Senior Automation QA Engineer

insightsoftware

Remote 05/2023 – 12/2025

insightsoftware is a global provider of reporting, analytics, and performance management solutions.

Automation & Innovation:

Pioneered AI-assisted QA workflow (GitHub Copilot + PowerShell) automating end-to-end Jira/Xray operations from requirements analysis through test execution and reporting
Streamlined documentation by building an AI pipeline that converted legacy training videos into a searchable library using transcript analysis, automated screenshot extraction, and context-aware wiki generation
Automated sprint release verification via Azure Pipelines using in-house C# / Selenium framework across multiple product lines
Developed a test reporting dashboard tool for the automation triage process to quickly generate an HTML / email report with the daily Azure test results across multiple environments and releases, replacing the manual process and reducing report generation time from over 10 minutes to under 30 seconds
Created an automated pipeline to extract 5000+ automated test cases from the legacy Team Foundation Server and generate corresponding test cases and test steps in Jira / Xray
Coordinated test reporting across 7 globally distributed teams, establishing customer-facing delivery process for sanitized release reports

Leadership & Cross-Functional Initiatives:

Led distributed QA organization: coordinated with India-based co-lead, established processes across onshore/offshore teams, transitioned manual testers to automation
Led disaster recovery testing for multiple products across global teams, coordinating with Production Support and Engineering through multiple DR iterations
Founded Automation Guild community of practice; delivered monthly sessions on UI testing, performance testing, and automation best practices
Established performance testing capability: led the initial development of the JMeter / Grafana framework and core test suite, helped to hire and onboard Principal Performance Engineer and Senior Performance Engineer

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Professional Development Sabbatical

08/2022 – 03/2023

Sabbatical to develop and ship a production Rails app and evaluate modern test frameworks.

Built and deployed Songbook (Rails, Dokku, DigitalOcean) - a setlist organizer for live music performance
Evaluated Playwright and Cypress by building Page Object Model implementations for each
Adopted GitHub Actions and GitHub Projects as CI/CD and project management alternatives to Jenkins / Jira

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Senior QA Engineer and QA Manager

Active911

Corvallis, OR 03/2020 – 07/2022

Active911 helps heroes save lives with software designed to get first responders on scene faster with fast alerting, easy scheduling and more.

Technical Leadership:

Established end-to-end QA coverage for ActiveAlert and ActiveTeam across web, Android, and iOS platforms throughout the full SDLC
Architected Nightwatch.js test framework using Page Object Model; reusable module library accelerated new test development across the team
Built real-time test automation dashboard integrating Jenkins Job DSL with TestRail API for live execution status and reporting

Team Leadership:

Grew and developed QA team: led hiring, identified and promoted internal candidates from Customer Support, mentored team members in automation practices
Embedded quality in development process by collaborating with product and engineering during backlog review and design sessions
Coordinated UAT with product managers, ensuring customer requirements validated before releases

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Senior Software Engineer

Puppet

Portland, OR 01/2018 – 03/2020

Puppet is the industry-leading automation solution for configuration management, compliance, CI/CD, patch management, IT automation, and more.

Performance Engineering & Framework Development:

Extended gatling-puppet-load-test (GPLT) framework with scale testing, automated HTML comparison reports, and system tuning integration with comprehensive RSpec unit test coverage
Built Ruby provisioning utility for Puppet ABS API, enabling automated infrastructure node deployment with JSON request handling and YAML configuration export
Contributed to Reference Architecture Setup (RAS) CLI tool using Ruby and Puppet Bolt; implemented Docker-based acceptance tests with comprehensive RSpec coverage

Cross-Team Collaboration:

Drove performance testing standards through Reference Architectures Working Group, collaborating with Customer Success, Installer, and PuppetDB teams on architecture definition and test roadmap
Served as Scrum Master for Installer and SLV teams, establishing Puppet Operating Model implementation and facilitating continuous process improvement

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Senior Quality Engineer

National Public Radio

Washington, DC 05/2014 – 01/2018

NPR is an independent, nonprofit media organization that was founded on a mission to create a more informed public.

Test Automation Architecture:

Led JavaScript framework evaluation across multiple teams; selected and implemented Nightwatch.js with cross-browser support integrated into Seamus CMS CI pipeline
Architected hybrid test framework (keyword-driven + data-driven) in Java / Selenium serving cross-platform testing needs
Built mobile testing capability using Appium for Android and iOS, establishing Jenkins-based infrastructure with simulators and emulators

Developer Tooling & Infrastructure:

Created test documentation web app using Node.js / Express backend with React / Redux frontend, improving test suite visibility across teams
Established Jenkins automation dashboards using Job DSL across Publishing, TechOps, and NPR One teams
Modernized API test suite with modular architecture, adding coverage for new endpoints and improving maintainability

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QA Automation Manager

American Public University System

Charles Town, WV 03/2012 – 05/2014

American Public University System (APUS) is an online university system with its headquarters in Charles Town, West Virginia.

Designed full-stack test automation architecture in .NET / C#: keyword-driven UI framework (Coded UI + Selenium) plus data-driven back-end framework verifying student registration and payment transactions
Built QA Automation team from ground up: led recruiting for engineer and specialist roles, trained team members in automation tools, development practices, and organizational processes
Established Agile test management workflow using HP ALM / Quality Center for workload planning and execution tracking
Drove automation adoption organization-wide through stakeholder engagement and active participation in design, requirements, and test plan reviews

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Lead QA Analyst

FINRA

Rockville, MD 09/2003 – 03/2012

FINRA enables investors and firms to participate in the market with confidence by safeguarding its integrity.

Ensured quality of critical securities industry infrastructure: Web CRD (central licensing system for U.S. securities industry) and IAPD, supporting regulatory compliance throughout 9-year tenure
Evolved test automation platform from WinRunner to QTP, architecting improved dependency management for multi-application, multi-release, multi-environment testing
Designed no-code test framework (QTP / VBScript + Excel parameterization) enabling manual testers to create and execute automated tests without programming knowledge
Pioneered CI adoption: implemented automated test execution pipeline using CruiseControl → Hudson with Ant scripting
Established requirements-based automation process with HP Quality Center for traceability, test organization, and defect management

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Test Automation Specialist

Fannie Mae

Washington, DC 09/2002 – 09/2003

Fannie Mae was chartered by U.S. Congress in 1938 to provide a reliable source of affordable mortgage financing across the country.

Tested critical mortgage processing applications for federal housing finance agency
Built WinRunner test automation framework with reusable business action functions; developed LoadRunner scripts for internal and hosted virtual user (HVU) performance testing
Administered TestDirector server and managed test infrastructure including requirements traceability and defect coordination

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Test Automation Specialist

MedContrax

Gaithersburg, MD 01/2001 – 02/2002

MedContrax was a software company based in Rockville, Maryland, providing data processing and integration services to the healthcare industry.

Tested pharmaceutical contract management application (ColdFusion / SQL Server) for healthcare data processing company
Developed WinRunner automation framework with reusable function library enabling rapid test development
Owned full QC environment: Windows NT Server, SQL Server, IIS, ColdFusion, TestDirector administration, and defect coordination

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Test Automation Specialist

US Census Bureau

Suitland, MD 09/1998 – 01/2001

The Census Bureau's mission is to serve as the nation's leading provider of quality data about its people and economy.

Managed automated testing of federal data collection applications using Mercury Interactive TestSuite (WinRunner, LoadRunner, TestDirector)
Conducted performance test engineering: identified key transactions, developed LoadRunner scripts, executed performance scenarios
Built interactive test results intranet site (Windows 2000 Server/IIS) - early web development for test visibility
Delivered Y2K compliance testing for critical government systems under federal deadline pressure

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