Objective

To lead, mentor, and equip Test and Automation Engineers in proven practices in the craft of software testing. Developing the best of the best in the art of Quality Engineering.

Experience

Craft of Testing • Franklin, Tennessee • 2016 – Current
Evangelist in Testing | Automation | METS | Author | Speaker – Coach and mentor Quality Assurance Leaders, teaching the Craft of Testing and Automation, directing in best practices of Test Automation sustainability and Manual Testing risk assessment. Innovating in automated Test Data Analysis (TDA), identifying critical attributes to understand application personality metrics. Creator of METS (Minimal Essential Testing Strategy) and Author of Test Automation in the Real World. Public speaker at StarWest, StarEast, Meetup, and QAI Testing Conferences. Lead Author for RealWorldTestAutomation.com and PlatformWithPurpose.com – Pursuing the Quality Engineering Community with a passion to further and mature the Craft of Testing (CoT).

Ramsey Solutions • Franklin, Tennessee • 2016 – 2023
Quality Assurance Lead in Automation and Test Engineering – Direct and coach the Ramsey Automation and Test Engineering Teams. Architect innovative approaches to Automated Testing and Frameworks, resulting in two-million+ automated test executions per month. Mentoring the Ramsey Automation Team in best practices of maintainability and sustainability is the Craft of Automation. Coach Manual Test Engineers in ISTQB testing practices and implementation of METS, the Minimal Essential Testing Strategy. Quality Evangelist across the Ramsey Technology Organization. Promoting best practices across the product lifecycle and to Senior Technology Leaders.

ARGO – Corporate Office • Richardson, Texas • 2013 – 2016
Quality Assurance Principal in Test Automation -Serving as a principal technology leader, pioneering best practices across tools, approaches, and skills, exploring innovative techniques in automated testing, leveraging Unified Functional Testing (UFT/QTP), Quality Center (QC/ALM), and SoapUI Pro. Mentoring Test Engineers in sustainable approaches for substantial ROI in automation development and manual testing. Speaker at QA Trailblazers and StarWest on Test Automation Best Practices. Author of industry publications on StickyMinds and TestTalks and JoeColantonio.com.

Fossil – Corporate Office • Richardson, Texas • 2012 – 2013
Lead Test Automation Engineer –Utilizing QuickTest Pro (QTP), Business Process Testing (BPT), and Quality Center (QC) to automate Triversity – SAP Point of Sale (POS). Architect and implement a verbose, data-driven automation framework to test all aspects of international POS. Emphasis is placed on highly sustainable and maintainable architecture to ensure ongoing usage and future ROI. Mentor Automation Engineers in best practices in automated testing. Speaker at Dallas QA Trailblazers.

JCPenney – Corporate Office • Plano, Texas • 2008 – 2012
Lead Test Automation Engineer –Develop and maintain test automation for JCPenney Point of Sale (POS), including RFID and backend systems. Mentor Jr. Automation Engineers in best practices in test automation & software development. Utilize QuickTest Pro (QTP), Business Process Testing (BPT), and Quality Center (QC). Identify and implement innovative approaches such as the Complex Data Model for Big Data validation in automated testing. Speaker at StarEast on Automation Strategies & Complex Data.

JCPenney – Corporate Office • Plano, Texas • 2008 – 2012
Infrastructure Architect – UNIX/Linux & Test Engineering – Hands-on test engineering, applying effective practices in Quality Assurance (QA) regression testing. Research enterprise security tools. Automated tool development for data synchronization across UNIX/Linux environments. Document and diagram critical business functions.

FedEx Kinko’s – Corporate Office • Dallas, Texas • 2004 – 2006
Senior Systems Engineer – Intranet & eLearning Systems – Develop & support enterprise Intranet of 20,000+ team members. HTML, JavaScript, PERL, PHP, and ASP development. Architect and implement new intranet strategies in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 (RHE4), Apache, and Tomcat. Support for Saba Learning Management System (LMS). Rollout standardized Java configuration to 1,200+ retail stores enabling compatibility between critical systems.

FedEx Kinko’s – Corporate Office • Dallas, Texas • 2001 – 2004
Senior Quality Assurance Engineer – Perform test engineering of FedEx Office and e-commerce websites. Develop a test planning process to reduce risk in a condensed timeframe. Test automation development utilizing WinRunner and QTP. Specialization in security and infrastructure testing. Speaker at international quality conferences including StarEast, StarWest, QAI & BZ Media Software Test and Performance. Creator of Minimal Essential Testing Strategy (METS)

University of the Nations – YWAM Woodcrest • Lindale, Texas • 1999 – 2001
Infrastructure Architect & Communications Instructor – Development of web communications curriculum, teaching international students effective web design. Developed YWAMWoodcrest.com website. Architect campus data, phone, and video networks for our international training center.

Vanderbilt University – Computer Store • Nashville, Tennessee • 1995 – 1999
Senior Apple Engineer & Supervisor – Provided technical support to 3,000+ students, faculty, and staff. Hardware/Software troubleshooting and repair for Mac systems. Consulting university departments assisting with solutions to meet business needs. eCommerce & Database development of database solution. eCommerce solution for the campus computer store. Subject matter expert (SME) on all Apple Mac products. Mentoring Jr. Service Engineers.

Inacomp Computer Center • Brentwood, Tennessee • 1995 – 1995
Apple Training & Support Engineer – Support engineer for all Apple Mac products. Hardware troubleshooting and repair for walk-in and onsite clients. Application training of software such as Photoshop, QuarkXPress & FileMaker Pro. Specialist in graphic arts design and database development.

Computer Marketing Corp • Nashville, Tennessee • 1994 – 1995
Apple Support Engineer – Senior Technician/Supervisor of the service department. Oversee order fulfillment and inventory. Architect and develop a company inventory system.

Elliott/Drinkward Construction • Redondo Beach, California • 1992 – 1994
Office & Technology Manager – Performed accounts payable/receivable & payroll function. Developed custom job and cost tracking solution. Automated back-office functions for improved workflow. Developed employee management system.

Hughes Aircraft Company • Torrance, California • 1983 – 1992
Electronics & Test Automation Engineer – Development of automated tests utilizing Mac and PC systems using LabVIEW. Circuit design and assembly of custom automation life-test systems. High voltage equipment assembly and repair. Schematic drawing and layout utilizing CAD. Engineering liaison to Senior Scientists and Engineers. Secret security clearance.

Consulting

MissionWares.com • Ventura, California & Plano, Texas • 2001 – 2016
Software Development & Systems Administration – Developed seven published iPhone apps in XCode and Objective C. Authored employee recognition solution (RecognizeAnother.com). Build and manage physical/virtual Linux servers running Apache, PHP & MySQL (LAMP). Develop educational, music management, and Bill Organizer software with over 130,000 downloads. Authored publication on social issues introduced by excessive technology use. Conference speaker teaching strategic writing leveraging SEO.

Thou Art Software • Nashville, Tennessee • 1995 – 2001
Software Development – Web & eCommerce design for an online awards company in Hollywood, California. Enterprise database and marketing design for fabric finishing company in Athens, Texas. Client & project management tool for a recording studio in Nashville, Tennessee. Onsite Mac repair and data recovery for recording artists.

All The World’s A Stage – Performing Arts Group • Torrance, California & Nashville, Tennessee • 1995 – 2001
Founder & Writer – Developed and authored an extensive repertory of dramatic presentations. Leader of dozens of performers in hundreds of venues throughout the United States. Coordinated cross-country relocation of the team to Nashville, Tennessee. Instruction and coaching of thousands of students in dramatic skills, including movement, speaking & writing.

Public Speaking

QA Trailblazers • Dallas, Texas • 2015
ROI Robbers and Challenges to Successful Test Automation – ROI Robbers and Challenges to Successful Test Automation – Presentation on common issues introduced into test automation directly impacting Return on Investment (ROI). Common ROI Robbers discussed identifying their attributes and removal.

QA Trailblazers • Dallas, Texas • 2014
Automation Journeyman to Craftsman – Presenting the road of moving from Journeyman to Craftsman in test automation, covering lessons learned and common missteps. Discuss how to ramp up skills that will yield sustainable, maintainable results in test automation efforts.​

JoeColantonio.com – TestTalks (Podcast) • 2014
Removing the word “Test” from Test Automation – Podcast discusses five underutilized areas where automation can bring added value across a company.​

JoeColantonio.com – TestTalks (Podcast) • 2014
Helpful Tips When Implementing Test Automation – Podcast brings unique insights to creating automated tests laying out a plan to impact adoption and maintainability.​

StarEast • Orlando, Florida • 2011
Automation Strategies for Complex Data, a practical approach to validating large datasets​ – Teaching includes analysis, best practices, and understanding of the importance of ROI in test automation efforts.​

Youth with a Mission (YWAM) Woodcrest​ • Lindale, Texas • 2007
Server School – Hands-on training in cost-effective server strategies – Training on server virtualization utilizing open-source technologies such as Linux, Apache, PHP, and MySQL. http://serverschool.missionwares.com​

Youth with a Mission (YWAM) Woodcrest​ • Lindale, Texas • 2005 – 2014
Writing for the Web – Effective approaches for writing search engine (Google) friendly, SEO content optimized for your target market.​

Oregon Christian Writers Conference​ • Canby Grove, Oregon • 2005 – 2006
Strategic Influence through Writing and Technology – Teaching relevant strategies for effectively influencing societal areas and people groups.​

StarEast, StarWest, QAI, BZ Media Testing Conferences • Orlando, Florida / San Jose, California / Baltimore, Maryland • 2003 – 2021
Minimal Essential Testing Strategy (METS) – Teaching an effective testing methodology enabling Developers and Quality Engineers to optimize testing efforts under a constrained deadline. Instruction on prioritizing the most critical to least critical areas of the application under test.​

Publications

StickyMinds.com • 2014
Removing the Word “Test” from Test Automation​ – Removing the word test from test automation liberates a QA organization to leverage automation tools in new and innovative ways.​

StickyMinds.com • 2014
Helpful Tips When Implementing Test Automation​ – Presenting a list of tips for performing automated testing. An innovative plan for automation endeavors makes a significant difference in its usefulness, adoption, and maintainability.​

StarEast • 2011
Test Automation and Challenges of Complex Data – In-depth details on how the Complex Data (Automation Strategy) came about solving real-world testing challenges.​

RecognizeAnother.com • 2009
Foundations of Effective Recognition​ – Discussion about practical foundations for successful employee recognition. Sincerity and leading by example are covered.​

RecognizeAnother.com • 2009
How to Give Recognition – Discusses the importance of recognizing employees and co-workers in a meaningful manner to receive authentic recognition.​

MissionWares.com • 2005
Ministry Sustainability in a Visionary Rich Environment – Discuss common issues in volunteer organizations and prepare and manage long-term objectives through high turnover.​

MissionWares.com • 2005
Pitfalls of an Email-Centric Society – Discuss sociological issues introduced by excessive email and other non-personal electronic communications.​

Skills

Operating Systems Expertise

Software development languages

Software Proficiency

Professional Talents

Certifications

Development Highlights