Automation Architect

Location: Vancouver, Canada / Remote
Time Zone: Must be available during Pacific Time Zone business hours, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM PST
Duration: Long-Term Engagement

Job Description

We are seeking an experienced Automation Architect to define and drive enterprise-level QA automation strategy, architecture, and implementation for a leading financial institution. The ideal candidate will have strong hands-on expertise in Selenium WebDriver, .NET/C#, Playwright, automation framework architecture, API automation, and CI/CD, along with proven experience leading QA automation teams.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and drive the overall QA automation strategy, architecture, and roadmap.

• Design, develop, and maintain scalable, reusable, maintainable, and robust automation frameworks.

• Provide technical leadership, mentoring, and guidance to QA automation engineers.

• Establish and enforce automation best practices, coding standards, design patterns, and quality processes.

• Collaborate closely with Product Owners, Business Analysts, Developers, DevOps, and other stakeholders.

• Lead automation initiatives across web, API, integration, and end-to-end testing.

• Evaluate, select, and recommend modern automation tools, frameworks, and technologies.

• Integrate automated testing into CI/CD pipelines and DevOps processes.

• Conduct code reviews and ensure adherence to established automation architecture and coding standards.

• Identify testing bottlenecks and continuously improve automation coverage, reliability, execution speed, and maintainability.

• Support test planning, estimation, release planning, and production readiness activities.

• Drive Quality Engineering and Shift-Left Testing practices across the software development lifecycle.

• Define automation standards and reusable components that can be adopted across multiple applications and teams.

• Establish automation metrics and reporting to measure framework effectiveness, test coverage, execution efficiency, and quality outcomes.

• Partner with engineering teams to improve testability, application quality, and overall SDLC processes.

Required Skills & Experience

• 12+ years of overall experience in Software Quality Assurance, Test Automation, and Quality Engineering.

• Strong hands-on experience with:

  • Selenium WebDriver

  • .NET / C#

  • Playwright

  • Test automation framework design and development

• Strong experience designing and implementing enterprise-level automation frameworks.

• Experience with API automation and testing frameworks/tools.

• Strong understanding of automation architecture, test design patterns, reusable components, and framework best practices.

• Experience with BDD/TDD frameworks and practices.

• Strong experience with source control systems such as Git.

• Hands-on experience with CI/CD tools including Azure DevOps, Jenkins, GitHub Actions, or similar platforms.

• Experience integrating automated tests into CI/CD pipelines.

• Strong understanding of SDLC, STLC, Quality Engineering, and software testing methodologies.

• Experience working in Agile/Scrum environments.

• Experience in financial services, banking, or credit union environments.

• Strong troubleshooting, analytical, and problem-solving skills.

Preferred Skills

• Experience with performance and load testing tools and methodologies.

• Knowledge of Microsoft Azure or other cloud platforms.

• Experience with AI-assisted testing and intelligent test automation solutions.

• Familiarity with Docker and Kubernetes.

• Experience with cloud-based test automation and distributed test execution.

• Knowledge of modern DevOps and engineering practices.

Leadership Requirements

• Proven experience leading QA automation teams and technical automation initiatives.

• Ability to define and implement enterprise-level automation strategy and architecture.

• Strong stakeholder management, communication, and presentation skills.

• Experience mentoring, coaching, and developing QA automation engineers.

• Ability to influence quality practices across engineering, development, product, and business teams.

• Strong ability to communicate complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

• Demonstrated ability to drive automation adoption and continuous quality improvement across multiple teams.