Software Qa Manager Jobs in Kitchener, ON (NOW HIRING)

We are seeking a visionary and strategic Manager, Quality Assurance to lead the evolution of our quality engineering function. This is not a traditional QA leadership role. You will define the testing architecture, drive automation-first thinking, and embed a culture of quality across the entire Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). Our environment is highly automated, API-driven, and built for scale, making automation, integration testing, and CI/CD excellence critical to success. As we continue to innovate, we are actively exploring the integration of agentic AI tools to enhance autonomous testing, intelligent defect detection and next-generation QA workflows. What You'll be Doing Team Leadership & Development Lead, mentor, and scale a high-performing QA organization. Foster a culture of ownership, accountability, innovation, and continuous improvement. Establish career development pathways and coaching programs for QA team members. QA Strategy & Architecture Define and implement a modern QA strategy encompassing functional, integration, system, regression, performance, and UAT testing. Establish testing standards, frameworks, and governance practices across Agile delivery teams. Drive a shift-left quality mindset throughout the SDLC. Test Automation Excellence Design and maintain scalable automation frameworks using Python. Lead UI automation initiatives utilizing Selenium and modern test automation tools. Expand automated test coverage across web applications, APIs, and end-to-end workflows. Continuously improve test reliability, execution speed, and maintainability. CI/CD & DevOps Integration Own and optimize CI/CD pipelines using Jenkins and related DevOps tooling. Ensure seamless integration of automated testing into release workflows. Drive quality gates and release readiness processes to support rapid and reliable deployments. Test Management & Governance Oversee test planning, execution, and reporting using Xray (Jira integration). Ensure complete traceability across requirements, test cases, execution results, and defects. Establish meaningful quality metrics and reporting frameworks for leadership visibility. API, Distributed Systems & Cloud Testing Drive an API-first testing strategy across distributed systems and modern architectures. Validate reliability, resiliency, and scalability across microservices and event-driven environments. Develop testing approaches for asynchronous workflows, message queues, and streaming platforms. AI & Agentic QA Transformation Champion AI-assisted development and testing tools such as Cursor, Windsurf, GitHub Copilot, and emerging QA-focused AI platforms. Evaluate and implement agentic AI capabilities for autonomous testing, intelligent defect analysis, and test generation. Establish best practices for responsible AI adoption within Quality Engineering. Cross-Functional Collaboration Partner closely with Engineering, Product, Data, and Project teams to embed quality early in the development lifecycle. Influence product and technical decisions through a quality-first lens. Process Optimization & Observability Continuously improve defect management, release governance, and quality reporting processes. Leverage observability and monitoring tools to proactively identify quality risks and production issues. Drive continuous improvement initiatives based on data and measurable outcomes. Our Technology Stack Python | Selenium | Jenkins | Xray (Jira) | REST & GraphQL APIs | Microservices | Cloud-Native Architectures | Kafka | RabbitMQ | Temporal | New Relic | CI/CD Pipelines | Distributed Systems | Event-Driven Architectures | AI-Assisted Development Tools (Cursor, Windsurf, etc.)What We're Looking For Proven experience leading QA teams in complex, cloud-based environments. Strong expertise in Python-based test automation frameworks. Hands-on experience with Selenium or similar UI automation technologies. Deep experience integrating automated testing within CI/CD pipelines using Jenkins. Strong proficiency with Xray (Jira) or similar test management platforms. Experience testing distributed systems, microservices, Kafka, RabbitMQ, or similar messaging technologies. Familiarity with workflow orchestration platforms such as Temporal is considered a strong asset. Experience with performance, scalability, and reliability testing methodologies. Experience or strong interest in AI-driven and agentic testing approaches. Strong understanding of Agile/Scrum methodologies. Exceptional communication, leadership, and stakeholder management skills. Strong attention to detail with a focus on scalability, performance, security, and reliability. Compensation & Perks $125,000 - $145,000 Annual Compensation. Annual Bonus. Health & Dental Benefits. Health & Wellness Spending Accounts. Perkopolis Staff Discounts. On-site Gym + Plant Fitness Membership Concession. Coffee Bar with Barista + Unlimited Snacks. Monthly Events, Friday Lunches & Daily Breakfast. Professional Growth & Development Opportunities. Join us as redefine quality engineering through automation, innovation, and AI-driven testing. If you're passionate about building scalable quality practices and leading teams through the next evolution of software quality, we'd love to hear from you. Space Ops welcomes applications from people with disabilities. Accommodations are available on request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process. AI Disclosure: As part of our recruitment process, we may use AI-enabled tools to support the screening and assessment of applications. All AI-generated recommendations and outputs are reviewed and validated by our recruitment team.