Senior QA Automation Engineer – Fintech Platform Role

Upgrade; United States; Remote; USD 86,000 - 118,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

Medical/dental/vision insurance

Flexible PTO

Career growth

Paid parental leave

Wellness program

Job summary

Upgrade is seeking a Senior QA Automation Engineer to architect and build test automation infrastructure and agentic solutions as a core build role. This fully remote position targets candidates based in Canada, with a focus on platform engineering, Kubernetes, and developer tooling to elevate engineering productivity.

The role emphasizes building internal tooling, not traditional QA, and offers stock options, comprehensive health coverage, and strong growth opportunities in a growth-stage

Qualifications

• 5–7+ years building production software, with deep test infra, developer tooling, and platform engineering knowledge.
• Proven track record building agentic solutions and test automation frameworks from the ground up.
• Fluency with agentic coding tools to orchestrate agents and review PRs.

Responsibilities

• Design and own automation framework for functional and performance testing.
• Build agents to automate existing QA/testing workflows and reduce friction.
• Develop and deploy automation services to production clusters and operate them.
• Prototype, demo, gather feedback, and iterate until mature and reliable.

Skills

Agentic AI tooling

Platform engineering

DX tooling

Kubernetes

Docker

ArgoCD

Production deployments

Tools

Claude Code

MCP server

Job description

Senior QA Automation Engineer – Fintech Platform Role — Remote

A Builder Role, Not a Traditional QA Position

This is a rare "platform engineering meets QA" opportunity — you're architecting and owning internal developer tooling rather than writing test cases. That distinction matters enormously for career trajectory, placing this role closer to Staff/Principal Engineer territory in impact, even if the title says "Senior."

Skills You'll Develop:

• Agentic AI tooling — orchestrating Claude Code and MCP servers is cutting-edge and highly marketable heading into 2025–2026.
• Platform/infrastructure engineering — Kubernetes, ArgoCD, Docker, and production deployment ownership are in high demand across the industry.
• Developer experience (DX) — building tools other engineers adopt is a compelling portfolio differentiator for Staff-level roles.

Compensation: No salary is listed, which can signal either a wide band or negotiation-heavy process. For a Senior QA Automation / Platform Engineer in Canada with 5–7+ years of experience, market benchmarks (2024–2025) typically range from CAD $120K–$165K annually. The stock option component at a $7.3B-valued fintech adds meaningful upside.

Culture & Growth Signals: Upgrade's $7.3B valuation and 7.5M+ customer base indicate a scaled growth-stage company — past the chaos of early startup but still nimble. The QA-Core team framing suggests investment in engineering excellence, a green flag for engineers who value quality culture.

Watch For: The "Environmental & Working Conditions" boilerplate feels copy-pasted from a contact center role and doesn't reflect this engineering position — a minor yellow flag for HR process maturity, but not a dealbreaker for the role itself.

Upgrade helps customers move in the right direction with affordable and responsible financial products. Since 2017, we've helped over 7.5 million customers access over $42 billion in consumer credit. With a relentless focus on improving our customers' financial well-being, we build products that put more money in their pocket and support their journey toward a better financial future. We're backed by some of the most prominent technology investors and were most recently valued at $7.3B.

We're consistently recognized for our collaborative and inclusive culture. Most recently, we were named one of the World's Top Fintech Companies by CNBC, Best Places to Work by Built In, Best Places to Work by the San Francisco Business Times, America's Greatest Workplaces by Newsweek, Best Startup Employer by Forbes, and Healthiest Employers by Phoenix Business Journal.

We're looking for new team members who get excited about designing and delivering new and better products. Come join us and help build a better financial future for millions of people.

About the Role:

Our QA-Core team exists so every engineering team at Upgrade can test their software quickly and trust the result. We are seeking a Senior QA Automation Engineer to architect and build test automation infrastructure, tooling, and agentic solutions to increase engineering productivity. This is not a traditional product QA role — it's a build role. You will work closely with our product teams to understand their automation requirements, design services from scratch, ship them to production clusters, and own them.

Fully remote position open to candidates who are based in Canada.

Our Core Technologies Include:

What You'll Do:

• Design and own automation framework for functional and performance testing.
• Build agents to automate existing QA/testing workflows and remove engineering friction.
• Build the applications and services that automation depends on, deploy them, and operate them in production environments.
• Take prototypes all the way: build demos in a timely manner, gather feedback from the teams who'd use it, and iterate through successive versions until it's hardened, monitored, and running with matured quality.
• Identify gap areas in existing frameworks and tools, and iterate toward solutions that close them.

What We Look For:

• 5–7+ years building production software, with demonstrated depth across test infrastructure, test frameworks, and developer tooling, and working knowledge of platform engineering.
• Proven track record building agentic solutions and test automation frameworks from the ground up — designed, shipped, iterated on, and adopted as part of how other engineers work.
• Fluency with agentic coding tools as part of your daily workflow: ability to orchestrate multiple agents and review agent-generated PRs.
• Hands‑on experience with micro-services, Kubernetes, and managing deployment lifecycle.
• Ability to take an ambiguous problem statement to a scoped, defensible solution independently.

What We Offer You:

• Competitive salary and stock option plan
• Paid coverage of medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Flexible PTO
• Opportunities for professional growth and development
• Paid parental leave
• Health & wellness initiatives

Environmental & Working Conditions

• Work is performed indoors in a fast-paced environment that requires the ability to manage multiple priorities and meet established workflows, schedules, and service expectations.
• Employees regularly input, retrieve, and exchange information accurately using digital systems and applications to support operational and customer service objectives.
• The role requires the ability to receive and exchange information with customers, peers, supervisors, and cross-functional partners through available communication channels, which may include meetings, email, phone, and digital collaboration tools, and may involve real-time, verbal, or in‑person exchanges depending on business need.
• Job duties may involve managing a high volume of inbound and/or outbound customer interactions and work activities using telecommunications and computer systems. The role requires the ability to read, analyze, and interpret information displayed on computer screens and remain in a working posture for extended periods, consistent with the demands of the position.
• Work may be performed in a contact center, office, or remote environment, depending on business needs and the nature of the role. Onsite work environments may include shared workspaces, standard office lighting and moderate background noise typical of customer service or operational settings.
• Employees working remotely are responsible for maintaining a secure and productive workspace with reliable internet connectivity that supports company systems and safeguards the confidentiality of company and customer information.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the position in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and applicable state and local laws.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

Upgrade does not accept unsolicited resumes from staffing agencies, search firms, or any third parties. Any resume submitted to any employee of Upgrade without a prior written agreement in place will be considered the property of Upgrade, and Upgrade will not be obligated to pay any referral or placement fee. Agencies must obtain advance written approval from Upgrade's Talent Acquisition department to submit resumes and only in conjunction with a valid, fully executed agreement. English is required for all positions, as it involves interacting with staff at Upgrade's offices worldwide.

Is this role truly fully remote or is there an office requirement? The posting explicitly states this is a fully remote position. However, candidates must be based in Canada — the role is not open to applicants outside of Canada. What kind of experience is required for this role? Upgrade is looking for 5–7+ years of experience building production software, with a strong focus on test automation frameworks, developer tooling, agentic solutions, and hands‑on Kubernetes/microservices experience. Is there a salary range listed for this position? No specific salary range is mentioned in the posting. The company does offer a competitive salary alongside a stock option plan, medical/dental/vision coverage, and flexible PTO. What makes this different from a traditional QA Engineer role? This is explicitly described as a "build role" — you will architect and own automation infrastructure and agentic tooling from scratch, deploy services to production, and operate them, rather than performing manual or script-level testing. Does Upgrade use AI tools in this engineering role? Yes — the core technology stack includes Claude Code and MCP server, and the role specifically requires fluency with agentic coding tools, including the ability to orchestrate multiple agents and review agent-generated pull requests.

Remote work & career advice that actually works.