job Duties/Performance Expectations:Plan and Assure Completion of QA functional testing of solutions. As the IT Quality Assurance analyst for the CCB's Salesforce Application the QA is responsible for product monitoring and tracking, creation of test processes and implementation of standard procedures to ensure the developed solutions meet the desired specifications. This includes assuring testing is completed prior to release of any product or feature. At times, quality assurance activities may be delegated to other members of the team. Expectedactivities include:Review functional and design specifications of the system to acquire the knowledge necessary to ensure software solutions meet established standards before release.Identify requirements that need additional clarification prior to testing.Determine the appropriate level of analysis and whether formal or informal plans are required.Develop test plans, scenarios, scripts and procedures based upon the requirements and documentation for the solutions being tested to ensure requirements are met.Collaboration with the business and development teams to establish the scope and timeline for testing plans.Management of testers and assignment of testing activities according to established plans.Facilitation and participation in testing activities for both new implementation and support to ensure that testing plans and procedures are followed and documented.Communication of defects with adequate detailDocumentation of test results and reporting on quality metrics.Communicate effectively with fellow coworkers and project stakeholders:Maintain professionalism and respect while interacting with coworkers and stakeholders.Ensure that all communication, both written and verbal, is presented to coworkers and stakeholders is clear, logical and has been reviewed to assure it is error free and grammatically correct.Share knowledge of incurred problems and resolution with team members.Communicate any problems and/or issues with team in a timely manner to ensure prompt attention and resolution.Communicate recommendations and ideas for improving the testing processes, procedures, and policies of the Team.Ensure that delays in scheduled QA tasks are communicated to the team and leadership in a timely manner.Inform Project Manager/Scrum Master of any missing QA activities that are needed to ensure that all aspects of the project are included.Facilitate one-on-one and group meetings with a clear agenda and follow-up documentation of decisions and action steps. Whenever possible ensures that meeting participants are presented with background materials with enough time to review andactively participate in conversations.Promote excellent teamwork in all aspects daily work.Required proficiencyDevelopment of detailed test plans and strategies based on project requirements and specifications.Creation of comprehensive test cases and scenarios to cover application functionality, performance, and security.Manual and automated testing methods to identify defects and ensure the software functions as intended.The ability to identify, document, and report bugs and issues, providing detailed information to developers for resolution.Regression testing to ensure that new code changes do not adversely affect existing functionality.The ability to work closely with developers, product owners, testers and other stakeholders to understand requirements and provide feedback on potential improvements.The ability to analyze test results and quality metrics to identify trends and areas for improvement.Facilitating User Acceptance Testing with end-users to validate that the software meets their needs.Implementing improvements to testing processes and tools.Maintaining detailed documentation of test procedures, results, and quality assurance activities.PROJECT DELIVERABLESIDDeliverablesDeliverableExpected Completion:IDevelopment & Maintenance of an IT Quality Assurance Plan that aligns with the Project Scope & Objectives.Documented Quality Assurance PlanInitial plan 5/31/2026IIWork with stakeholders to determine testing needs and priorities for 12 months based on existing application and future needs.Documented test cases, defect reports and test resultsOngoing 12 monthsIIIIdentify and document processes and procedures for testingDocumented Test Procedures that cover functional, performance and data quality for the CCB applicationOngoing 12 monthsIVImplement, maintain and report on quality metrics for each release.Documented status reports based on sprints, releases and project epics and featuresOngoing 12 monthsAll 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.