QA Team Lead

The QA Team Lead is a hands-on technical leadership role guiding GS1 Canada’s quality engineering practice across our engineering projects and data exchange services. Reporting to the QA Manager, you will drive the test automation strategy, mentor QA Engineers, and champion quality at every iteration within a hybrid Agile environment. This role bridges manual exploratory testing and robust automated coverage, with a strong emphasis on Playwright (TypeScript) and Selenium (Java). You will work closely with Developers, DevOps, Architects, Product Owners, and Business Analysts to ensure every release meets our quality gates before progressing through the Secure SDLC. Key Responsibilities Test Automation Leadership • Design, build, and maintain the automated test suite using Playwright (TypeScript/JavaScript) for UI/API and Selenium (Java) for legacy and integration coverage. • Define and enforce automation standards, coding conventions, and best practices across the QA team. • Integrate automated suites into Azure DevOps CI/CD pipelines with quality gates on every pull request and deployment stage. • Use the approved QA toolchain — LambdaTest for cross-browser/device execution, KaneAI for AI-assisted test authoring, and the GS1 AI Workbench (Claude) — to accelerate test design, coverage analysis, and defect triage. Team Leadership & Mentorship • Lead, coach, and mentor QA Engineers across automation and exploratory testing. • Run regular test-script code reviews with constructive feedback to uphold automation quality. • Partner with the QA Manager on team performance, workload planning, and development; act as a quality escalation point in sprint ceremonies and defect triage. Quality Strategy & Process • Own the end-to-end test strategy for assigned domains — functional, regression, integration, performance, and accessibility. • Define and track QA KPIs (defect escape rate, automation coverage, cycle time, MTTD). • Maintain and improve Quality Gate criteria within the Secure SDLC, including HITL review checkpoints for AI-assisted test generation; drive shift-left testing via BDD/TDD. Collaboration, Tooling & Reporting • Work with Architects to understand system boundaries, event-driven flows, and API contracts in the Platform 3.0 DDD architecture; ensure acceptance criteria are testable and traceable. • Manage the QA toolchain in Azure DevOps (test plans, suites, defect tracking). • Produce clear quality reports and dashboards for the QA Manager and VP; support GAW telemetry and Squared Up dashboards with QA metrics. Skills, Knowledge & Expertise • 5+ years in software quality assurance, including 2+ years in a lead or senior QA role. • Hands-on, production experience with Playwright (TypeScript or JavaScript) for end-to-end UI/API automation • Hands-on experience with Selenium WebDriver (Java), including Page Object Model design pattern • Proficiency with Java (test automation) and TypeScript/JavaScript. • Experience integrating automated tests into CI/CD pipelines (Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, or similar). • Solid REST API testing skills (contract validation, status codes, schema assertions) using REST Assured, Postman, or Playwright. • Demonstrated ability to lead and mentor QA engineers, including test-script code review. • Experience in Agile/Scrum teams and ceremonies. • Post-secondary education in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent experience). Nice to Have • Comfort with AI-assisted QA tooling (KaneAI, LambdaTest) and LLMs such as Claude for test ideation, coverage analysis, and defect summarisation — or willingness to adopt them. • Experience testing event-driven / microservices architectures (Azure Service Bus, Event Grid). • Familiarity with Domain-Driven Design and bounded context boundaries.Experience with GS1 standards (GTIN, GDSN, EPCIS, 2D Digital Link) or supply chain data platforms. • Performance/load testing (JMeter, k6, Azure Load Testing) and accessibility testing (WCAG 2.1/2.2) in Angular apps. • STQB certification (Foundation or Test Analyst); familiarity with Azure App Insights and SquaredUp/Power BI dashboards.