Quality Engineering Lead / Automation Architect

About POMS

POMS develops Manufacturing Execution System (MES) software solutions for the life sciences industry. POMS is investing heavily in automated quality engineering, modern software delivery practices, and AI-assisted testing to further product quality and accelerate delivery.

Position Summary

POMS is seeking a hands-on Quality Engineering Lead / Automation Architect to lead the shift from predominantly manual testing to automation-driven quality engineering. This is a hands-on role: the successful candidate will personally help enhance the automation foundation (Playwright framework, standards, and CI/CD integration) and lead a global QA team to deliver automation at scale, using data to measure outcomes and prioritize investments.

Key Responsibilities

Automation Strategy and Architecture

• Own POMS' test automation strategy and roadmap, serving as technical lead for the Playwright framework, automation standards, coding guidelines, and review practices.

• Design and build scalable Playwright suites in TypeScript, making effective use of fixtures, workers, parallelization, test isolation, retries, traces, and reporting.

• Organize workflow-based testing suites with clear smoke, core regression, and release regression layers across functional, API, integration, and end-to-end testing.

• Assess the existing manual test inventory and prioritize which tests should be automated, redesigned, consolidated, kept manual, or retired

• Partner with Development and DevOps to enhance our automated regression pipelines (Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, Jenkins, or similar), with sound environment, test-data, and parallel-execution strategies across TFVC and Git repositories.

• Apply AI-assisted tools to test generation, maintenance, coverage analysis, and defect identification, and evaluate emerging testing tools and practices.

Team Leadership

• Build, mentor, and develop a small, high-performing QA team, with particular responsibility for building automation capability

• Put in place the standards, coaching, delegation, and ownership models that allow the team to scale automation without relying on the lead to author most tests.

• Set goals, performance expectations, and career development plans, and support hiring, onboarding, and succession planning.

• Foster quality ownership, accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Quality and Release Management

• Champion shift-left and risk-based testing, and participate in requirements, design, and architecture reviews to identify risks early.

• Define data-driven release readiness criteria and quality gates, and own QA for all software releases.

• Build operational and executive dashboards and KPIs covering automation coverage, defect escape rates, release readiness, and team performance, and use them to prioritize investments.

• Lead root cause analysis of escaped defects and implement preventive improvements.

• Support validation and compliance activities within a regulated software environment.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or a related field, or equivalent experience.

• 5+ years of software quality assurance and testing experience

• Expert-level experience building enterprise-scale test automation frameworks using Playwright, Selenium, Cypress, or comparable tools, with strong TypeScript or JavaScript skills.

• Strong software engineering skills, preferably in TypeScript and JavaScript, including Git, API testing, SQL, debugging, and code review.

• Experience integrating automated regression testing into CI/CD pipelines using Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, Jenkins, or comparable platforms.

• Experience scaling automation capability through coaching, standards, and delegation.

• Proven use of quality metrics, dashboards, and KPIs to drive decisions and outcomes.

• Experience testing complex web-based enterprise applications in Agile environments.

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, and excellent verbal and written communication.

Preferred Qualifications

• Hands-on experience building substantial Playwright suites in TypeScript (fixtures, workers, parallelization, test isolation, retries, traces).

• Experience leading QA teams or large-scale testing initiatives.

• Experience in regulated industries such as life sciences, pharmaceutical manufacturing, healthcare, or medical devices, including GxP and 21 CFR Part 11.

• Experience working across mixed TFVC and Git environments, including migration to Git.

• Demonstrated success transforming a predominantly manual QA organization into an automation-heavy one

• Experience using AI or machine learning to improve testing efficiency and effectiveness.

• Knowledge of performance and security testing methodologies.

Success Measures

• Establish a baseline quality scorecard and show measurable KPI gains within 12 months.

• Increase automated coverage of core and critical product areas

• Deliver reliable, fast, and maintainable automated regression running on every build.

• Enable the QA team to produce automation at scale against consistent standards.

• Detect defects earlier in the lifecycle and improve release confidence.

We recognize the value and importance of diversity and inclusion in our communities and in the workplace. We celebrate diversity and one of our goals as an employer is to create an inclusive work environment for all employees. We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate against any employee or applicant because of race, religion, sex, sexual orientation including gender identity or expression, pregnancy, national origin, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, or any other category or characteristic protected by law.

This posting is for an existing vacancy. We may use AI-enabled tools to assist in screening, assessing or selecting applicants for this role. These tools do not replace human judgment; recruiters and hiring managers review all results.

Salary Range (Ontario & BC Only):

The estimated base salary range for this role is CAD$117,000.00 - CAD$143,000.00 per year. We include salary ranges in job postings only where required by applicable pay transparency laws, based on the jurisdictions in which the role may be performed. The posted range is a good faith estimate and reflects factors that are subject to change. Final offer amounts may vary based on job-related factors, including work location, candidate experience and expertise, and other relevant considerations.We recognize the value and importance of diversity and inclusion in our communities and in the workplace. We celebrate diversity and one of our goals as an employer is to create an inclusive work environment for all employees. We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate against any employee or applicant because of race, religion, sex, sexual orientation including gender identity or expression, pregnancy, national origin, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, or any other category or characteristic protected by law.Applicants with disabilities who would like to require a reasonable accommodation related to any part of the application process may contact us at [email protected].#POMS