Senior Validation and Verification Test Specialist
at Thales Canada Inc., Defence and Security

Job Description

Location: Ottawa, Canada

In fast changing markets, customers worldwide rely on Thales. Thales is a business where brilliant people from all over the world come together to share ideas and inspire each other. In aerospace, transportation, defence, security and space, our architects design innovative solutions that make our tomorrow's possible.

For decades, Ottawa has been a global technology leader. Today, Canada's capital holds one of the brightest and most diverse technological ecosystems in North America. Voted as Canada's best place to live 2017 by Maclean's, Ottawa offers a low cost of living with a high quality of life. The Thales Ottawa office has been a major supplier and long-term trusted partner to DND, enabling the Canadian Armed Forces and the Canadian Coast Guard to achieve mission success.

Senior Validation and Verification Test Specialist- LC5ISR

Ottawa, Ontario- Hybrid

Regulatory Compliance Requirements

Ability to acquire and maintain Canadian Secret, Controlled Goods, ITAR, NATO Secret and COMSEC security clearances.

Position Summary

Thales Canada, Defence & Security is engaged in the development of Canada's defence capabilities.

To support this project, the IVVQ team (Integration, Verification, Validation, and Quality Team) is looking to add an experienced Senior Validation and Verification Test Specialist to lead and execute integration, verification, validation and qualification activities for complex systems on the LC4ISR program, to be based in Ottawa.  The IVVQ Specialist plays a critical role as part of the Engineering team responsible for the design, conduct, and reporting of IVVQ activities. The role also requires acting as a SAFe Agile Product Owner or Scrum Master for one of the work teams (or a hybrid of these responsibilities), driving test backlog, sprint execution, cross‑team coordination and stakeholder alignment in a scaled Agile environment.

Key Areas of Responsibility  

• Define, develop and execute IVVQ strategies, plans, procedures and test cases across unit, integration, system, regression and qualification levels.

• Lead integration and system-level test campaigns in lab and field environments; coordinate configuration items, test harnesses, instrumentation and test data.

• Plan and Execute Test Events.

• Write test plans and test procedures that will properly verify and validate the product.

• Analyze requirements and contribute to the development of traceability matrices.

• Develop Test cases.

• Work with System and Software Engineering in identifying and analyzing defects.

• Capture, classify and manage anomalies and non‑conformances through to closure; support root cause analysis and corrective actions.

• Provide Test Reports and status updates on test activities.

• Deploy methodologies (including metrics), tools/platforms necessary for test activities

• Ensure adherence to test guidelines and Company internal processes

• Create and maintain traceability between requirements, design artefacts and test cases; manage requirements change impact.

• Manage test environments, tooling and automation (CI/CD for test, test benches, simulators, emulators).

• Prepare test reports, qualification packages and evidence for certification or customer acceptance.

• As Product Owner: own and prioritize the test/product backlog, write and refine user stories and acceptance criteria, define release priorities, represent test/product interests in PI planning and stakeholder meetings.

• As Scrum Master: facilitate Scrum (and/or Agile) ceremonies, remove impediments, drive continuous improvement, coach team on Agile/SAFe principles and ensure delivery flow.

• Coordinate across engineering teams, systems engineers, safety, quality, suppliers and customers to ensure alignment of IVVQ activities with programme objectives.

• Monitor and report IVVQ status and key metrics (coverage, pass/fail, defect trends, test progress) to leadership and stakeholders.

• Apply risk‑based testing approaches and contribute to verification and validation strategies that satisfy regulatory or domain standards

• Contribute to test automation and tooling improvements (contribute scripts, reusable test components, pipelines).

• Coordinate with Engineering Delivery Managers and Project Managers to report on team progress, shortfalls and make recommendations for increasing efficiency.

Minimum Qualifications  

• At least eight (8) years demonstrated experience in IV&V or a related field

• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills.

• Organized, detail-oriented and results-driven.

• Collaborative team player with leadership capabilities when acting as PO/SM.

• Previous experience with:

  • Test Case development and execution; either manual or automated.

  • Requirements Analysis.

  • Test Management Tools.

• Demonstrated capabilities:

  • Fluent in English, skilled communicator, both written and spoken.

  • Attention to Detail.

Preferred Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience in military systems.

  • Land systems

  • System of systems engineering and integration

  • Core network

  • Applications

• Experience handling and working on physical systems, products, or equipment

• Experience in automation.

• Demonstrable experience working in Agile teams and in a SAFe environment; prior experience acting as Product Owner and/or Scrum Master for an engineering/test team.

• Strong understanding of requirements management and traceability; experience with tools such as DOORS, Polarion, Jira, or equivalent.

• Practical experience with test tools and automation frameworks (e.g., TestRail, Jenkins, Robot Framework, VectorCAST, LabVIEW, Python scripting) and with CI/CD pipelines for testing.

• Bachelor's degree or college diploma in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Computer Technology, or other related discipline from a recognized university or college.

If you're excited about working with Thales, but not meeting the requirements for this position, we encourage you to join our Talent Community!

Special Position Requirements

Test sites can be located in difficult-to-navigate areas.  This could include shipyards, construction sites, remote wilderness locations. Such sites may need to be used for certain test events.  The ability to navigate such sites is a necessity.

Minimal lifting of test and electronic equipment in a lab or field environment.

Schedule: 8 hrs Mon to Fri.

Physical Environment: Hybrid and/or at other Customer Site(s).

Travel: Occasional travel within the Ottawa area will be necessary, for technical meetings and planning at the Client's site.

Why Join Us?

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The reference Total Target Compensation(TTC) market range for this position, inclusive of annual base salary and the variable compensation target, is between

Total Target Cash (TTC) 98,595.16 - 165,934.48 CAD Annual

Thales provides an extensive benefits program for all full-time employees working 24 or more hours per week and their eligible dependents, including the following: 

• Company paid Extended Health, Dental, HSA, Life, AD&D, Short-term Disability, Cancer Care Program, travel insurance, Employee Assistance Plan and Well-Being program.

• Retirement Savings Plans (RRSP, DCPP, TFSA) with a company contribution and a match to a DCPP, with no vesting period.

• Company paid holidays, vacation days, and paid sick leave. 

• Voluntary Life, AD&D, Critical Illness, Long-Term Disability.

• Employee Discounts on home, auto, and gym membership.

Thales is an equal opportunity employer which values diversity and inclusivity in the workplace. Thales is committed to providing accommodations in all parts of the interview process. Applicants selected for an interview who require accommodation are asked to advise accordingly upon the invitation for an interview. We will work with you to meet your needs. All accommodation information provided will be treated as confidential and used only for the purpose of providing an accessible candidate experience.

This position requires direct or indirect access to hardware, software or technical information controlled under the Canadian Export Control List, the Canadian Controlled Goods Program, the Canadian Industrial Security Program, the US International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and/or the US Export Administration Regulations (EAR). All applicants must be eligible or able to obtain authorization for such access including eligibility to the Canadian Controlled Goods Program and able to obtain a Canadian NATO Secret clearance.