QA Automation

02nd October, 2026 QA Automation Contractor Location: Remote – Canada Preference: Candidates located in Calgary or Edmonton preferred Term: 6-month contract Start Date: Mid-to-late October 2026 Rate: Flexible based on experience Travel: Occasional travel to Calgary or Edmonton may be required The Opportunity We are seeking an experienced QA Automation Contractor to help establish, build, and mature an organization's automated testing capabilities. The primary focus of this engagement is to transition an existing manual regression testing environment toward a scalable automated testing approach using Playwright . This includes converting manual regression tests into automated tests, designing a maintainable automation framework, establishing standards and best practices, and enabling internal team members to maintain and expand the automation capability. This is not a traditional QA testing role . We are looking for someone who has previously helped organizations build automation capability from the ground up and who is equally comfortable with hands-on automation engineering, process improvement, and knowledge transfer. Key Responsibilities Test Automation Development • Review existing manual regression test cases and identify automation opportunities. • Design, develop, and maintain automated tests using Playwright . • Build automated regression suites covering critical business processes. • Develop reusable automation components, utilities, and framework features. • Troubleshoot and maintain automated tests to ensure reliability and efficiency. • Translate business requirements and manual test cases into effective automated tests. Automation Strategy & Framework Development • Assess current testing practices and recommend improvements. • Design and implement a scalable and maintainable Playwright automation framework . • Establish automation standards, coding practices, and governance guidelines. • Define criteria for selecting automation candidates and establishing coverage targets. • Integrate automated testing into CI/CD pipelines and release processes . • Help establish a longer-term automation roadmap. QA Process Improvement • Develop a repeatable QA methodology incorporating automated and functional testing. • Recommend best practices for test planning, test-case design, regression testing, and defect management. • Establish standards for creating and maintaining automation-ready test assets. • Help improve the organization's overall QA maturity and testing practices. Knowledge Transfer & Enablement • Create documentation, templates, standards, and reference materials. • Develop guidelines for writing automation-ready test cases. • Coach and mentor Business Analysts, testers, and other team members. • Facilitate knowledge-transfer sessions and workshops. • Ensure internal resources can maintain and expand the automation framework following the engagement. Required Experience • Strong hands-on Playwright automation experience, including building automation frameworks from the ground up. • Experience implementing automation programs within organizations transitioning from primarily manual testing. • Experience developing QA standards, methodologies, and governance practices. • Experience converting manual regression tests and business requirements into automated test coverage. • Experience with Azure DevOps . • Experience integrating automated testing into CI/CD pipelines . • Experience with API testing and automation . • Familiarity with Gherkin and Behaviour-Driven Development (BDD) . • Experience working with complex business applications. • Demonstrated experience coaching and mentoring analysts, testers, or business users. • Strong documentation and knowledge-transfer capabilities. • Experience using AI-assisted development tools such as Microsoft Copilot, GitHub Copilot, Claude , or similar technologies. • Exposure to developing or using AI agents to support software development, QA, automation, or related workflows. Nice to Have Experience working within: • Public-sector or publicly funded organizations. • Regulated, compliance-focused, or high-governance environments. Ideal Candidate The ideal candidate combines strong hands-on Playwright engineering skills with the ability to establish processes and bring others along with them. They should be comfortable entering an environment where automation capability is still developing, determining what should be automated, building the underlying framework, and creating the standards and documentation necessary for the organization to continue the work independently. The goal of the engagement is not simply to leave behind automated scripts—it is to leave behind a sustainable QA automation capability .