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.

The ideal candidate bridges strategic oversight with technical depth, ensuring that quality decisions are both data-driven and grounded in real system understanding.

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.

Job Type: Full-time

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