Quality Analyst Lead

The University of British Columbia; Vancouver; On-site; CAD 113,000 - 177,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of British Columbia IT is seeking a QA Lead Analyst to provide people and technical leadership for enterprise integration testing across EASD. The role oversees 300+ integrations, drives a new Quality Test Framework, and guides automation tool evaluation from an integration perspective.

A strong focus on scalable test automation and risk reduction is required. Success hinges on building adoption of automated practices, managing resources, and delivering quality outcomes for a

Qualifications

• Undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline with 8+ years of related experience, incl. 2+ years in management.
• Willingness to respect diverse perspectives, including perspectives in conflict with one’s own.
• Commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Responsibilities

• Develops the strategy for designing scalable test automation frameworks.
• Defines roadmap for test case management and test execution.
• Develops the strategy for evaluation of automation tools and conducts proof-of-concepts to identify best-fit solutions.
• Develops the strategy for completing quality check points, and helps identify success criteria for various test categories.
• Leads the day-to-day delivery of testing services and activities, tracks progress and prepares test reports.
• Leads resource estimation and buildsQA team capacity across workstreams.

Skills

QA Leadership

Test Strategy

Automation

Stakeholder Collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline

Job description

Job Profile

AAPS Salaried - Information Systems and Technology, Level E

Staff - Non Union

Job Category

M&P - AAPS

Job Title

Quality Analyst Lead

Department

OCIO | Enterprise Automation and Service Delivery

Compensation Range

$10,155.00 - $15,842.17 CAD Monthly

The Compensation Range is the span between the minimum and maximum base salary for a position. The midpoint of the range is approximately halfway between the minimum and the maximum and represents an employee that possesses full job knowledge, qualifications and experience for the position. In the normal course, employees will be hired, transferred or promoted between the minimum and midpoint of the salary range for a job.

Posting End Date

August 25, 2026

Note: Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the Posting End Date.

Job End Date

Ongoing

At UBC, we believe that attracting and sustaining a diverse workforce is key to the successful pursuit of excellence in research, innovation, and learning for all faculty, staff and students. Our commitment to employment equity helps achieve inclusion and fairness, brings rich diversity to UBC as a workplace, and creates the necessary conditions for a rewarding career.

Job Summary

The QA Lead Analyst provides people and technical leadership for core enterprise integration initiatives encompassing large, multi-faceted information systems for Enterprise Automation and Solution Delivery (EASD) at UBC IT.

The Incumbent provides QA leadership in the area of Enterprise Integrations for 300+ integrations and applications across the Program Delivery portfolio, and is a recognized subject matter expert for the EASD. They will lead the execution of strategies and initiatives that deliver QA initiatives, ensuring compliance with best practices throughout the software development life cycle.

The QA Lead Analyst will lead the design and documentation of a new Quality Test Framework for EASD. They will also design the strategy for evaluation of automation tools for one or more workstreams relating to Workday, Ecosystems, etc. from an Integrations perspective. They will design test planning and test scenario creation, identify success criteria for various test categories, improve existing testing methodology, processes, and standards. They will help ensure Analysts and Developers are in compliance, consistently testing per the new Quality framework best practices and standards, preventing high-risk deployments as required.

The incumbent will lead resource planning, and provide technical expertise and operational management necessary to manage testing activities within one or multiple workstreams.

Success in this role will be measured by EASD’s:

• Ability to increase the number of automated test coverage areas.
• Ability to ensure all risk areas and gaps are managed through documented edge case scenarios and effective handling.
• Ability to establish a significant reduction in manual testing effort.
• Successful adoption of automated test practices within EASD and among partnering teams.
• Successful adoption of best practices documented in the new Quality Framework.

Organizational Status

The QA Lead reports to the EASD SR Manager within EASD, while working closely with Analysts, Developers, Architects, and other Managers, vendors, and other staff across UBC IT.

Work Performed

Developing Strategies

• Develops the strategy for designing scalable test automation frameworks.
• Defines roadmap for test case management and test execution.
• Develops the strategy for evaluation of automation tools and conducts proof-of-concepts to identify best-fit solutions.
• Develops the strategy for completing quality check points, and helps identify success criteria for various test categories.
• Evaluate effectiveness of test framework using test coverage and KPIs.
• Provides empirical data (e.g. test results, defect metrics) to support strategy for quality check points.
• Assesses the progress and effectiveness of the testing effort. Monitors and analyzes test results and defect metrics.
• Creates materials for testing kick-offs, testing trainings, or other quality related topics.
• Assesses opportunities for test automation.
• Establishes test case creation strategy and executes tests as needed.

Developing Best Practices / Methodologies

• Develops and implements procedures, methods, standards and controls to support effective testing, monitor compliance, mitigate testing risks, and achieve team results.
• Works effectively with project managers, product vendors, and system integrator to agree on the appropriate test approach to ensure the quality of the solution outcome is understood and known issues are actioned.
• Defines testing environment required and ensure completeness of setup prior to the start of testing.
• Manage the RFP process, including discovery, to establish appropriate QA tool sets.
• Advocates the appropriate level of testing based on quality, timeline, and resource.
• Trains analysts and development teams on test case design and automation best practices and ensures teams adheres to the defined methods, procedures, and quality objectives.
• Attends meetings to report on the status of testing, communicate RAID (Risks, Action, Issues, Decisions), and then use feedback and lessons learned to update testing standards and policies.

Leading Testing & QA Initiatives

• Leads the day-to-day delivery of testing services and activities, tracks progress and prepares test reports.
• Leads delivery teams, including technical and functional staff, to develop quality and testing resource plans.
• Leads resource estimation process by Identifying resource needs for all aspects of the SDLC that require quality practices.
• Enables fully automated regression cycles, significantly reducing manual effort and improving release confidence.
• Identifies and drives opportunities for automation across functional, integration, and regression testing layers.
• Leads requirement discussions with technical and business/functional teams to thoroughly understand existing integration workflows and architecture.
• Ensures completeness of test coverage, and provides technical and analytical guidance in testing.
• Manages the QA testing team, including recruiting and managing testing members, assigning work, managing the performance assessment, providing training on the testing model, objectives, execution, and communication of test results.
• Provides coaching and mentoring on the more complex element of the work, applying an advanced level of testing expertise and judgement to support the achievement of desired work outcomes.
• Acts as primary escalation point for testing issues related to specific workstreams.

Other

• Builds and maintains good working relationships and collaborates with team members who will take part in the testing activities.
• Performs other related duties as required.

Consequence of Error/Judgement

EASD integrations and applications serve the whole campus (over 10,000 faculty and staff and over 60,000 students) and thus has a high consequence of error with a negative impact to the whole organization.

The QA Lead plays a significant role in supporting the implementation of systems and processes. Work requires judgment and initiative. Errors could have a significant impact on the success of project delivery, subsequent effects on UBC s strategic goals and visions.

Supervision Received

Works under the administrative direction of the EASD Sr Manager. The QA Lead must be able to work independently and assume full responsibility for his/her decisions. Performance is reviewed by the EASD Sr Manager along with general feedback from the EASD leadership team.

Supervision Given

Provides direction or procedural instruction to EASD Analysts and Developers. Required to provide in person or documentation-based training to the EASD team and, where required, other IT professionals or stakeholders.

Minimum Qualifications

Undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline. Minimum of eight years of related experience including at least two years of managerial experience, or the equivalent combination of education and experience.

• Willingness to respect diverse perspectives, including perspectives in conflict with one’s own.
• Demonstrates a commitment to enhancing one’s own awareness, knowledge, and skills related to equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Preferred Qualifications

• Undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline. Bachelor degree (or higher) in Business Administration, Commerce, Computer Science, Management Information Systems, Business Technology Management, or other relevant program is preferred.
• Minimum of 8 years cumulative software testing experience (i.e. requirements and test scenario / case creation, test approach and strategy, test execution, test reporting, defect management).
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in a testing leadership role (i.e. QA Lead).
• Deep knowledge of test management tools, defect management tools, and testing progress reporting.
• Experience with large program implementation supporting multiple testing functions (data management, environment management, defect tracking and reporting).
• Ability to work for multiple managers and balance competing priorities while accomplishing the tasks at hand.
• Ability to handle multiple work areas effectively with situations involving rapid change, shifting priorities, and / or simultaneous demands.
• Strong facilitation and presentation skills with solid analytical and problem-solving skills displayed in the development and execution of test plans and the analysis of system problems.
• High level sense of ownership with an entrepreneurial and self-directed mindset in a fast-paced, dynamic and vague environment.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to integrate well into internal and external teams, and also be able to communicate with technical teams.
• Demonstrated ongoing career development through active and self-motivated professional development.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Demonstrated track record and commitment to delivering results and proactively supporting applications and services.
• Ability to conduct interviews and participate in hiring decisions for the team.
• Certifications in one or more of the following are an asset: related test management or testing certifications (ISTQB, ASQ, QAI PMI-RMP, Six Sigma).
• Experience with automation tools, frameworks, API testing using POSTMAN/SOAPUI, JMeter etc.
• Experience with Student and Enrolment functional or system implementation, Workday, integration background with MuleSoft, automation is an asset.

Core Competencies

Collaboration - Actively solicits ideas and opinions from others to efficiently and effectively accomplish specific objectives targeted at defined business outcomes. Openly encourages other team members to voice their ideas and concerns. Shows respect for differences and diversity, and disagrees without personalizing issues. Utilizes strengths of team members to achieve optimal performance.

Communication for Results - Conducts discussions with and writes memoranda to all levels of colleagues and peer groups in ways that support troubleshooting and problem solving. Seeks and shares relevant information, opinions, and judgments. Handles conflict empathetically. Explains the context of interrelated situations, asks probing questions, and solicits multiple sources of advice prior to taking action when appropriate.

Problem Solving - Applies problem-solving methodologies and tools to diagnose and solve operational and interpersonal problems. Determines the potential causes of the problem and devises testing methodologies for validation. Shows empathy and objectivity toward individuals involved in the issue. Analyzes multiple alternatives, risks, and benefits for a range of potential solutions. Recommends resource requirements and collaborates with impacted stakeholders.

Role Based Competencies

Analytical Thinking - Coordinates the information gathering and reporting process. Reviews trends and compares to expectations. Conducts research to define problems and prepares responses to anticipated questions. Prioritizes multiple issues and opportunities. Identifies relationships and linkages within several information sources. Anticipates issues that are not readily apparent on the surface. Identifies root causes and effects. Defines priorities within performance objectives. Reports and identifies areas that need guidance in order to resolve complex issues. Anticipates the possible outcome of potential solutions.

Business Process Knowledge - Maps full business processes and designs operational process flow. Facilitates group input and drafts proposals for process improvements. Identifies resource implications. Implements process improvement recommendations within the context of overall business processes.

Initiative - Seeks out new challenges that require risk taking. Determines the resources, team support, and technical needs necessary to enable success and procures them. Keeps responding to the challenge in spite of obstacles and setbacks.