QA Lead

Job description

Role Overview We are seeking a QA Lead to build, own, and continuously mature the quality assurance function at Teifi. This is both a strategic and hands-on leadership role — you will define how QA operates across all delivery pods, establish the standards, frameworks, and tooling that QA Analysts execute against, and ensure consistent delivery quality across every client engagement. You will work closely with QA Analysts, Engineering Leads, Business Analysts, Project Managers, and the Systems Architect to embed quality throughout the delivery lifecycle — from Discovery through to post-launch. Key Responsibilities Test Planning, Strategy & Standards Define and own Teifi's QA methodology, standards, and best practices across all projects and delivery pods. Establish the test strategy framework that QA Analysts use to tailor approaches per engagement — covering scope, complexity, risk profile, testing phases, timelines, entry/exit criteria, and resource requirements. Drive and enforce risk-based testing strategies, ensuring test effort is consistently prioritized toward high-impact areas across all pods. Own test environment strategy in collaboration with the Systems Architect and Engineering Leads — defining standards for environment readiness, feature flag configuration, production-aligned settings, CI/CD pipeline dependencies, and data seeding. Build and maintain reusable test frameworks, templates, checklists, and QA tooling to enable efficient and consistent execution by QA Analysts. Test Design, Execution & Oversight Define standards and templates for test case creation, ensuring QA Analysts produce cases that thoroughly cover functional requirements, edge cases, and user journeys. Own and maintain the test case repository strategy — ensuring cases are versioned, organized, and reusable across projects and sprints. Oversee QA execution across multiple concurrent pods, ensuring consistent quality standards in all testing phases: sanity, smoke, regression, functional, integration, cross-browser, cross-device, accessibility, and performance testing. Perform hands-on QA on complex or high-risk features, integrations, and platform migrations. Step in as primary QA executor on projects where a dedicated QA Analyst is not assigned, or during peak delivery periods to ensure quality coverage is maintained. Review and approve test plans and test cases produced by QA Analysts before execution. Own design artifact review processes, ensuring wireframes and high-fidelity mockups are reviewed for quality issues before they reach development. Establish standards for accessibility testing compliance (WCAG) and performance testing (page load times, throughput validation) across engagements. Defect Management & Quality Reporting Define and own the defect management process and lifecycle — from identification through resolution and verification — ensuring QA Analysts follow consistent triage, severity classification, and reporting standards. Establish defect tracking tooling, processes, and metrics infrastructure to systematically capture defect rates and quality data across all pods. Define and track QA metrics across pods, including defect rates, test coverage, stories passed first time, and other quality indicators. Produce and own quality reporting — providing stakeholders and leadership with visibility into test outcomes, coverage levels, outstanding risk, and overall quality health. Drive continuous improvement by analyzing systemic quality issues and implementing process changes to prevent recurrence. Release Readiness & Go-Live Define and enforce the Definition of Done across all delivery pods, holding teams accountable to agreed quality standards. Own the sprint QA sign-off process, ensuring QA Analysts have clear criteria and authority to formally confirm deliverables meet the required quality bar. Build and maintain the go-live QA checklist, providing a structured final quality gate before production deployment. Lead go-live readiness assessments and sign-off across projects, coordinating with Engineering Leads and Project Managers on release timing, dependencies, and risk assessment. Oversee post-launch validation standards, ensuring QA Analysts verify deployed solutions in production — accounting for environment-specific differences such as DNS, CDN, live payment gateways, and third-party integrations. Cross-functional Collaboration Partner with Business Analysts to ensure acceptance criteria are testable, unambiguous, and fully covered by QA effort before sprint planning. Provide QA input during Discovery and architecture reviews, contributing a quality and testability lens to surface potential risks before they reach implementation. Partner with Engineering Leads on release management, coordinating release planning and ensuring QA sign-off is complete before deployment proceeds. Collaborate with the Systems Architect on performance testing strategy — partnering with engineering who provide load testing tooling and handle deeper infrastructure-level performance engineering. Work with Project Managers on sprint QA sign-off cadence, release readiness communication, and quality risk escalation. People & Process Mentor and develop QA Analysts, building capability and consistency across the team. Define onboarding processes for new QA team members, ensuring rapid ramp-up on Teifi's QA standards and tooling. Drive continuous improvement in QA processes, identifying systemic issues and implementing solutions across the practice. Report on quality health to project and leadership teams, advocating for investment in quality where needed. Qualifications 5+ years of experience in QA, with at least 2 years in a lead or senior QA role. Experience building or maturing a QA function within an agency, implementation, or e-commerce environment. Strong hands-on testing experience across functional, regression, integration, smoke, sanity, cross-browser, cross-device, accessibility, and performance testing. Experience testing complex web applications, ideally within Shopify Plus or other modern e-commerce platforms — including API integrations, third-party applications, payment gateways, and ERP/OMS integrations. Proven ability to define QA standards, processes, and tooling from the ground up. Strong understanding of software development lifecycles (SDLC), Agile delivery methodologies, sprint-based workflows, and release management. Experience mentoring and developing junior and mid-level QA team members. Familiarity with accessibility standards (WCAG) and performance testing methodologies. Experience using and administering defect tracking and project management tools such as Jira, ClickUp, Linear, or similar platforms. Exposure to test automation frameworks or automation tooling is considered an asset. Strong communicator — able to advocate for quality with both technical and non-technical stakeholders. Exceptional organizational skills with the ability to oversee multiple concurrent projects in a fast-paced agency environment. A proactive mindset with a strong sense of ownership, accountability, and commitment to building a high-performing QA practice. ISTQB Advanced or equivalent certification is considered an asset. Benefits & Perks Ongoing professional development through training programs, certifications, and peer mentorship Hybrid work model depending on role, with a Granville Island office and free on-site parking Flexibility in work hours designed to accommodate appointments and personal responsibilities Comprehensive health and dental coverage in Canada, plus a health spending account Paid office closure between Christmas and New Year’s Regular team culture events, stocked office snacks, and a dog friendly workplace Performance based bonus opportunities for full-time employees We are an equal opportunity employer and love diversity at our company! We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, or disability status. About Teifi Teifi Digital, a Shopify Plus Platinum partner, excels in resolving complex e-commerce challenges. We focus on integrating large catalogs, sophisticated data frameworks, and legacy systems into seamless unified commerce and B2B solutions, delivering unparalleled customer experiences. Our skill in deploying Shopify Plus caters to top-tier merchants in manufacturing, parts, distribution, retail, and B2B, ensuring minimal technical debt and maximized e-commerce revenue. An AI-Forward Workplace AI is embedded in how we work. Our team regularly uses AI tools to enhance productivity, streamline processes, and deliver better outcomes. Candidates joining us should be comfortable leveraging AI as part of their day-to-day workflow and open to developing their skills as these tools evolve. Familiarity with AI tools is a plus; a willingness to learn and adapt is a must. As part of our hiring process at Teifi Digital, any offer of employment is conditional upon the successful completion of a background check.