Full Description

ABOUT LINKLY

Linkly is a PE-backed, Australian fintech focusing on payment integration solutions. We are a leading provider in ecommerce recurring billing, and our middleware powers over 200,000 terminals and processes over two billion transactions annually. Our applications support over 800 integrations into POS solutions. We have built our reputation through seamless integration of payment terminals and POS systems and are continuing to innovate in creating a terminal and acquirer independent payment solicitor for in-store. Our clients include major banks and retailers such as Woolworths, David Jones, JB Hi-Fi, and Bunnings. Our goal is to continuously lead the payments industry with new technology delivering value to clients, which who include merchants, banks, acquirers and POS vendors, expanding our presence into other regions.

Job Summary The Quality Assurance Team Lead is responsible for leading QA delivery for card-present payment solutions, with a strong focus on in-store terminals, middleware, and integrations. This role includes building test automation capability from the ground up, while maintaining strong manual testing discipline in a regulated payments environment. The role also has responsibility for uplifting and integrating offshore QA capability, ensuring consistent quality standards, clear ownership, and effective collaboration across locations. The role is hands-on and pragmatic, balancing delivery needs, regulatory risk, and long-term quality uplift.

Key Responsibilities

Quality Strategy & Leadership Own and execute QA strategy for card-present payment systems across onshore and offshore teams. Define a phased quality and automation roadmap, aligned to delivery risk and release cadence. Embed quality early through collaboration with Development, promoting testability and shift-left practices. Provide clear quality signals and risk assessments for release readiness.

Automation & Tooling (Greenfield) Design and build test automation capability from scratch, prioritising high-risk and high-repeat payment flows. Define standards for automation quality, maintainability, and ownership. Make pragmatic decisions on what to automate vs what remains manual, particularly for terminal and hardware-dependent testing. Progressively integrate automated testing into CI/CD pipelines as maturity increases.

Terminal & Payments Testing Lead testing of in-store POS terminals and card-present transaction flows. Validate end-to-end payment journeys across terminals, middleware, acquirers, switching systems, and back-office platforms. Ensure coverage of real-world scenarios including reversals, refunds, offline behaviour, connectivity issues, and device lifecycle events. Oversee regression, integration, and system testing across multiple platforms and devices.

Offshore Capability Build Build, coach, and uplift offshore QA team capability, including test design, execution quality, and automation practices. Establish clear ways of working, handover models, and ownership boundaries between onshore and offshore teams. Provide ongoing mentoring, feedback, and performance guidance to offshore QA leads and engineers. Ensure offshore delivery meets Linkly’s quality, security, and compliance expectations.

Compliance & Risk Ensure QA practices align with payments compliance requirements, including PCI DSS and internal security standards. Maintain robust test documentation and evidence to support audits and regulatory reviews. Partner with Security, Risk, and Compliance teams to prioritise defects appropriately.

Team Leadership & Collaboration Lead, mentor, and develop QA engineers across multiple locations. Support hiring, onboarding, and capability development within the QA function. Collaborate closely with Development, Delivery, Operations, and external partners. Track, report, and manage defects using tools such as JIRA, ensuring timely resolution.

Qualifications/ Experience

Essential Experience leading QA teams in payments, fintech, or other regulated environments. Demonstrated experience building test automation capability from zero. Strong manual testing background for complex, high-risk systems. Payments industry experience, including knowledge of EMV, AS2805 or ISO8583, switching systems, and back-office payment platforms. Experience working with onshore and offshore delivery teams.

Desirable Experience testing in-store POS terminals. Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines and automation frameworks. Experience with API testing tools (e.g. Postman) and cloud-based environments. Prior exposure to audit-driven or PCI-regulated environments.

Behaviours required

At Linkly, we encourage our people to embrace our values, being

• Act like an owner
• Innovate
• Deepen Trust
• Care and respect