Director, Quality Assurance

Assent; Ottawa; On-site; CAD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Assent seeks a Director of Quality Assurance to lead a global QA organization across its SaaS platform. You will define the quality strategy, drive test automation, and partner with Engineering, Product Management and Security to ensure release readiness and high customer impact reduction.

You will establish standards, govern quality across teams, and advance ADLC adoption while advancing data-driven insights and measures for continuous improvement.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in software quality assurance or quality engineering with leadership experience.
• Experience building or transforming a QA function within a B2B SaaS or similarly complex software environment.
• Proven success developing test-automation strategies and integrating automated quality controls into CI/CD pipelines.
• Strong understanding of modern cloud architectures, APIs, microservices, data integrations and data‑processing workflows.
• Experience establishing risk-based testing strategies across functional and non-functional quality dimensions.
• Demonstrated ability to define meaningful quality measures and translate data into executive‑level insights and action.
• Experience leading globally distributed teams and developing managers, leads and senior technical contributors.
• Strong executive communication and ability to influence Product and Engineering leaders without relying on direct authority.
• Sound judgment in balancing customer impact, quality risk, delivery speed and business priorities.
• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field or equivalent practical experience.

Responsibilities

• Define and execute the enterprise quality assurance and quality engineering strategy aligned with Technology and Product priorities.
• Lead the global QA organization with capability planning, organizational design, recruitment and succession.
• Drive adoption of test‑driven development and ADLC across Data & Technology teams.
• Establish a consistent quality operating model, standards and governance across product and engineering teams.
• Advance automated testing frameworks, tooling and CI/CD integration.
• Partner with Security, Compliance and other stakeholders to support controls and audits.

Skills

Leadership in QA

QA strategy

Test automation

Cloud architectures

Risk-based testing

Quality metrics

Global teams

Executive communication

Quality and delivery balance

Bachelor's degree

Education

Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field

Tools

CI/CD pipelines

Job description

Company Description

Assent empowers manufacturers and distributors with the intelligence to build sustainable products, meet global compliance requirements and drive better business outcomes.

Company Description

Assent empowers manufacturers and distributors with the intelligence to build sustainable products, meet global compliance requirements and drive better business outcomes.

At the center of our offering is the Assent Network, the industry’s most complete Product Intelligence Network, bringing together trusted parts and supplier intelligence, advanced AI and deep regulatory expertise to help organizations identify risk, make informed decisions and stay ahead of evolving requirements.

Trusted by more than 1,000 customers worldwide, Assent helps organizations stay ahead of evolving regulations across areas including responsible sourcing, human rights due diligence, PFAS reporting, Digital Product Passports, and other emerging requirements. Our platform empowers manufacturers to navigate change with confidence while building stronger supplier relationships and driving measurable business value.

With more than 1000 team members across India, North America, Malaysia, the European Union, and Kenya, Assent brings together global expertise, diverse perspectives, and a shared commitment to innovation. Our hybrid work model enables teams to collaborate across regions while staying connected to the communities where they live and work. As a certified B Corporation, we meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability, reflecting our commitment to creating lasting value for our customers, our people, and the planet.

People First. Technology Forward.

Our commitment to People, Culture & Community (PCC) is rooted in building a diverse, inclusive, and high-performing team. We recruit and retain team members with a range of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives, while fostering a culture of belonging where all Assentees are respected, supported, and empowered to contribute.

As we continue to embed AI into how we work, we do so thoughtfully, enhancing human potential, supporting better decision‑making, and prioritizing appropriate oversight, privacy, and fairness.

At Assent, we value your privacy and are committed to maintaining transparency in how we handle your personal information. As part of our talent acquisition and management processes, we may use AI technologies to support activities such as resume screening, candidate communication, and talent analytics.

Job Description

Position Summary

The Director, Quality Assurance is accountable for defining and advancing Assent’s quality strategy and quality engineering capability across its SaaS platform and products. This leader establishes a scalable, risk‑based approach to quality that combines strong engineering practices, effective test automation, appropriate quality controls and data‑driven insight to improve product reliability and customer outcomes while supporting delivery velocity.

Leading a global Quality Assurance organization, the Director develops teams and leaders, establishes standards and measures, and partners with Engineering, Product Management, Security and other stakeholders to embed quality throughout the software development lifecycle. The Director provides clear, risk‑based insight into release readiness and champions shared accountability for product quality across the organization.

Key Requirements & Responsibilities

• Define and execute the enterprise quality assurance and quality engineering strategy aligned with Technology and Product priorities.
• Serve as a key member of the Data and Technology senior leadership team and strategic thought partner to the senior executive on quality strategy, product quality risk, and embedding quality throughout the software development lifecycle.
• Foster a culture of collaboration and accountability across the Product and Technology organizations to drive results, and achievement of key objectives.
• Lead, develop and scale a high‑performing, globally distributed QA organization, including capability planning, organizational design, recruitment and succession.
• Drive adoption of test‑driven development and shift toward the Agentic Delivery Lifecycle (ADLC) across the Data & Technology teams.
• Establish a consistent quality operating model, standards and governance across product and engineering teams.
• Advance the automated‑testing strategy, including frameworks, tooling, maintainability and integration with CI/CD pipelines.
• Establish risk‑based approaches to functional, integration, regression, performance, reliability and other non‑functional testing.
• Partner with Product and Engineering early in the development lifecycle to improve requirements, acceptance criteria, testability and quality by design.
• Define quality and release‑readiness criteria and provide evidence‑based recommendations regarding product risk. This should be advisory or shared accountability—not ownership of the overall release decision.
• Establish meaningful quality measures and use trends to identify risk and drive improvement. Measures might include escaped defects, customer‑impacting defects, defect recurrence, automation effectiveness, flaky‑test rates and validation cycle time.
• Effectively architect quality systems and processes to unify the intake and execution of bugs in accordance with Service Level Obligations (SLO’s).
• Guide the strategy for test tools, environments and test data in partnership with Engineering and Platform teams.
• Evaluate and responsibly adopt emerging capabilities, including AI‑assisted testing, where they improve quality, efficiency or coverage.
• Partner with Security, Compliance and other stakeholders to ensure quality practices support applicable control, documentation and audit requirements.
• Champion a culture in which quality is understood as a shared product and engineering responsibility.
• Be familiar with corporate security policies and support the information security function to protect both information systems and corporate assets from undue risk.

This is not an exhaustive list of duties. Responsibilities may be altered and/or added from time to time to meet business needs.

Qualifications

Your Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• 10+ years of progressive experience in software quality assurance or quality engineering, including at least five years leading teams and leaders.
• Experience building or transforming a QA function within a B2B SaaS or similarly complex software environment.
• Demonstrated success developing test‑automation strategies and integrating automated quality controls into CI/CD pipelines.
• Strong understanding of modern cloud architectures, APIs, microservices, data integrations and data‑processing workflows.
• Experience establishing risk‑based testing strategies across functional and non‑functional quality dimensions.
• Demonstrated ability to define meaningful quality measures and translate data into executive‑level insights and action.
• Experience leading globally distributed teams and developing managers, leads and senior technical contributors.
• Strong executive communication and ability to influence Product and Engineering leaders without relying on direct authority.
• Sound judgment in balancing customer impact, quality risk, delivery speed and business priorities.
• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field or equivalent practical experience.

Reasonable Accommodations Statement: To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform the aforementioned duties and responsibilities satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform these essential functions. Assent is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.

Additional Information

Life at Assent

Wellness:

We believe that you and your family’s well being is important. As a result, we offer vacation time that increases with tenure, comprehensive benefits packages (details vary by country), life leave days and more.

Financial Benefits:

It’s not all about the money – well, it’s a little about the money. We understand that financial health is important and we offer a competitive base salary, a corporate bonus program, retirement savings options and more.

Life at Assent:

There is purpose beyond your work. We provide our team members with flexible work options, volunteer days and opportunities to get involved in corporate giving initiatives.

Lifelong Learning:

At Assent, curiosity is not only valued but encouraged. You will receive professional development days that are available to you the day you start.

At Assent, we are committed to growing and sustaining an environment where our team members feel included, valued, and heard. Our diversity and equal opportunity practices are guided and championed by our Diversity and Inclusion Working Group and our Employee Resource Groups (ERGs).

Our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion includes recruiting and retaining team members from diverse backgrounds and experiences, and fostering a culture of belonging where all team members are included, treated with dignity and respect, promoted on their merits, and placed in positions to contribute to business success.

If you require assistance or accommodation throughout any part of the interview and selection process, please contact [e-mail] and we will be happy to help.

We use AI to support parts of our recruitment process, such as note‑taking and initial shortlisting based on job‑related qualifications. AI does not make hiring decisions. All candidates will speak with a real person, and final decisions are always made by our recruitment team.