Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Certification
Accomplishments
References
Visa Sponsorship
Personal Information
Timeline
Generic

Mahalakshmi Arunachalam

Open To Relocate ( US & Canada),No VISA Sponsorship Required

Summary

Dynamic QA Automation Lead with comprehensive experience in quality assurance, risk management, and automation frameworks. Known for successfully implementing unified testing strategies that enhance operational efficiency and reduce fraud-related expenses. Eager to leverage skills for impactful software development.

Overview

20
20
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification

Work History

QA AUTOMATION LEAD

Equitable Bank of Canada
Toronto, Canada
06.2023 - Current
  • Streamlined all QA Automation/testing Step-up/Multi factor authentications and identifying the risks across the transactions using the threatmetrix score and decisions.
  • Helped in Designing and implementing a unified framework combining API, web, and mobile platforms for Equitable Bank, streamlining development and reducing maintenance overhead across channels.
  • Served as a key contributor to the Automation Enablement Team, ensuring code quality and acting as the primary technical point of contact for issue resolution and guidance.
  • Collaborated with key vendors Threat metrics and Data Visor, which contributed to a significant reduction in the bank's fraud-related expenses.
  • Documented testing procedures for developers and future testing use.
  • Recommended changes and corrections to developers for optimal software performance and usability.
  • Influenced cost savings through efficient utilization of resources and elimination of redundant tasks in the QA process.
  • Played a pivotal role in successful product launches through rigorous pre-release validation activities.
  • Developed customized reporting dashboards for stakeholders, providing real-time visibility into project progress and performance metrics.
  • Managed complex QA projects from inception to completion, meeting deadlines while maintaining high quality standards.
  • Contributed to overall company growth by consistently delivering high-quality software products that met or exceeded customer expectations.
  • Mentored junior QA engineers, enhancing their skills in test automation techniques and methodologies.
  • Facilitated knowledge sharing among team members through regular training sessions on automation tools and best practices.
  • Led automation initiatives to enhance operational efficiency across banking operations.

STAFF AUTOMATION SPECIALIST

LCBO
Toronto, Canada
07.2022 - 08.2023
  • Gatekeeper of the WMS development team.
  • Overseeing all testing operations and managing a team of 4 resources with the responsibility of delivering quality web and mobile applications for an ecommerce project.
  • Provided QA expertise in the areas of software architecture, development and implementation.
  • Created test architecture and strategies based on business requirements.
  • Reviewed and recommended improvements for test reporting, test automation and test execution processes.
  • Acted as release manager overseeing all the weekly releases, defining OKRS and key metrics, ensuring that the contents of each release are understood, scheduled, tested and aligns with the quality gates and software development lifecycle.
  • Made an approximate of 10+ releases so far with zero production bugs while also adhering to project schedules and deadlines.
  • Created and maintained release notes and other QA documents.
  • Developed and maintained a hybrid framework for Ul automation using Selenium with TestNG, Page Object Model, element locators and WebDriver methods covering 80% of the manual test cases.
  • Worked on cross browser testing for Firefox and Chrome.
  • Integrated the Selenium scripts with Testrail using API to publish reports from Selenium to Testrail.
  • Setup email alerts from Selenium code to send the daily automation reports to the team.
  • Made connections to different third-party tools like Contentful, Nova and Algolia to compare the results with the front-end.
  • Managed the automation scripts in Git.

LEAD AUTOMATION ENGINEER

Modern Campus
Toronto, Canada
09.2020 - 07.2022
  • Developed the Test Cases Client based on FSD'S and Business Rules E-Cornell universities marketing questions surveys.
  • Automated 400+ webservice test cases that minimised the lot of manual testing.
  • Lead Test Planner/Coordinator responsible to Test planning activities for the overall North Carolina university Program.
  • Worked in JBehave/Serenity framework and developed multiple automation test suites using the BDD approach.
  • Involved in the design and implementation of the Selenium WebDriver automation framework for smoke and regression test suites (TestNG and ANT).
  • Performed A/B testing on marketing emails that were set up to increase client interaction.
  • Executed component-based approach and developed the automation script for colleague integration project to reduce the maintenance cost by 50%.
  • Responsible to monitor the daily nightly builds.
  • Debugged code and located root causes of problems by reviewing configuration files and logs.
  • Effectively worked on parallel test suite for all regression test cases and it was successful.

SENIOR SOFTWARE DEVELOPER IN TEST

Vena Solutions
Toronto, Canada
07.2019 - 07.2020
  • Created accurate and efficient test scripts using Java/Selenium to manage automated testing of certain products and features.
  • Good experience in writing API testing using the Rest Assured.
  • Integrated and dockerized the selenium project in Jenkins (using Junit, TestNG, Maven to build automation frameworks with Java).
  • Built a framework for cross browser automation with Selenium Grid running in Docker.
  • Utilized JIRA for bug tracking and reporting along with agile boards for better visibility and transparency to stakeholders.
  • Involved and reviewed each of the developer's pull request and ensure unit testing had all valid scenarios.
  • Involved in inno-hack projects apart from the regular activities on different topics like penetration testing, evolvement of automation testing.
  • Effectively worked on parallel test suite for all regression test cases and it was successful.

SENIOR QA ASSURANCE ENGINEER

Insurance Bureau of Canada
Ajax, Canada
10.2018 - 06.2019
  • Company Overview: (Contract)
  • Created accurate and efficient test scripts in Selenium to manage automated testing of certain products and features.
  • (hybrid frameworks using the Keyword Driven, Data-driven approach and Page Object Model.)
  • Directed off-site teams completing Automated/Manual tests to support successful product development stages and releases.
  • Wrote and optimized test cases to maximize success of manual software testing with consistent, thorough approaches.
  • Identified and tracked defects with JIRA and supported developers in resolving problems by completing additional tests.
  • Evaluated results against design and customer standards.
  • Collaborated with developers and product owners to stay current on product features and intended functionality.
  • Provided continued maintenance and development of bug fixes and patch sets for existing web applications.
  • Worked alongside management to develop testing and improvement plans.
  • (Contract)

SENIOR TEST ENGINEER

Work Market Inc
Toronto, Canada
03.2016 - 04.2018
  • Created and enhanced numerous test scripts to handle changes in the objects, in the tested application's GUI and in the testing environment using Selenium.
  • Created whole test framework using Selenium for further test creation and execution.
  • Managed creative projects from concept to completion while managing outside vendors.
  • Developed work-flow charts and diagrams to ensure production team compliance with client deadlines.
  • Established company automation methodology, frameworks, and tools.
  • Completed automation of functional and regression testing.
  • Trained developers and quality assurance team members in automation programs and processes.
  • Attended meetings with quality assurance, developers, and project managers to assess scope and sequence of project.
  • Reviewed all test cases and test scripts for quality and purposely looked for additional areas to review.
  • Developed technical solutions to resolve a range of problems.
  • Created detailed test cases for use on diverse projects.
  • Updated and maintained project documentation for detailed recordkeeping.
  • Mobile devices testing using the Emulator and Simulator.
  • API Testing (Both Manual/Automation) using Postman.
  • Automated testing using APPIUM.

TEST MANAGER

IBM Corporation
Sydney
05.2010 - 03.2015
  • Completely responsible for gathering the subject matter from the client and ensured the same is dissipated back to the team.
  • Preparing SQL scripts to test CDC, Attributes, smoke test & business Scenario.
  • Involved in Job execution from UNIX box/Autosys and troubleshooting when failed.
  • Understanding the Data model and prepare DTP (Detail Test Plan), TOM (Test Objective Metrics), Test case & Test Scripts etc.
  • Ensured that the test design/test execution counts are updated in ALM/Dashboard and JIRA.
  • Always been perfect in updating the counts and ensure that there is no deviation in the dashboard sending to client.
  • Ensured seamless coordination with development team/onshore testing team on all defects and was highly appreciated for being agile in attending to all the defect-based concerns and queries.
  • Shown the adaptability during migration from waterfall to agile and dealing with different stakeholders to make sure the right information was provided & to ensure timely completion of testing.
  • Worked in Mobile testing for the claim transformation app (IOS/android) that has been designed for the CBA customers.
  • Always demonstrated the leadership qualities, professional effectiveness in front of the client which always had a very positive feedback from the clients.
  • Expanded manual and automated testing to cover new functionality.
  • Conducted manual and automation acceptance testing for each release and patch.
  • Tested system security from different user access levels.
  • Tested system data import functionality.
  • Conducted manual and automation regression testing for each release and patch.
  • Created and executed using Selenium Scripts.

SENIOR TEST ENGINEER

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp
Chennai/Madison
10.2005 - 12.2009
  • Reviewed requirements and specifications to understand software design standards.
  • Evaluated software for functionality, form, and usability.
  • Wrote and optimized test cases to maximize success of manual software testing with consistent, thorough approaches.
  • Provided methodologies for object-oriented software development and efficient database design.
  • Received appreciation from QA head of ING for my work at the client place and transition to Offshore.
  • Awarded as the 'Best Tester' for outstanding performance at client place.
  • Performed self and peer review of the test artifacts and attended defect prevention meetings to perform root cause analysis of defects.
  • Debugged code and located root causes of problems by reviewing configuration files and logs.
  • Performed load and database testing.

Education

PROGRAMMING COURSE IN ADVANCED JAVA -

Seneca Part Time Studies
01.2019

MASTERS IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY -

Bharathidasan University
05.2012

BACHELORS IN MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTER SCIENCE -

Avinashilingam University
05.2005

Skills

  • Quality assurance
  • Selenium/Serenity/JBehave/BDD/Cucumber
  • GIT/Maven/TestNG
  • Test Data Management
  • HP-ALM/Test Rail/JIRA/Q-MetryTest complete
  • Risk/Release Management
  • Release management
  • Postman/SoapUI/API testing/Rest Assured
  • Insurance/CoreBanking/Wealth Management
  • Proof of concepts
  • Process improvement
  • Team leadership
  • Stakeholder engagement
  • Tricentis Tosca
  • Customer relations skills
  • Docker / Linux / Headless CI CD execution
  • Strong programming skills
  • Agile Scrum / Kanban
  • Test automation strategy

Certification

  • Certified Tester Foundation Level (CTFL)
  • Certified Tester Advanced Level Test Automation Engineering (CTAL-TAE)

Accomplishments

  • Eminence & Excellence award from IBM for adaptability & trusted commitment in agile/Automation testing continuously three years in a row. (2012, 2014, 2015)
  • Managers Choice 'Put the Client first' award for the month of 'August' & 'October' during the year 2014.
  • Appreciation from the client as 'One step above tester' for supporting the production support team.

References

References available upon request

Visa Sponsorship

No visa sponsorship required

Personal Information

Relocation: Open to relocate

Timeline

QA AUTOMATION LEAD

Equitable Bank of Canada
06.2023 - Current

STAFF AUTOMATION SPECIALIST

LCBO
07.2022 - 08.2023

LEAD AUTOMATION ENGINEER

Modern Campus
09.2020 - 07.2022

SENIOR SOFTWARE DEVELOPER IN TEST

Vena Solutions
07.2019 - 07.2020

SENIOR QA ASSURANCE ENGINEER

Insurance Bureau of Canada
10.2018 - 06.2019

SENIOR TEST ENGINEER

Work Market Inc
03.2016 - 04.2018

TEST MANAGER

IBM Corporation
05.2010 - 03.2015

SENIOR TEST ENGINEER

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp
10.2005 - 12.2009

PROGRAMMING COURSE IN ADVANCED JAVA -

Seneca Part Time Studies

MASTERS IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY -

Bharathidasan University

BACHELORS IN MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTER SCIENCE -

Avinashilingam University

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Mahalakshmi Arunachalam