Quality Assurance Analyst

The Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) is responsible for the safe, reliable, and economic planning and operation of the Alberta Interconnected Electric System. We provide open and non-discriminatory access to Alberta’s interconnected power grid and also facilitate Alberta’s competitive wholesale electricity market. The AESO strives to foster an inclusive, diverse and equitable workplace where people feel respected and welcomed for who they are, together we deliver high performance and innovative results.

Job Description

The Quality Assurance Analyst will play a crucial role in the IT QA team, delivering quality assurance services for IT projects. In this role, you’ll collaborate with various teams to ensure the highest standards of quality throughout the software development lifecycle. You’ll help identify issues early in the process and ensure that products meet both business and technical requirements. You’ll also act as a key intermediary between the project team and vendors, facilitating clear communication and a streamlined testing process. This role will involve performing tests on systems like the Market Management System and Market Clearing Engine, ensuring accurate processing of bids, offers, and determining market clearing prices to maintain market balance. Your power system knowledge and experience—especially in Pwrflow, Contingency Analysis, State Estimation, Electricity Markets operations (SCUC/SCED), optimization (LP/MIP), and Market Participant understanding—will be valuable in ensuring comprehensive testing and validation.

Key Responsibilities:

• Collaborate on developing QA artifacts: Assist in the creation of detailed test plans, test cases, and execution reports based on the project scope and requirements to support the testing process.
• Contribute to QA strategies: Help design and implement QA strategies for each phase of the project lifecycle—from requirements through design, development, deployment, and business acceptance.
• Align testing with business needs: Work with the team to develop test plans that align with business goals, ensuring that testing activities are in harmony with development, deployment, and validation cycles.
• Support complex testing scenarios: Take part in executing complex testing scenarios, identify potential defects, and provide input on improvements that can streamline testing processes.
• Bridge communication across teams: Act as a liaison between QA, development, and business stakeholders to ensure clear communication and provide reports with insights and actionable recommendations.
• Proactively assess project risks: Collaborate with teams to identify project risks, ensure appropriate test coverage, and help find ways to proactively address potential issues.
• Develop test cases and conduct testing: Work with the QA team to create detailed test cases and scripts for manual and automated testing, ensuring the software meets business requirements.
• Assist in regression testing: Contribute to developing and maintaining a comprehensive regression test suite, ensuring that new code does not affect existing functionality.
• Improve testing techniques: Stay updated on new testing methodologies and continuously work with the team to implement new techniques that improve and accelerate QA processes.
• Utilize test management tools: Help use test management tools to track testing activities, manage defects, and create test reports, ensuring comprehensive coverage.
• Validate data integrity: Assist in creating and executing SQL queries for back-end testing to ensure data flows correctly and that integrity is maintained throughout the system.
• Collaborate with the QA team: Work with the team to maintain and improve QA standards, share knowledge, and promote best practices across projects.
• Ensure data protection during testing: Help manage sensitive data during vendor software testing, ensuring that all software integrations are seamless and that backup systems are reliable.

Job Requirements:

• A degree, diploma, or certificate in Computer Science (or a related technical field).
• ISTQB Foundation Level or Advanced Level certification.
• 5 to 8 years of experience in software delivery and testing lifecycle.
• At least 5 years of experience in Quality Assurance, specializing in manual testing for functional, integration, system, performance, and user acceptance testing.
• Experience with automated testing tools for functional regression and API testing (2+ years).
• Familiarity with Iterative and Agile methodologies (2+ years), particularly using Sprint and SCRUM frameworks.
• Proficiency in using test management tools for creating test cases, managing defects, executing tests, and reporting results.
• Hands-on experience with API testing tools such as SoapUI and Postman.
• Experience with Oracle and SQL Server databases, including the ability to write and execute SQL queries.
• Knowledge of settlement processes, including invoicing, data validation, reporting, and financial settlements.
• The following experience would be beneficial for the ideal applicant:
• Experience in testing power system applications to ensure they effectively balance electricity supply with demand, maintaining reliability and efficiency.
• Experience in testing various components of microservice architecture within power system applications.
• Experience in Proficient in testing power flow, contingency analysis, state estimation, and electricity market operations (SCUC/SCED) to ensure accurate and reliable system performance.
• Proficiency in testing Load Forecasting and Supply vs. Demand Analysis models and systems that balance electricity supply with demand, ensuring reliability and efficiency.
• Experience in quality control of vendor-provided solutions (SaaS, COTS) to ensure compliance with industry standards and client requirements.

Application deadline: April 27, 2025

If you are contacted for a pre-screening and/or interview, please advise of any accommodation measures required to enable you to fully participate. Information received relating to accommodation measures will be addressed confidentially.