Sr Quality Assurance and Technical Support Specialist

About Instantel

Instantel is a global business unit within Securitas Technology SPS that designs and manufactures monitoring, intrusion detection, and access control solutions for commercial applications. In this role, you will be an integral member of the Access Control Software Engineering Team, helping ensure our products meet the highest standards of quality, reliability, and performance.

At Instantel, protecting our customers' security is our top priority. Success in this role requires meticulous attention to detail, clear and concise documentation, and excellent communication skills. A strong desire to learn established products, understand the customer experience and internal processes, and explore the interaction between hardware and software is essential.

Position Summary

The Senior Quality Assurance & Technical Support Specialist is a senior technical role responsible for combining product verification and validation with customer-facing technical support. This position plays a critical role in ensuring Instantel products meet functional requirements, performance specifications, reliability standards, and customer expectations while delivering exceptional technical assistance to dealers and end users worldwide.

Working closely with Engineering, Production, Sales, Product Management, the Manager of Quality Assurance, and the Director of Research and Development (R&D), this individual will help improve product quality, customer satisfaction, and operational efficiency. Beyond day-to-day responsibilities, the successful candidate will take ownership of developing, implementing, and continuously improving systems, processes, documentation, and best practices that strengthen the effectiveness, consistency, and scalability of both the Quality Assurance and Technical Support functions.

This is a hands-on, primarily on-site position at Instantel's Ottawa facility, requiring regular in-person collaboration and direct access to products, equipment, and testing environments.

Key Responsibilities

1. Quality Assurance: Product Verification and Validation

The Quality Assurance component of this role focuses on hands-on technical verification and validation of hardware, firmware, software, and integrated systems. The objective is to ensure products developed by Engineering meet established requirements and are ready for release.

Responsibilities include:

• Develop and execute comprehensive product verification and validation plans.

• Design, maintain, and improve structured test procedures, test cases, and verification documentation.

• Verify that products meet functional, performance, reliability, and usability requirements.

• Perform regression testing for hardware, firmware, and software releases.

• Identify, reproduce, document, and communicate product defects clearly and effectively to Engineering teams.

• Validate corrective actions and confirm that reported defects have been resolved.

• Participate throughout the product development lifecycle to identify risks and improve product quality before release.

• Assist with root cause investigations, failure analysis, and product performance evaluations.

• Support product launch readiness activities and release assessments.

• Provide objective, evidence-based recommendations to Engineering leadership regarding product quality and release readiness.

2. Quality Assurance: Continuous Improvement

As a senior member of the organization, this individual will help establish and continuously improve QA processes, standards, and practices.

Responsibilities include:

• Design and implement efficient QA systems, workflows, and testing methodologies.

• Establish and maintain testing standards, procedures, and documentation practices.

• Improve test coverage, repeatability, and consistency while identifying opportunities for test automation.

• Evaluate and recommend tools, technologies, and processes that improve product quality and operational efficiency.

• Develop and monitor meaningful QA metrics, reporting, and performance indicators.

• Identify process gaps and implement improvements that support product reliability, release readiness, and long-term scalability.

3. Technical Support: Customer and Dealer Assistance

The Technical Support component of this role provides professional, responsive, and technically accurate assistance to Instantel's global dealer network and end users. The successful candidate will serve as a trusted technical resource, resolving product issues while maintaining a high standard of customer service.

Responsibilities include:

• Respond professionally to incoming technical support calls and inquiries from dealers and end users.

• Diagnose and troubleshoot hardware, software, firmware, and application-related issues.

• Provide timely technical assistance by telephone, email, remote support, and other appropriate communication channels.

• Accurately document customer issues, troubleshooting steps, resolutions, and required follow-up.

• Escalate complex or unresolved technical issues to Engineering and other appropriate internal teams.

• Document, prioritize, and analyze support cases to identify recurring issues, emerging trends, and opportunities for improvement.

• Maintain strong customer relationships through responsive, professional, and solution-oriented support.

• Support product demonstrations, customer training sessions, and technical education activities.

• Assist Sales with technical evaluations, customer visits, and product-related discussions.

• Develop and maintain technical knowledge articles, troubleshooting guides, and customer support documentation.

4. Technical Support: Continuous Improvement

This individual will contribute to the ongoing development and effectiveness of the Technical Support function by improving processes, knowledge sharing, and service delivery.

Responsibilities include:

• Develop and implement efficient technical support workflows, procedures, and best practices.

• Build and maintain knowledge management resources that promote consistent troubleshooting and knowledge sharing.

• Identify recurring customer issues and collaborate with Engineering and other stakeholders to drive sustainable solutions.

• Identify opportunities to improve response times, resolution rates, and first-contact resolution.

• Recommend tools, systems, and processes that improve team productivity and customer satisfaction.

• Establish and monitor meaningful Technical Support metrics to evaluate service quality, responsiveness, and operational performance.

• Share customer feedback and technical insights with internal teams to inform product enhancements and future development priorities.

5. Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Collaborate with Engineering, Production, Service, Business Development, Sales, Marketing, Product Management, and Executive Leadership to support product quality and customer success.

• Serve as a technical liaison between internal stakeholders, dealers, and customers to communicate product issues, testing outcomes, and corrective actions.

• Partner with Engineering and Production to investigate defects, resolve technical challenges, and prevent recurring issues.

• Communicate product performance trends, customer feedback, and quality concerns to relevant stakeholders.

• Contribute technical expertise to product development, release planning, customer evaluations, and continuous improvement initiatives.

Qualifications and Experience

The ideal candidate will demonstrate the following qualifications and capabilities:

• A minimum of five years of relevant experience in Quality Assurance, product verification and validation, technical support, or a related technical field.

• Strong technical aptitude and practical knowledge of electronics, instrumentation, firmware, software, or integrated systems.

• Demonstrated experience developing and executing test plans, documenting defects, and validating product performance.

• Significant experience providing technical support to customers, dealers, distributors, or other channel partners.

• Exceptional troubleshooting, analytical, and problem-solving skills.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to translate complex technical information into clear, actionable guidance.

• Strong customer service, relationship management, and cross-functional collaboration skills.

• Demonstrated ability to develop and improve systems, processes, documentation, and operational tools.

• A continuous improvement mindset with a focus on product quality, operational excellence, and customer satisfaction.

• Strong organizational, prioritization, and project management skills.

• The ability to work independently, exercise sound technical judgment, and manage competing priorities in a collaborative environment.

Education Requirements

• A bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or a related engineering discipline is preferred.
• Candidates with an Electronics Engineering Technology diploma and substantial relevant industry experience may also be considered.

Work Environment and Travel

This is a primarily on-site position based at Instantel's Ottawa facility. Regular in-person collaboration with Engineering, Production, and R&D is essential to the role, particularly for hands-on product testing, equipment evaluations, and troubleshooting activities that cannot be performed effectively in a remote environment.

Occasional travel may be required to support customer visits, technical training, trade shows, product demonstrations, and other business-related technical support activities.