About the Role:

This is a full time permanent position working under a hybrid model in Vancouver, BC (2-3 days in office).

Only accepting applications from candidates with work authorization in Canada at this time.

Our client is a US-based startup, well funded and established. Having secured their latest round of funding recently, they are establishing a Vancouver office, focused on engineering.

We're seeking an experienced QA Leader to develop and expand their quality engineering department. In this role, you'll combine strategic oversight with direct implementation to establish a development environment that delivers both exceptional quality and rapid deployment capabilities.

The ideal candidate is a hands-on leader who excels in startup environments and has a passion for creating quality systems, building effective teams, and implementing efficient processes from scratch. This position is perfect for someone who can both guide the overall quality strategy and actively participate in its execution.

What you'll do:

• Recruit, lead and manage a team of QA contractors and Software Development Engineers in Test, scaling capabilities as the organization grows
• Lead by example as a hands-on manager, actively contributing to automation efforts while establishing technical quality standards
• Take ownership of QA platforms (like TestRail or Zephyr) and create/define effective quality assurance processes across departments
• Measure and analyze quality indicators (such as defect frequency, test scope, execution efficiency, and missed defects) to continuously enhance product quality
• Develop and sustain automation frameworks, guiding engineers to expand automated testing at all levels (unit, integration, and functional)
• Create and maintain automated end-to-end tests for business-critical processes
• Supervise both manual and automated regression testing, ensuring thorough pre-release validation and stability
• Establish and enforce quality checkpoints within CI/CD systems to optimize the balance between coverage and reliability
• Manage the release approval workflow, determining launch readiness based on test outcomes, risk assessment, and business objectives
• Shape the comprehensive testing strategy through collaboration with engineering, product teams, and other departments to integrate quality practices throughout the development lifecycle

• What you Bring:7+ Years in software QA - with at least 3 years in a lead/manager role
• Hands-on + deep experience with test automation frameworks
• Strong programming skills: Javascript/Typescript/Python...etc
• Demonstrable experience building and scaling test frameworks - ideally in startup or similar-type environments
• Strong knowledge around test-types (unit, E2E, integration)
• Experience managing and scaling test case management tools like Zephyr, or TestRail eg
• Strong CI/CD knowledge and experience in implementing quality gates
• Strong track record in defining and implementing QA Metrics
• SaaS/B2B environment experience
• Experience working with offshore teams

Compensation:

$160-180k CAD + Equity