Main Roles and Responsibilities Within the QA Team

Performing the software testing activities requires different skills and in larger organizations, members of a software quality assurance (QA) teams will be specialists in certain domains. This article discusses the different roles of members of a software QA team.

Author: Nataliia Syvynska, TestMatick, https://testmatick.com/

Any software verification is a set of methods that, one way or another, are used to ensure that software meets the original technical requirements and wishes of the client. Since such a quality assurance process is characterized by performing complex manipulations, it is performed by a group of professionals with specifically assigned responsibilities for each team member individually.

In this article, we present the specific roles that exist in the software testing team and the personal responsibilities that each member of the software quality assurance department has. Let’s start with an analysis of the primary responsibilities of the QA department.

Basic Responsibilities of the QA Testing Department 

Duty Analysis

At the beginning of any software testing phase, or before planning, the testing team should gather all the client’s wishes. This stage includes important work on checking the service level agreements (SLA). This agreement supervises the service scope between the product company that will operate the product and its future group of users.

Planning the Testing Work

The times when QA engineers in software testing companies waited for programmers to finish their work on the product creation are long gone! Today, the processes of writing and using test cases begin simultaneously with the processes of software development, and sometimes even earlier. This involves discussions and brainstorming by all members of the project team.

Developing and Producing Examples of Test Documentation

Accurate reporting is as important as writing test cases. Test documentation enables you to keep track of everything that was done during software testing. In addition, developing test documentation allows you to quickly and efficiently bring new members of a project team into the development process.

Execution of Test Cases 

Of course, the basic responsibility of the testing team is the actual execution of test cases in practice.

This process includes searching and reporting bugs, setting up a local testing environment, arguing for recommendations on how to improve the performance of software, and analyzing fixes. In order for the testing practice to remain the most relevant, the project team from time to time has to check the trends in the QA field, to implement modern tools in their daily activities.

Duties of Each Member of the QA Team

• QA Lead. This person watches for the entire team and personally supervises the software testing processes, namely: developing testing strategy, planning the use of technical resources, and performing quality control. Sometimes they can act as a negotiator with the client, in order to bring all his wishes to the project team.
• Test Architect. This specialist conducts project analysis and develops a global product validation system. He/she must have experience performing automated testing and must understand software architecture and system design.
• QA Analyst. This position is kind of a combination of software testing skills with the skills to build long-term web product validation strategies. The QA Analyst position includes work with business logic and matches the target audience.
• Test Automation Engineer.  They are responsible for creating test scripts, which can be used to test the operation of the system and implement an automation environment. Automated testing services allow you to optimize the quality processes and effort spent on testing.
• Manual Test Engineer gets to know the product manually. This person mostly works with the client part of the software. Web software is tested from the point of view of the end user group, in order to find the maximum number of bugs that should not get into the release version and to users.
• UI/UX Test Engineer. Some companies make a UI/UX department in order to find the best user experience. The external interface of the application plays an important role, and therefore must be designed and tested with great care.

Conclusion

No doubt, the quality of any software is a challenge. And it becomes even more difficult if the QA’s roles and responsibilities are not properly carried out. You must understand the role that QA people plays throughout the entire development lifecycle, whether you manage software development or run a software firm.