Kikoff
About the Role
We are looking for our first QA Automation Manager at Kikoff, a fintech company building products that help Americans build credit. With millions of users trusting our platform, quality isn’t just important – it is essential to our mission. This is a rare ground‑floor opportunity: you will have full ownership to define testing strategy, build automation frameworks from scratch, establish quality processes, and create tools that enable product teams to own quality at scale.
IN THIS ROLE, YOU WILL
Build your quality engineering team from the ground up
Collaborate with the InfoSec Manager on compliance testing (SOC 2, PCI‑DSS)
Advise Core Platform and product teams on production monitoring
Report quality metrics and program maturity to leadership
Design test automation frameworks for backend (Ruby), web (JS), and mobile (Dart/Flutter)
Expand automated testing from current unit tests to integration, e2e, and UI/UX automation
Establish quality processes: testing standards, code review practices, defect workflows
Create self‑service testing tools that product teams adopt independently
Build contract, integration, performance, and visual regression capabilities
Partner with Core Platform on ephemeral environments and local execution automation
Integrate testing seamlessly into CI/CD pipelines
Train product engineers on testing frameworks and quality practices
Build documentation and runbooks that empower self‑service
Drive adoption through metrics: coverage gaps, flaky tests, execution performance, quality trends
Automate everything—start manual where needed, systematically eliminate it
Identify and close quality gaps not covered by product teams (especially UI/UX flows)
YOU HAVE
7+ years quality engineering experience, 3+ years building test automation and quality processes from scratch
2+ years of management experience
Player‑coach experience: built frameworks while hiring and leading teams
Expertise in test automation frameworks (Selenium, Playwright, Cypress, Appium)
Strong coding ability in Ruby, JavaScript/TypeScript, Python, or similar
CI/CD integration experience (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins)
Experience with UI/UX test automation and visual regression testing
Performance testing tools (JMeter, k6, Gatling)
Built internal testing platforms and quality processes that teams adopted
Can influence without authority – you enable, don't gatekeep
Self‑starter who builds programs from ambiguity
NICE TO HAVE
Fintech or regulated industry experience
Mobile test automation experience
Infrastructure‑as‑code familiarity (Pulumi, Terraform)
Accessibility testing experience
Open source testing framework contributions
Kikoff: A FinTech Unicorn Powering Financial Progress with AI At Kikoff, our mission is to provide radically affordable financial tools to help consumers achieve financial security. We’re a profitable, high‑growth FinTech unicorn serving millions of people, many of whom are building credit or navigating life paycheck to paycheck. With innovative technology and AI, we simplify credit building, reduce debt, and expand access to financial opportunities to those who need them most. Founded in 2019, Kikoff is headquartered in San Francisco and backed by top‑tier VC investors and NBA star Stephen Curry.
Why Kikoff This is a consumer fintech startup, and you will be working with serial entrepreneurs who have built strong consumer brands and innovative products. We value extreme ownership, clear communication, a strong sense of craftsmanship, and the desire to create lasting work and work relationships. Yes, you can build an exciting business AND have real‑life real‑customer impact.
Competitive pay based on experience.
Benefits
Medical, dental, and vision coverage – Kikoff covers the full cost of health insurance for the employee.
Meaningful equity in the form of RSU's.
Flexible vacation policy.
US salary range for this full‑time position consists of base + equity + benefits.
Location Hybrid – 3 days onsite in San Francisco, CA.
Visa sponsorship available Kikoff is willing to provide sponsorship for H1‑B visas and U.S. green cards for exceptional talent.
Equal Employment Opportunity Statement Kikoff Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to complying with all federal, state, and local laws providing equal employment opportunities and considers qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy, sex, gender expression or identity, sexual orientation, citizenship, or any other legally protected class.
Seniority level Mid‑Senior level
Employment type Full‑time
Job function Quality Assurance
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IN THIS ROLE, YOU WILL
Build your quality engineering team from the ground up
Collaborate with the InfoSec Manager on compliance testing (SOC 2, PCI‑DSS)
Advise Core Platform and product teams on production monitoring
Report quality metrics and program maturity to leadership
Design test automation frameworks for backend (Ruby), web (JS), and mobile (Dart/Flutter)
Expand automated testing from current unit tests to integration, e2e, and UI/UX automation
Establish quality processes: testing standards, code review practices, defect workflows
Create self‑service testing tools that product teams adopt independently
Build contract, integration, performance, and visual regression capabilities
Partner with Core Platform on ephemeral environments and local execution automation
Integrate testing seamlessly into CI/CD pipelines
Train product engineers on testing frameworks and quality practices
Build documentation and runbooks that empower self‑service
Drive adoption through metrics: coverage gaps, flaky tests, execution performance, quality trends
Automate everything—start manual where needed, systematically eliminate it
Identify and close quality gaps not covered by product teams (especially UI/UX flows)
YOU HAVE
7+ years quality engineering experience, 3+ years building test automation and quality processes from scratch
2+ years of management experience
Player‑coach experience: built frameworks while hiring and leading teams
Expertise in test automation frameworks (Selenium, Playwright, Cypress, Appium)
Strong coding ability in Ruby, JavaScript/TypeScript, Python, or similar
CI/CD integration experience (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins)
Experience with UI/UX test automation and visual regression testing
Performance testing tools (JMeter, k6, Gatling)
Built internal testing platforms and quality processes that teams adopted
Can influence without authority – you enable, don't gatekeep
Self‑starter who builds programs from ambiguity
NICE TO HAVE
Fintech or regulated industry experience
Mobile test automation experience
Infrastructure‑as‑code familiarity (Pulumi, Terraform)
Accessibility testing experience
Open source testing framework contributions
Kikoff: A FinTech Unicorn Powering Financial Progress with AI At Kikoff, our mission is to provide radically affordable financial tools to help consumers achieve financial security. We’re a profitable, high‑growth FinTech unicorn serving millions of people, many of whom are building credit or navigating life paycheck to paycheck. With innovative technology and AI, we simplify credit building, reduce debt, and expand access to financial opportunities to those who need them most. Founded in 2019, Kikoff is headquartered in San Francisco and backed by top‑tier VC investors and NBA star Stephen Curry.
Why Kikoff This is a consumer fintech startup, and you will be working with serial entrepreneurs who have built strong consumer brands and innovative products. We value extreme ownership, clear communication, a strong sense of craftsmanship, and the desire to create lasting work and work relationships. Yes, you can build an exciting business AND have real‑life real‑customer impact.
Competitive pay based on experience.
Benefits
Medical, dental, and vision coverage – Kikoff covers the full cost of health insurance for the employee.
Meaningful equity in the form of RSU's.
Flexible vacation policy.
US salary range for this full‑time position consists of base + equity + benefits.
Location Hybrid – 3 days onsite in San Francisco, CA.
Visa sponsorship available Kikoff is willing to provide sponsorship for H1‑B visas and U.S. green cards for exceptional talent.
Equal Employment Opportunity Statement Kikoff Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to complying with all federal, state, and local laws providing equal employment opportunities and considers qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy, sex, gender expression or identity, sexual orientation, citizenship, or any other legally protected class.
Seniority level Mid‑Senior level
Employment type Full‑time
Job function Quality Assurance
#J-18808-Ljbffr