---
title: 'Associate Director, Quality Engineering (6 Months contract) at EQ Bank | Canada''s Challenger Bank'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/associate-director-quality-engineering-6-months-contract-eq-bank-canada-s-hv9pk7j23vx4'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-20'
---

# Associate Director, Quality Engineering (6 Months contract) at EQ Bank | Canada's Challenger Bank

- **Company:** EQ Bank | Canada's Challenger Bank
- **Location:** Toronto, Canada
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2026-10-13
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-20
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/eqbank/5248e333-8be4-4528-a885-36167636a874

## Job description

We are seeking an Associate Director, QA to lead and shape the automation testing strategy for our software applications, systems, and databases. This leadership role requires a strong technical background in software testing, SQL for database validation, and systems testing. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience managing and mentoring high-performing AQA teams, establishing quality assurance best practices, and driving end-to-end automation initiatives across complex software applications. This role combines both strategic leadership and hands-on technical expertise, focusing on ensuring that the quality of our products meets the highest standards.

Main Activities:

- Leadership & Team Management: Lead and manage the AQA team, including hiring, mentoring, and developing engineers. Foster a high-performing team culture focused on quality, innovation, and continuous improvement.
- Automation Strategy: Define and implement the strategic vision for test automation across software applications, systems, and databases. Drive the adoption of automation best practices, methodologies, and frameworks across the organization.
- SQL Database Testing: Oversee the development and execution of SQL-based automated tests for database validation, ensuring data integrity, performance, and security across multiple databases
- Integration of AI and Machine Learning: Leverage Azure Machine Learning (ML) to develop predictive models for automated testing, improving test coverage, and identifying potential software issues before they arise.
- Software Testing Leadership: Guide the automation of testing for various types of software applications (desktop, APIs) and systems, ensuring full test coverage and system reliability.
- Continuous Improvement: Drive the improvement of automation frameworks, testing processes, and toolsets to increase efficiency, scalability, and maintainability of test automation efforts.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with product management, development, and DevOps teams to ensure that testing efforts align with business objectives and product delivery timelines.
- Test Planning and Execution: Establish and enforce standards for test planning, execution, and reporting. Ensure comprehensive test coverage across all layers of the application stack, from UI to backend systems and databases. CI/CD Pipeline Integration: Oversee the integration of test automation into the CI/CD pipelines, ensuring automated tests run seamlessly as part of the build and deployment processes.
- Performance & Load Testing: Manage performance testing efforts for both applications and databases to ensure that systems can scale and perform efficiently under load.
- Quality Assurance Metrics: Define, measure, and report on key quality metrics, including defect density, test coverage, and test execution status. Use these metrics to continuously refine and improve testing strategies.
- Risk & Issue Management: Proactively identify potential risks to product quality and take appropriate action to mitigate risks, resolve issues, and communicate findings to key stakeholders.
- Stakeholder Engagement: Regularly update senior management and cross-functional teams on test results, challenges, and improvements, ensuring transparency and alignment with business goals.

Skills/Knowledge Requirements:

- At least 10+ years of experience in AQA or software testing, with 5+ years in a leadership or management position. Proven experience overseeing test automation across software applications, systems, and databases.
- Advanced proficiency in SQL, with extensive experience in writing complex queries, validating database integrity, and performing data migration and ETL testing.
- Strong experience with Azure Purview, Power Automate, Azure DevOps, and Azure Machine Learning.
- In-depth experience with test automation tools and frameworks such as Selenium, JUnit, TestNG, Cypress, Appium, or similar tools. Strong background in developing and maintaining scalable test automation frameworks.
- Experience testing a broad range of software applications (web, desktop, mobile) and systems (APIs, databases) with a strong focus on ensuring both functional and data quality.
- Experience managing and conducting performance, load, and stress testing for both software applications and databases using tools such as JMeter, LoadRunner, or equivalent.
- Proven expertise in integrating automated testing into CI/CD pipelines using tools like Jenkins, GitLab CI, Bamboo, or other CI/CD platforms.
- Strong leadership, organizational, and strategic thinking skills. Experience in leading large, distributed teams and guiding them through complex, multi-stage testing projects.
- Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams and communicate technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
- Strong analytical and troubleshooting skills, with the ability to diagnose complex issues across software applications, systems, and databases.
- Solid experience in Agile environments, with a deep understanding of Agile testing principles and practices.
- Experience with test management tools (ex: JIRA) for tracking test cases, defects, and metrics.

## About EQ Bank | Canada's Challenger Bank

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: A Canadian challenger bank providing digital-first personal and commercial banking, lending, and asset management through its EQ Bank platform and parent company EQB Inc.
- **Entity Type**: Public (TSX: EQB)
- **Headquarters**: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- **Founded**: 1970
- **Founders**: Not publicly available

## Core Business
- **Primary industries**: Banking, Financial Services, Digital Banking, Asset Management
- **Target customers**: B2C (Canadian consumers), B2B (small businesses, credit unions, commercial real estate borrowers)
- **Mission / purpose**: “Drive change in Canadian banking to enrich people’s lives” — challenging the status quo to bring more competition and better value to Canadians.

## Products & Services
- **EQ Bank**: Canada’s first all-digital, cloud-based bank offering high-interest savings, registered accounts, GICs, and everyday banking (SaaS-like digital platform)
- **Business Banking**: Recently launched all-digital banking platform for small businesses, offering greater value and a differentiated experience
- **Commercial Banking**: Lending focused on insured multi-unit residential securitization, serving builders and renovators of rental apartment supply
- **Insurance (Equitable Trust/Concentra)**: Home and auto insurance, estate and trust services
- **Asset Management (ACM Advisors)**: Alternative asset management for institutional investors
- **Credit Union Solutions**: Services for nearly 200 Canadian credit unions, serving approximately six million members

## Market Standing
- **Valuation / Market Cap**: Not directly disclosed in provided sources; combined assets under management and administration are $151 billion (company overview) – $138 billion (annual report). Market cap is not publicly available in the provided data.
- **Key Metric**: Annual revenue of $270 million (LinkedIn estimate); public company with SEC/TSX filings.
- **Notable Investors / Partners**: Exclusive financial partner of Loblaw Companies Limited’s PC Optimum™ loyalty program (18+ million members). Recognized as one of Forbes’ World’s Best Banks (2021‑2025) and named top bank in Canada and North America by The Banker (Financial Times, 2025).
- **Growth Signals**: 607,000 EQ Bank customers at end of Q4 2025 (18% YoY increase); directly serves over 779,000 customers; employee count grew to ~1,950 (from ~1,360 on LinkedIn, indicating significant hiring); moved into new national headquarters at EQ Bank Tower in Toronto (May 2025).

## Competitive Advantages
- **First-mover digital advantage**: Canada’s first all-digital bank, built on a proprietary cloud platform that enables rapid product development and fintech collaborations.
- **Challenger brand identity**: Distinct positioning as a “Challenger Bank™” that actively disrupts the big-five bank oligopoly, attracting customers seeking better value.
- **Massive embedded reach**: Exclusive partnership with PC Optimum (18M+ members) gives EQ Bank deep integration into daily Canadian spending.
- **Strong regulatory standing**: Operating as a Schedule I bank (7th largest by assets) with OSFI regulation, providing trust and stability.

## Strategic Focus
- **Open banking leadership**: Advocating for and integrating open banking to give customers control over their financial data and enable better choices.
- **Digital expansion**: Scaling the EQ Bank platform (record customer growth) and recently launching Business Banking to capture small business market.
- **Innovation & efficiency**: Leveraging cloud-native platform to drive best-in-class cost efficiencies and rapidly innovate new products.
- **Talent growth**: Investing in leadership development programs and building a pipeline of future leaders to sustain growth.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Recognized on LinkedIn Top Companies list for workplace growth and career progression (2024) and Canada’s Best Workplaces™ (2023). Emphasizes authenticity, inclusion, and a “Challenger” mindset.
- **Work model**: Hybrid work model with flexible hours, generous vacation, and a “work from away” program.
- **Compensation & benefits**: Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, fertility, and mental health support; company equity via stock matching; retirement savings plan with matching; 12 weeks top-up pay for parental leave.
- **Growth & learning**: Annual learning budget; allowances for home office and wellness; structured internship, co-op, and Leadership Development Program (LDP) offering real responsibility, mentorship, and cross-functional rotations.
- **Wellness**: Employee assistance program, sick days, life and disability insurance.
- **Perks**: New national headquarters at EQ Bank Tower in downtown Toronto.

## Sources
1. [eqbank.ca - Company Overview](https://www.eqbank.ca/about-us/about/company-overview)
2. [eqbank.ca - Careers](https://www.eqbank.ca/about-us/about/careers)
3. [jobs.lever.co/eqbank - Job listings](https://jobs.lever.co/eqbank)
4. [linkedin.com/company/-eqbank - LinkedIn company page](https://linkedin.com/company/-eqbank)
5. [filecache.investorroom.com - EQB 2025 Annual Report](https://filecache.investorroom.com/mr5ircnw_eqbank2/1591/EQB-2025_Annual_Report_Final.pdf)

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