Team Lead, Quality Assurance

Discover the possible

Anything is possible at the National Research Council (NRC). As Canada’s leading research and technology organization, our world-renowned research pushes the boundaries of science and engineering to make the impossible, possible. Every day we explore new ideas through innovative research and help companies discover possibilities that impact Canada’s future and the world.

At the NRC, you’ll also discover new possibilities. Our supportive workplace fosters a culture of creativity, welcoming fresh perspectives and innovation at all levels. We value teamwork. You’ll collaborate across multiple fields and with the brightest minds to find creative solutions. Most importantly, you’ll discover what’s possible within you as you grow, make valuable contributions and progress in your professional journey. From ground-breaking discoveries to a life-changing career, discover your possible at the NRC.

The Role

We are looking for a Team Lead, Quality Assurance to support our Knowledge, Information and Technology Services Branch. The Quality Assurance Specialist would be someone who shares our core values of Integrity, Excellence, Respect and Creativity.

We are looking to hire a QA Specialist to catch our "Oops" before it goes out the door. The ideal candidate is a detail-oriented individual who shares the passion of our development team for high quality releases! As we develop our consolidated, next generation Grants & Contribution application, the successful candidate will hold ultimate responsibility for leading our QA team and activites, as well as automation development.

The successful candidate is someone who can be counted on to:

• Lead QA processes and teams, and provide advisory services on quality assurance standards, technologies and frameworks to a variety of colleagues;
• Provide expert QA advice to a variety of colleagues (management, clients, developers);
• Establish a QA Definition of Done with appropriate QA processes and procedures as required, leveraging Azure DevOps;
• Seek out new ideas and technologies to achieve our QA needs, both manual and automated;
• Provide technical leadership in developing reusable automation test assets and artifacts, such as browser driver abstraction and UI test frameworks; and
• Mentor other QA resources, sharing their expertise to improve the overall effectiveness of the team.

Screening Criteria

Applicants must demonstrate within the content of their application that they meet the following screening criteria in order to be given further consideration as candidates:

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science from a recognized University or a Technical College diploma in Computer Science or related field. An equivalent combination of education and direct experience may be considered.

For information on certificates and diplomas issued abroad, please see Degree equivalency

Experience

1. Experience supervising and leading work teams engaged in quality assurance processes, both manual and automated;
2. Extensive experience writing test plans, test suites and test cases;
3. Significant experience with Selenium framework, .NET and C#.;
4. Significant experience with xml/json data and xml/json deserialization, XPath and CSS selectors;
5. Significant experience with Visual Studio unit test projects and related architecture; and
6. Significant experience working with Visual Studio and Azure DevOps/VSTS.

Condition of Employment

Reliability Status

Language Requirements

English

Information on language requirements and self-assessment tests

Assessment Criteria

Candidates will be assessed on the basis of the following criteria:

Technical Competencies

1. Solid ability to plan and manage the activities of the team;
2. Advanced knowledge of Object Oriented Programming best practices, including interface design, dependency inversion and dependency injection;
3. Advanced ability to review business requirements and develop appropriate Test Plans, Test Suites and Test Cases using Microsoft Azure DevOps (or similar);
4. Solid ability to create/modify/maintain unit tests using Visual Studio, C# and the Selenium or Playwright framework;
5. Solid ability to create/modify/maintain test data using xml or json data files targeting multiple vertical environments; and 
6. Advanced ability to research and analysis quality assurance needs to recommend solutions.

Behavioural Competencies

Competency Profile(s)

For this position, the NRC will evaluate candidates using the following competency profile: Technology Support

View all competency profiles

Compensation

Salary under review

From $89,548 to $112,660 per annum. 

An incumbent occupying a position within the CS Group is currently entitled to receive a terminable allowance of $212 per month.

NRC employees enjoy a wide-range of competitive benefits including a robust pension plan, comprehensive health and dental coverage, disability and life insurance, office closure at the end of December, and additional supports to enhance your well-being throughout your career and beyond.

Notes

• Relocation assistance will be determined in accordance with the NRC's directives.
• A pre-qualified list may be established for similar positions for a one year period.
• Candidates must clearly demonstrate in their cover letter how they meet the education and experience factors listed on the poster. Candidates must use the education/experience criteria as a header and then write one or two paragraphs demonstrating how they meet them by providing concrete examples. In addition, the candidate is encouraged to describe in detail when, where and how he/she gained the experience. If the candidate does not have Azure DevOps, please indicate the similar tool used so technical evaluation materials can be adjusted. Failure to provide an appropriate cover letter will result in the rejection of your application. Candidates will not be solicited for incomplete or possible missing information. 
• Overtime may sometimes be required. 
• This position is being advertised internally and externally simultaneously, however first consideration will be given to internal NRC applicants.
• Preference will be given to Canadian Citizens and Permanent Residents of Canada. Please include citizenship information in your application.
• The incumbent must adhere to safe workplace practices at all times.
• We thank all those who apply, however only those selected for further consideration will be contacted.