Quality Assurance Manager

As the largest Canadian-owned and operated K-12 publisher, Nelson Education Ltd. is Canada's only heritage education content provider, known for its innovative products and solutions catering to learners across the country.

Nelson is on a mission to make learning accessible, engaging, and effective for all. That's why Nelson continuously strives to create dynamic curriculum-aligned content that caters to diverse learning styles, fostering critical thinking, creativity, and life-long learning.

In response to the evolving education landscape, Nelson developed Edwin, a digital learning ecosystem. Edwin is a learning platform for classroom success, providing curriculum-linked content, engaging tools and unparalleled support to reach every student.

Nelson is redefining education and making a positive impact on the way knowledge is acquired and shared by creating the possible, one learner at a time.

About the Role

Reporting to the Engineering Manager, the Quality Assurance (QA) Manager will lead a team of QA Analysts to define and execute test strategies across our internal and external web applications with a variety of methods (manual, gray box, automated, usability and accessibility).  The successful candidate will be responsible for managing day-to-day QA operations and providing leadership their team while still participating directly in testing activities and contributing to process improvements throughout the software development lifecycle.

Working closely alongside a range of colleagues in the product development team, this role requires a strong leader who thrives in a hands-on environment, is highly organized, and can communicate cross-functionally across all levels of the organization. 

Key Accountabilities

• Lead, mentor, and support a high-performing, distributed QA team, ensuring testing coverage across all platforms, browsers, and use cases is complete and accurate.
• Lead various test sessions with key members of the release team, ensuring the functionality of the product(s); Effectively communicate defects to stakeholders and developers responsible for the products being tested, taking ownership of the QA process.
• Drive QA team activities during sprint planning and retrospectives and conduct test plan reviews to align on expectations and coverage.
• Develop and execute test cases, test plans, and other supplemental documentation as needed while maintaining the QA process.
• Identify, document, and regress defects in Jira with clear, reproducible steps.
• Ensure validated deliverables meet functional specifications and business requirements.
• Collaborate closely with developers, product managers, and other stakeholders to communicate test findings and coordinate releases.
• Oversee and contribute to the development, execution, and maintenance of automated testing suites.
• Develop and maintain QA documentation, best practices, and training materials for both team members and cross-functional partners.
• Continuously evaluate and recommend tools, processes, and technologies to improve test efficiency and product quality.
• Stay up to date on the current functionality of our product(s) and the ways our customers use it in the classroom.

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience testing web applications, including cross-browser, API, and database testing.
• 2+ years of experience in a QA leadership or similar leadership role, with demonstrated success directly managing small teams.  Leadership experience in a remote work environment is considered an asset.
• 3+ years of experience writing and maintaining automated tests using modern automation tools.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related technical field or equivalent practical experience.
• Exemplary organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a collaborative, fast-paced, agile environment.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with the ability to present complex, technical information cross-functionally.
• Strong sense of accountability and ownership with the desire to take initiative and continuously improve processes.
• Extensive, proven experience developing test strategies, plans, and documentation.
• Solid technical foundation with an understanding of front-end and back-end development, APIs, microservices, and security considerations.

Benefits

Compensation
The base salary range for this position starts at $90,000 per annum based on experience. Compensation is part of our broader Total Rewards package, which includes benefits and programs that support employee well-being and growth.

What We Offer
At Nelson, we believe in taking care of our people.

Your well-being, growth, and work-life balance matter to us, which is why we offer a comprehensive benefits package designed to support you—professionally and personally.

Health & Wellness

• Flexible and customizable health, dental, and paramedical plans for employees and their families
• Health Spending Account (HSA) for medical, hospital, or dental costs not covered by insurance
• Personal Spending Account (PSA) for wellness expenses, including fitness and health related products
• A comprehensive Employee Assistance Program (EAP) providing confidential support spanning from mental health services to financial counselling, and many things in-between
  

Financial & Professional Wellbeing

• Pension plan with company matching contributions
• Registered Retirement Pension Plan to help secure your future
• Annual educational reimbursement for professional development
• Access to LinkedIn Learning for continuous skill growth

Flexibility & Time Off

• Hybrid work model with remote and in-office options
• Flexible work hours (divisional dependent)
• Generous paid time off policies, including vacation time, sick leave, parental leave top-up, personal days, and more
• Annual paid volunteer day to support causes you care about
• Holiday closure from Christmas to New Year’s
• Summer Fridays

Don’t have 100% of the above qualifications? Do you still think Nelson is a great fit for you? We encourage you to apply anyway!  

Our EDI Statement
Nelson teaches the world by learning from everyone in it. 

We are committed to fostering an equitable, diverse, and inclusive workplace environment. This is an integral part of our company’s culture and mission that aligns with our four key pillars of Employee Diversity, Developing Authentic and Accurate Content, Amplifying External Voices, and Supporting the Local Community and Beyond.

We believe in the power of education and our ability to impact social change.  Truth, honesty, integrity, and respect guide our decisions and actions in the development of learning solutions that empower success for all educators and learners. 

We value a respectful, inclusive, and safe workplace that nurtures belonging and represents many different cultures, backgrounds, perspectives, and opinions.  Everyone is free to be who they are. 

We foster and continue to build relationships that are equitable, diverse, and inclusive with existing and future partners in education.

We commit to holding ourselves accountable by creating measurable short and long-term goals that place equity, diversity, and inclusion at the core of what we do in our resources, the workplace, the educational community, and in the larger society. 

We strive to build an inclusive world for everyone.  We are stronger together.

AI and Automated Hiring Tools
Nelson uses AI support tools in our applicant tracking system to help with tasks such as summarizing points and anonymizing applications. All candidate screening, assessments, and hiring decisions are done by people.

Interview Outcome Notification
Nelson is committed to keeping candidates informed. All candidates who attend an interview for a publicly advertised role will be notified of the outcome of their candidacy.  Candidates will be notified of the hiring decision no later than 45 days after the last interview.

Our Commitment

Nelson is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to Inclusion, Equity and Diversity. As part of this commitment, we do not discriminate on the basis of age, race, sex, gender, gender identity, colour, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, marital status, citizenship, veteran status, or disability status. 

Should you require any accommodation during our recruitment and selection process, please reach out to peopleandengagement@nelson.com.