QA Manager

**The Role**
- We are looking for a QA Manager who owns the end-to-end release quality and system stability, driving the cycle from Plan → Develop → Test → Verify → Release → Next Cycle.
- Possesses a strong user-centric mindset, able to evaluate product quality and issues from the end-user’s perspective.
- Beyond process management, this role requires hands-on analytical and problem-solving capability, the ability to dive into data, logs, and systems to identify root causes and guide teams toward effective solutions.

**Key Responsibilities**

**1. Release and Quality Ownership**
- Own the full lifecycle: Plan → Develop → Test → Verify → Release → Next Cycle.
- Define and maintain clear release readiness criteria and quality gates.
- Coordinate inputs from engineering and QA leads, ensuring all release items (features, bug fixes, documentation) are validated and aligned.
- Drive regular release reviews, identify risks early, and ensure transparent communication to stakeholders.
- Make data-informed Go/No-Go recommendations for release.

**2. Hands-on Analysis and Problem Solving**
- Actively investigate complex system or integration issues during development, testing, or release.
- Perform root cause analysis (RCA) jointly with R&D teams to ensure deep understanding of defects and system behaviors.
- Closely collaborate with developers to reproduce, isolate, and validate issues — focusing on learning and prevention, not just correction.
- Correlate logs, metrics, and test data to identify underlying causes and improvement opportunities.
- Translate analytical insights into actionable engineering and process improvements.

**3. QA Strategy and Process Leadership**
- Define and evolve testing strategies and automation frameworks.
- Ensure robust coverage in functionality, performance, and security.
- Establish quantitative quality metrics (e.g., defect density, escape rate, release readiness index).

**4. Cross-functional Coordination**
- Work hand-in-hand with R&D, Product, and Operations teams to align on release priorities, issue triage, and risk mitigation.
- Build strong communication bridges between QA and Engineering, ensuring rapid information flow, transparent problem reporting, and efficient resolution.
- Facilitate technical discussions and ensure shared understanding of complex issues.

**5. Team Leadership**
- Lead and mentor QA engineers to build technical depth and analytical thinking.
- Create a high-trust, feedback-friendly environment that encourages collaboration over control.
- Drive team growth through training, tool adoption, and knowledge sharing.

**Required Qualifications**
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related field.
- 7+ years of QA or system validation experience, with 2+ years in a leadership or management role.
- Strong understanding of software architecture, system integration, and testing methodologies.
- Proven experience managing release cycles for complex or distributed systems.
- Experience leveraging AI to develop automation tools.
- Strong communication skills, able to articulate risks and trade-offs clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders.

**Preferred Qualifications**
- Experience with embedded systems, networking, or RF-based products.
- Experience designing quality metrics and dashboards for release readiness tracking.
- Hands-on experience with automated testing or scripting is a plus.

**Personality & Work Style**
- **Calm, structured, and objective** — thrives in complex, high-stakes environments.
- **Principled but pragmatic** — knows when to insist, when to adapt.
- **Transparent communicator** — surfaces risks early, never hides bad news.
- **Collaborative leader** — drives progress through reasoning, not authority.
- **Growth-oriented** — actively seeks feedback and invests in team improvement.

Pay: $80,000.00-$120,000.00 per year

**Benefits**:

- Dental care
- Extended health care
- Life insurance
- Paid time off
- Vision care

Ability to commute/relocate:

- Burnaby, BC V5G 1J9: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (required)

Application question(s):

- Are you a Canadian Citizen, Permanent Resident? If you are on a work permit, please write how many years you have until the expiry of your work permit?

Work Location: In person