Didcot, England, United Kingdom
Since 2011 I have worked within an IT consultancy in the retail sector and a software house helping deliver market leading products for the leisure industry. Like so many others in QA I stumbled into a software testing role by chance but it fits with two of my favourite parts within any job; problem solving and continuous improvement. Working within a consultancy provided me with a rapid growth of experience within QA allowing me to see the best and worst bits of Waterfall and Agile methodologies. Working within a software house has since allowed me to hone my skills, implement processes and improvements as well as branching out into a more technical role.
Test resource for a replatforming project to move to a new React UI and a new ContentStack CMS. - Manual testing of APIs and their integration with DBs and other applicaitons - API automation using C#, NUnit framework and FluentAssertion library - Wrote automation guidelines and coding standards documentation for improved consistency - Manual UI testing assessing overall functionality, screen responsiveness and accessibility - Pushed through processes to empower the test team such as allowing QA to deploy branches - Provided technical support and training for Chrome DevTools, APIs and other internal project related work - Helped add in JIRA automation to improve team workflows - Ran various daily standups across multiple teams - Ran demonstrations in sprint reviews to various business stakeholders and external parties
Manual Testing - Worked within both Scrum and Kanban teams helping to test project requirements - Was the lead QA in bringing our latest SaaS product up to WCAG AA compatibility for less-abled access using Axe browser tools and NVDA screen readers - Tested Angular based UI on mobile, mobile as a PWA and desktop using Chrome developer tools and redux developer tools - Tested RESTful APIs via Postman and local debugging when required - Regression testing of our on-premise products Automation - Helped structure and write API automation tests in C# using SpecFlow for BDD methodology and working with Entity Framework - Jointly responsible for automation testing coding standards - Responsible for creating and managing an end to end UI automation regression pack using Cypress to test the Angular front end - Assisted with basic load testing of APIs using Artillery Process - Helped work the business towards ISO 9001 accreditation. - Jointly responsible as part of the senior QAs for the upskilling and mentoring of junior QA roles - Jointly responsible for identifying process gaps and potential improvements as well as their implementation Non-QA - Became a certified Scrum Master to lead the relevant internal scrum teams I was in - JIRA administrator for setting up new users, projects and JIRA Automation routines - Stepped up to take on Product Owner responsibilities on a chip & pin upgrade project as well as a new recurring card payment product - Pushed through multiple smaller bug fixes in both the API layer and the front end UI as part of a drive towards cross functional teams
Promoted to a Test Lead and responsible for the day to day management of test projects on client sites reporting to senior management and often directly to clients. - Produce core project documentation (test plans, test exit reports, weekly reporting etc) - Assisting with the production of high level testing strategy documents - Management of defect life cycles and led subsequent review meetings - Co-ordination and leading numerous client UAT sessions - Currently responsible for the co-ordination of offshore testing resources - Introduction of ongoing process improvements
Client facing software Test Analyst responsible for writing test scripts and effective defect management across functional and integration test projects. - Worked across many retailers and hospitality clients including: BrightHouse, Fourth Hospitality, National Express, Mothercare, Monsoon, Pizza Hut, WDFG - Worked closely with Oracle SQL in various integration projects - Built macro embedded test tools within MS Excel to speed up or increase the activities within test execution
Responsible for the analysis of sub-contractor performance. Analysis results then fed into a programme of continuous improvement of our department. - Previously promoted from Management Support role to a seconded Team Leader role - Previously promoted from Administrator to Management Support role within 6 months