We9re seeking a Quality Engineer whose primary contribution is automation - someone who defaults to code first and reaches for manual or exploratory testing only where automation isn9t the right tool. We practice shift-left quality engineering: quality is a shared responsibility, not a gate. You9ll work closely with software engineers, product teams, and business partners to build quality in from the start.
You9ll be working on Manulife Bank9s online banking web product - a customer-facing platform that Canadians use to manage their finances every day. The automation framework is being established. Your role is to help it mature: expanding coverage, improving reliability, and shaping how it evolves over time.
Position Responsibilities:Test Automation & Quality Engineering- Contribute to and help evolve the automated test framework for our TypeScript/JavaScript frontend and Backend for Frontend layers.
- Build automated test coverage across the full testing spectrum - functional, integration, regression, end-to-end, performance, accessibility, and reliability - prioritized by risk; use exploratory or manual testing only where automation provides insufficient coverage or ROI.
- Use AI tools to accelerate test authoring and coverage - the judgment and ownership are yours.
API & Application Testing- Validate REST APIs across BFF and backend service layers - including contract validation, authentication flows, error handling, and integration points.
- Identify, document, and resolve defects in partnership with developers; perform root cause analysis on test failures to prevent recurrence.
- Contribute to non-functional requirement validation - supporting performance benchmarking, accessibility audits, security reviews, and EN/FR bilingual coverage alongside your automated test suite.
Collaboration & Technical Partnership- Embed with agile squads - working closely with developers, BAs, and product owners from story refinement through release.
- Write and refine acceptance criteria (Gherkin format preferred) and maintain test plans that reflect scope, risk, coverage approach, and exit criteria - all traceable to automated test coverage.
- Participate in code reviews and advocate for testability, quality engineering best practices, and shift-left principles.
Continuous Improvement & Innovation- Integrate automated tests into CI/CD pipelines (PR-gating, regression gates, continuous feedback loops).
- Support shift-right quality practices such as production monitoring and feature flag validation as the team9s practices mature.
- Create and manage test data for automated test suites, with awareness of masking and environment parity requirements.
- Identify and act on opportunities to improve test efficiency, coverage, and delivery speed.
Required Qualifications:- Minimum 3+ years building and maintaining automated test frameworks across web, API, and integration layers.
- Strong proficiency in JavaScript or TypeScript - demonstrated through hands-on Playwright test authoring, debugging, and framework maintenance, with sufficient depth to review and own AI-assisted output.
- Experience testing REST APIs - validating contracts, auth flows, error scenarios, and service integrations.
- Experience integrating automated tests into CI/CD pipelines - configuring PR gates, regression runs, and continuous feedback loops.
- Solid understanding of risk-based testing, defect lifecycle management, and root cause analysis.
- Experience writing acceptance criteria in a structured format (e.g. Gherkin) and translating them into automated test coverage.
- Has used AI tools (e.g. GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, or similar) to produce test artifacts such as acceptance criteria, test cases, or automation scripts - with demonstrated judgment in reviewing and owning the output.
- Professional proficiency in English (written and verbal) required - this role involves authoring acceptance criteria, test plans, and collaborating with AI tools where clear written communication directly affects output quality.
Preferred Qualifications:- Post-secondary education in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Technology, or a related field - or equivalent professional experience.
- Experience contributing to and maintaining scalable test automation frameworks (e.g. Page Object Model, shared fixtures, service layer utilities).
- Experience with Java and testing Spring Boot services (e.g. unit, integration, contract testing).
- Familiarity with performance testing tools such as k6 or JMeter.
- Experience validating accessibility requirements against WCAG 2.x / AODA standards (e.g. axe-core, Deque).Experience with i18n/l10n test automation - including bilingual string key coverage, formatting validation (dates, currency), and detecting hardcoded strings.
- Exposure to application security testing - including authorization models, injection testing, and OWASP Top 10.
- Experience in banking, financial services, or other regulated industries - including audit trails, compliance controls, data privacy requirements, and test coverage traceability.
- Familiarity with Azure cloud services and cloud-based test environments.
- Experience contributing to a QE guild, shared framework, or cross-team quality practices.
- Professional certifications such as ISTQB, CSTE, or equivalent.
When you join our team: - We9ll empower you to learn and grow the career you want.
- We9ll recognize and support you in a flexible environment where well-being and inclusion are more than just words.
- As part of our distributed team, we9ll support you in shaping the future you want to see.
The role being advertised is an existing vacancy.
Referenced Salary LocationWaterloo, Ontario
Working ArrangementHybrid
Salary range is expected to be between$86,100.00 CAD - $136,100.00 CAD
Employees also have the opportunity to participate in incentive programs and earn incentive compensation tied to business and individual performance. The actual salary will vary depending on local market conditions, geography and relevant job-related factors such as knowledge, skills, qualifications, experience, and education/training. If you are applying for this role outside of the primary location, please contact [redacted] for the salary range for your location.
Manulife offers eligible employees a wide array of customizable benefits, including health, dental, mental health, vision, short- and long-term disability, life and AD&D insurance coverage, adoption/surrogacy and wellness benefits, and employee/family assistance plans. We also offer eligible employees various retirement savings plans (including pension and a global share ownership plan with employer matching contributions) and financial education and counseling resources. Our generous paid time off program in Canada includes holidays, vacation, personal, and sick days, and we offer the full range of statutory leaves of absence. If you are applying for this role in the U.S., please contact [redacted] for more information about U.S.-specific paid time off provisions.
