Quality Engineering Lead; to drive automation-led quality engineering API-first and AI-assisted Job Toronto area,Ontario Canada,Quality

Position: Quality Engineering Lead (10+ years) to drive automation-led quality engineering across API-first and AI-assisted

Our financial services client is seeking a Quality Engineering Lead (10+ years) to drive automation-led quality engineering across API-first and AI-assisted validation initiatives

Join a purpose-driven organization championing inclusion and sustainability while delivering impactful technology to its members across Canada. This senior engineering role leads the design and implementation of advanced automation frameworks and AI-assisted quality validation. The position offers technical ownership across API, system, and performance validation within a modern engineering environment. Operating in a hybrid model, the role provides exposure to strategic initiatives tied to net-zero and digital banking transformation.

Permanent - ON or BC based, Remote,

Working Hours:

PST

Must Haves

10+ years of experience in software engineering, quality engineering, or related field

Experience operating as a senior technical contributor or SDET

Strong programming skills (Python, JavaScript, C#, Java)

Proven experience designing and building and evolving automation frameworks (not just using them)

Deep experience in API-first testing and reducing reliance on UI-based automation

Experience with AI-powered testing or test generation: LLMs, agentic and spec-driven automation

Experience integrating test automation into CI/CD pipelines

Strong experience in automated NFR validation

Experience with scalable API automation frameworks (REST, event-driven systems)

Hands-on experience with tools like Playwright, Cypress, Postman, or equivalent

Experience with distributed systems and microservices architectures

Familiarity with AWS or Azure, containers (Docker/Kubernetes)

Data-driven approach to measuring and improving quality

Ability to evaluate quality effectiveness by analyzing automation outcomes and leveraging data to identify patterns and signals

How You'll Make an Impact:

Quality Strategy & Planning

Translating quality engineering strategy and technical direction into executable plans and approaches aligned to business and delivery needs

Collaborating directly with product and engineering partner teams to embed quality objectives within those teams’ delivery contexts

Designing and implementing scalable, data-driven automated validation approaches that reduce reliance on manual and UI-heavy testing

Contributing to metrics and quality signals (e.g. automation coverage, test reliability metrics, CI/CD feedback loops) through instrumentation and KPIs

Implementing and enforcing quality gates (API coverage, performance thresholds, reliability criteria) within Dev-owned CI/CD pipelines

Technical Leadership

Providing technical leadership as a senior individual contributor to the Quality Engineering team, operating as a “first among equals” within SDET community

Influencing, guiding and coaching SDETs through hands-on collaboration in various areas including coding, automation design / engineering, data analysis, etc.

Leading by example through design, coding and reviews, setting a high standard for the quality engineering craft

Bringing teams together and drive alignment in ambiguous situations through technical credibility and sound business judgement, not formal authority

Identifying risks and guide teams through technical problem-solving, risk-based testing and execution leadership

Automation & Tools

Designing, building and evolving scalable automation frameworks across API, service, and UI layers—with API-first as core principle

Integrating validation into CI/CD pipelines (e.g. Jenkins, Git Hub Actions, Git Lab CI) for continuous quality feedback

Implementing modern API testing approaches such as contract testing, service virtualization, and data-driven validation

Driving the transition from Selenium-heavy UI automation to a layered testing…