Senior Architect - Quality Engineering (NV1)

Anson McCade; Canberra; On-site; AUD 140,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Anson McCade is seeking a Senior Architect to lead quality engineering strategy for complex software delivery. The role requires hands-on automation, coding, CI/CD and modern engineering practices.

The ideal candidate will build automation frameworks from scratch, drive coverage across UI, API, service and data testing, and embed quality throughout the SDLC. Active AGSVA NV1 or higher clearance is required.

Qualifications

• Broad Quality Engineering experience with hands-on automation and software engineering capability.
• Experience designing and implementing testing strategies for large projects.
• Proven ability to build and evolve automation frameworks from scratch and select modern tooling.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement testing strategies for medium to large projects.
• Define quality approaches across the full software lifecycle.
• Build automation frameworks from scratch and evolve them for scalable test automation.
• Drive automation coverage across UI, API, service, contract and data testing.
• Lead, mentor and coach Quality Engineers.

Skills

Quality Engineering

Automation Frameworks

Automation Tools

Test Automation

Non-Functional Testing

Agile Delivery

DevOps & CI/CD

AI-Assisted Engineering

Leadership

Stakeholder Management

Quality Strategy

Tools

Cypress

Playwright

Job description

Lead the quality engineering strategy for complex digital products, combining modern testing practices, automation and AI-assisted engineering to accelerate delivery while maintaining quality, reliability and scalability.

• Define and lead modern Quality Engineering strategies across complex enterprise environments
• Remain hands-on with test automation, coding, CI/CD and modern engineering practices
• Build and evolve automation frameworks from the ground up using modern automation tools including Cypress and/or Playwright
• Champion whole-team ownership of quality while providing technical leadership across cross-functional delivery teams

This is an opportunity for an experienced Senior Architect with strong Quality Engineering expertise to lead testing strategy, automation and quality practices across complex software delivery environments. Active AGSVA clearance of NV1 or higher is required for this role.

You’ll combine deep software testing and automation expertise with strong technical leadership, helping teams embed quality throughout the software development lifecycle. The role suits someone who enjoys solving complex technical problems, building automation frameworks from scratch, influencing engineering practices and remaining close to hands-on delivery.

What you’ll be doing

• Designing and implementing appropriate testing strategies for medium to large-scale projects.
• Defining quality approaches across the full software development lifecycle.
• Building automation frameworks from scratch and evolving them to support scalable, maintainable test automation.
• Selecting and implementing appropriate automation tools and technologies, including Cypress and/or Playwright.
• Driving increased automation coverage across UI, API, service, contract and data testing.
• Adopting AI-assisted engineering practices to accelerate delivery and improve quality.
• Embedding quality practices early in the development lifecycle through Shift Left approaches.
• Supporting quality post-release through effective Shift Right practices.
• Leading test planning, execution, reporting and requirements traceability.
• Defining quality goals, acceptance criteria and test coverage alongside product and engineering teams.
• Prioritising testing activities in line with the test pyramid and delivery priorities.
• Performing exploratory testing alongside engineering teams and customers.
• Facilitating defect triage and driving effective defect resolution.
• Contributing to project governance, including quality risks, mitigations and reporting.
• Providing technical leadership, coaching and mentoring to Quality Engineers.
• Remaining hands-on across automation, coding and quality engineering activities.

What we’re looking for

You’ll bring broad Quality Engineering experience together with strong hands-on automation and software engineering capability.

Experience across some of the following would be highly regarded:

• Quality Engineering: Modern testing strategies, whole-team quality ownership, test pyramid and quality engineering principles
• Automation Frameworks: Proven experience building test automation frameworks from scratch, rather than solely working with pre-existing frameworks
• Automation Tools: Strong hands-on experience with Cypress and/or Playwright, alongside other modern test automation technologies
• Test Automation: UI, API, service, contract and data validation testing
• Non-Functional Testing: Performance, load and security testing
• Agile Delivery: 8+ years of professional testing experience across Agile/Scrum and the full software development lifecycle
• DevOps & CI/CD: Continuous integration, automated testing and modern DevOps practices
• AI-Assisted Engineering: Experience or interest in using AI-enabled development and testing practices
• Leadership: Experience leading, mentoring and developing Quality Engineering teams
• Stakeholder Management: Strong communication skills and the ability to build trusted relationships across business, product and engineering teams
• Quality Strategy: Experience embedding quality from requirements and design through to production and post-release

You’ll be comfortable working autonomously, breaking down ambiguous technical problems and communicating quality and engineering decisions clearly to both technical and senior stakeholders.

The opportunity

You’ll work in a highly technical environment with exposure to modern Quality Engineering, automation and AI-enabled delivery practices.

The role offers significant scope to influence how quality is embedded across engineering teams, while remaining hands-on with automation, coding and technical problem-solving. You’ll have the opportunity to build automation frameworks from the ground up, shape testing strategies, mentor other engineers and help delivery teams accelerate software delivery without compromising quality, reliability or scalability.