QA Transformation Partner - Automation Strategy - Scottsdale, AZ
Luis Santiago
I build quality systems that engineering teams trust. I help teams take QA from no foundation to a working quality engine: product discovery, test strategy, reusable cases, automation suites, and regression gates that plug into development before code reaches release.
Confidence signals
Release confidence, built in.
Less manual reporting
Environment bleed defects
Reusable test cases
QA transformation partner
I build the quality function with your team.
I work best as a partner to teams that need quality structure, not another employee seat to fill. I sit with stakeholders to learn the product, translate business workflows into testable coverage, and create the cases, standards, and automation that make quality repeatable.
The outcome is a QA operating system: practical test plans, regression suites, data validation, reporting, defect discipline, and CI/CD-ready checks that help engineering catch risk before it moves downstream.
01
Learn the product first
Quality starts with stakeholder context, real workflows, business rules, and the risks users actually feel.
02
Build the QA foundation
Test cases, naming standards, coverage maps, defect templates, and traceability should survive handoff.
03
Plug quality into development
Automation should run where decisions happen, checking code against regression before release pressure starts.
Selected experience
The proof behind the buildout model.
2025 - 2026
LifeKind Health
QA & Automation Engineer, Contract
Stabilized and scaled an existing QA automation ecosystem with multi-environment configuration, parallel pytest execution, CI/CD-ready modes, standardized artifacts, and automated QA reporting.
- Reduced full-suite runtime from about 45 minutes to 15 through parallel execution.
- Automated weekly QA reporting from about 2 hours to about 10 minutes.
- Established standards for defect templates, test IDs, naming, onboarding, and offshore handoff.
2019 - 2024
Sagicor Life Insurance
Senior Quality Analyst
Led QA across Agile teams in financial services, supporting production and pre-production releases, SQL-backed validation, API testing, mobile flows, defect triage, and stakeholder reporting.
- Reduced defect leakage by 25% with earlier validation checkpoints and QA metrics.
- Built PowerShell scanning methods that reduced manual testing time by 30%.
2021 - 2022
Lev, a Cognizant Company
Solution Architect
Led cross-functional testing strategy for CRM and customer data platform integrations, connecting user stories, compliance needs, release goals, CI/CD, and end-to-end data pipeline validation.
2018 - 2019
Colyar, a LINQ Company
Quality Engineer
Designed functional and exploratory testing for web applications and internal tools, with SQL, API, accessibility, compliance software, and backend data privacy validation.
2013 - 2018
OpenText
Quality Engineer
Supported regression, UAT, smoke testing, release validation, and product configuration triage for a global product suite, including quality lifecycle ownership for a major revenue-generating product.
Capability map
What I can build for your team.
The tool list matters, but the larger value is building a QA system your team can actually use: risk-based coverage, repeatable regression, useful reporting, and quality checks that fit development.
QA foundation buildout
Stakeholder discovery, workflow mapping, test plans, reusable cases, naming standards, and traceable coverage.
Automation architecture
Python, pytest, Selenium, maintainable naming, data isolation, teardown controls, and CI/CD regression gates.
Data and API validation
SQL checks, Postman, JMeter, backend validation, transaction flows, load testing, and failure investigation.
Release confidence
Regression, smoke, exploratory, UAT, risk-based coverage, defect discipline, and release support.
Reporting systems
Jira workflow consolidation, QA metrics, trend visualization, month-to-date logic, dashboards, and stakeholder-ready summaries.
Delivery operations
Agile delivery, SDLC, GitHub, Jenkins, Jira, TestRail, Zephyr, release support, and production triage.
Public build signal
Code and systems thinking.
autoshopflow-extension
A TypeScript Chrome MV3 extension connecting shop operations workflows with AutoShop Flow. It reflects the same habits that show up in QA work: boundary awareness, practical automation, and systems built for real operating constraints.
Education and credentials
Business systems foundation, quality discipline, and continuous learning.
BBA in Information Systems, Universidad del Este, Puerto Rico
ISTQB Certified Tester
Salesforce Certified Marketing Cloud Email Specialist
IBM Databases and SQL for Data Science
LOMA 281 and 291
Contact
Bring me in when QA needs structure.
If your team needs a QA partner to stand up process, coverage, automation, or release checks, email is the best starting point.