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Permanent & Contract · Canada

Hire QA & Automation Engineers

Screened for testers who automate what actually breaks, not just happy paths.

Why STACK IT

Built to hire QA and automation engineers, not fill seats.

Most agencies optimize for volume. We optimize for the one hire who’s right, vetted by people who understand the work.

A calibrated 3–5 person shortlistTypically within five business days, candidates chosen for your team, not a résumé flood.

Recruiters who speak test

We screen for how a tester decides what to automate and what to leave, and how they reason about risk and coverage. No candidate reaches you without two recruiters signing off.

Every candidate is real

Fake profiles, proxy interviews, and AI-assisted answers are everywhere in tech hiring. We meet each candidate face-to-face on video and screen for AI patterns, so who you interview is who shows up.

Screened to stay, not just to start

A hire that leaves in a year isn't a win. We align trajectory, growth, and total comp so the engineer grows with your team instead of moving on.

You pay only when they start

Success-based and non-exclusive, no upfront fees, no retainers. We invoice on your engineer's first day, not before.

How we screen

The QA & Automation Engineers Evaluation Rubric.

We screen for how QA and automation engineers actually think. Every shortlist is judged against the same five criteria that predict whether someone delivers in your codebase.

Open any criterion to see what separates a strong hire

Strong signal

Automates the high-risk, high-churn paths first and knows what is cheaper to test by hand.

Falls short

Automates everything or nothing, with a brittle suite no one trusts.

Strong signal

Targets coverage by risk and impact, not by chasing a percentage.

Falls short

Reports a high coverage number while the risky paths go untested.

Strong signal

Knows their automation stack deeply and keeps the suite fast and stable.

Falls short

Copies snippets without understanding why tests flake or slow down.

Strong signal

Tracks a flaky or failing test to its real cause and makes it reliable.

Falls short

Re-runs until it passes and moves on, leaving the flake in place.

Strong signal

Works with developers to catch issues early and build quality in, not just file bugs.

Falls short

Throws defects over the wall late, after the cost of the fix has climbed.

A candidate only reaches your shortlist after they meet all of our standards.

Hire QA and automation engineers with confidence.

Real technical screening, a calibrated shortlist in days, and candidates vetted for fit, not just resumes. Let’s start your search.

  • Pay only when they start
  • First candidates in 24–48 hrs
  • Screened for skills and fit

Specializations

QA & Automation Engineers, across your whole stack.

Whatever your team runs on, we screen for the people who do the work right.

Test Automation

End-to-end suites that teams actually trust.

Selenium Playwright Cypress

API Testing

Contract and integration testing for services.

Postman REST

Performance Testing

Load and stress testing before users find the limit.

JMeter k6

CI/CD & Pipelines

Tests wired into the pipeline, fast and reliable.

Jenkins GitHub Actions

Mobile & Cross-Browser

Coverage across devices and browsers.

Appium BrowserStack

Test Strategy & Coverage

Risk-based plans that focus effort where it counts.

Risk-based Coverage

The cost of waiting

An open role isn’t free.

An empty seat doesn’t delay work, it redistributes it. The longer the search drags, the more it costs.

Every week a role stays open, the cost lands on the team you already have.

  • Work waits in the backlog while priorities pile up.
  • They cover work that isn’t theirs, until something slips.
  • The longer the seat stays empty, the harder the restart.

Speed isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s the difference between a gap and a setback.

Time to fill this role

Industry average National, by experience & seniority
~62 days
With STACK IT typical placement
2–3 weeks
48 hrs
First qualified candidate
3–5 days
Calibrated shortlist
18%
Fewer delivery delays once they start

How you hire

Permanent or contract, your call.

Two models, one standard of quality. Bring on the QA and automation engineers you need the way that fits your timeline and budget.

Permanent

Permanent hire

Best when you’re building the team for the long term.

  • You only pay when they start, success-based, no upfront fee.
  • Full-cycle vetting for technical and cultural fit.
  • Backed by our 90-day replacement guarantee.
OR

Contract

Contract hire

Best when you need delivery capacity now, without adding headcount.

  • We’re the employer of record: payroll, compliance, and onboarding handled.
  • Most contractors placed in 5–10 business days.
  • Convert to permanent anytime, with a buyout discount that grows each month.

Not sure which fits? Compare permanent vs. contract

FAQ

Hiring QA and automation engineers, answered.

The questions teams usually ask before starting a search with us.

Recruiter-led and scenario-based, not generic coding tests. We dig into real test suites to see how an engineer reasons about risk, coverage, and what is worth automating. Every candidate is met face-to-face over video, the same practice behind our AI hiring fraud protection, and no one reaches your inbox until a second reviewer signs off.

You'll typically see your first qualified candidate within 24–48 hours, and a calibrated shortlist of three to five within about five business days. Most permanent roles close in two to three weeks; contract placements often start within 5–10 business days.

For permanent hires it's success-based: you pay only when a candidate starts, with no upfront fee or retainer. Contract placements run on a transparent hourly rate that already covers payroll, compliance, and onboarding. There's no cost to simply engage us.

Permanent placements are backed by our 90-day replacement guarantee: if it doesn't work out within the first 90 days, we replace them at no charge. It's part of how we stay accountable long after the placement. For contract roles, our backfill guarantee means we replace a contractor quickly and at no extra cost if they exit early.

No. We work non-exclusively by default, so you can keep your internal sourcing running or use other firms alongside us. We'd rather earn repeat business through results than lock you into an agreement. We just work best when feedback is quick and expectations are clear.

Still have a question? Talk to a recruiter

Bill 190 compliant by default.

Every search keeps your hiring audit-ready in Ontario.

See the Bill 190 checklist
  • Salary-range disclosure
  • AI-use transparency
  • Decisions within 45 days