Test Manager - Quality Assurance

This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, who manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Test Manager - Quality Assurance based in Canada. The Test Manager will lead Quality Assurance strategy and execution within a AAA game development environment. You will oversee embedded QA teams while partnering with production and cross-functional leadership to balance quality, schedule, and delivery risk. The role spans test planning, milestone readiness, defect and risk management, platform certification, and release stabilization. You will establish data-driven quality practices and ensure testing is integrated early throughout the feature and development lifecycle. A major focus will be developing QA talent, coordinating internal and external resources, and creating shared ownership of quality across disciplines. You will also drive continuous improvement through automation, tooling, metrics, and process refinement in a complex, high-impact game development setting. Accountabilities: - Define global QA strategies, test objectives, quality gates, and risk-based testing methodologies for major project milestones. - Integrate QA into early development planning and feature lifecycles to identify and address quality risks proactively. - Lead, mentor, and develop QA Leads and testers while fostering ownership, collaboration, and high performance. - Manage internal, external, and co-development QA resources to align testing capacity with project requirements. - Oversee functional, gameplay, performance, stability, multiplayer, and platform certification testing. - Monitor defect trends, prioritize critical issues, and ensure high-impact problems are driven through to resolution. - Analyze defect data, identify systemic quality issues, and lead root-cause analysis and preventative quality initiatives. - Communicate emerging quality risks, technical assessments, and build health clearly to Production and project leadership. - Establish QA schedules and deliverables for key milestones and provide objective assessments of build stability and release readiness.

- Coordinate regression testing and stabilization efforts during high-pressure release periods. - Lead preparation for first-party platform certification, including test planning and submission risk tracking. - Represent QA at the project leadership level, advocating for quality while balancing technical standards and production constraints. - Build strong cross-functional partnerships that establish quality as a shared responsibility across the development organization. - Manage external QA vendors and co-development teams, establishing expectations, reporting standards, and alignment with internal QA strategy. - Implement dashboards and data-driven reporting to track build health, test coverage, defects, and milestone progress. - Improve QA efficiency through automation, tooling, process retrospectives, and continuous refinement of testing practices. Requirements: - 7+ years of professional software QA experience, including 3+ years managing QA teams within game development. - Proven experience shipping at least one major AAA game title across the full development lifecycle. - Strong expertise in test strategy development, risk-based testing, and Agile methodologies. - Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence senior leadership and communicate complex quality risks effectively. - Demonstrated ability to balance quality objectives, project schedules, production constraints, and technical risk. - Strong leadership, mentoring, delegation, and team development capabilities. - Experience managing distributed, external, or vendor-based QA resources is highly valuable. - Familiarity with Jira, TestRail, QA automation, telemetry, and data-driven quality reporting. - Experience with console certification, multiplayer or online services, and live-service operations is desirable.