Adrian Akers
Fairmont,West Virginia
Summary
Accomplished Senior QA Analyst with a proven track record at Springfield School District 186, enhancing software quality through strategic test initiatives and Agile methodologies. Achieved a 25% reduction in post-release defects, leveraging skills in automated testing and risk mitigation. Excelled in fostering collaboration and mentoring teams, significantly improving software reliability and stakeholder satisfaction.
Overview
9
9
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Senior QA Analyst-Educational Technology
Springfield School District 186
11.2022 - Current
- Led quality initiatives for complex educational software, driving a 25% reduction in post-release defects by implementing shift-left testing strategies and risk-based test coverage, ensuring robust software delivery within the Agile framework.
- Championed the establishment of CI/CD testing frameworks and automated test suites, achieving a 15% decrease in critical production bugs while streamlining release cycles, demonstrating a strategic impact on the SDLC process.
- Collaborated with cross-functional teams, including product managers, developers, and stakeholders, to define acceptance criteria and implement quality gates for incremental releases, ensuring alignment and readiness across the development lifecycle.
- Mentored and guided QA team members in test automation and quality practices, enhancing their capabilities and reducing onboarding time by 2 weeks, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and quality advocacy.
- Executed comprehensive testing strategies across mobile, backend, and performance systems using tools such as Selenium, JMeter, Appium, and BrowserStack, ensuring effective coverage that supports both user experience and software reliability.
- Pioneered accessibility testing initiatives for educational platforms, ensuring compliance and optimizing overall user experience for various stakeholders, including students, parents, and administrators.
- Drove cross-functional collaboration in adopting Agile principles, enhancing clarity around requirements and processes through effective communication and Gherkin specifications for BDD.
QA Engineer
Springfield School District 186
02.2018 - Current
- Enhanced software quality by developing and implementing comprehensive testing strategies.
- Optimized test coverage by maintaining a well-organized, up-to-date library of test cases corresponding to application requirements changes over time.
- Reduced product defect rates by creating robust test cases and meticulously executing them.
- Developed test cases and scenarios for testing integration with multiple educational mobile applications, ensuring coverage and compatibility of all functionalities on our District wide learning platform.
- Executed tests across multiple operational systems and devices, leading to a 10% reduction in device-specific bugs.
- Identified and resolved critical integration issues between the user interface and the learning management system (LMS), leading to a 20% improvement in user satisfaction.
- Accelerated issue resolution times by effectively prioritizing defects based on severity and impact on the end-user experience.
- Improved team efficiency with introduction of agile testing methodologies.
- Collaborated with development teams to address and remediate issues found during testing, ensuring high-quality software releases.
- Conducted thorough manual and automated tests to identify software bugs, improving overall software reliability.
- Improved user satisfaction with rigorous usability testing and feedback implementation.
QA Manual Tester
YMCA of Springfield
12.2015 - 01.2018
- Promoted collaboration between QA and development teams by actively participating in daily stand-ups, sprint planning meetings, and retrospectives.
- Collaborated with developers to swiftly identify, reproduce, and resolve critical bugs, ensuring timely delivery of high-quality products.
- Streamlined the testing process by diligently documenting test results and providing clear feedback for continuous improvement.
- Enhanced product quality by meticulously executing manual test cases and identifying defects in software applications.
- Championed a culture of quality within the organization by sharing insights, lessons learned, and recommendations for continuous improvement in testing processes.
- Improved system reliability through diligent smoke testing of new builds before deployment to production environments.
- Demonstrated adaptability by quickly gaining proficiency in new tools or technologies introduced during the course of the internship as needed to support ongoing quality assurance initiatives.
- Mitigated risks associated with software releases by participating in review sessions and providing constructive feedback on potential issues identified during testing activities.
Education
Bachelor of Science - Education
Quincy University
Quincy, ILMaster of Science - Computer Science
San Diego State University
San Diego, CA05-2026
Skills
- Test strategy formulation
- Root-cause analysis
- Risk Identification and Mitigation
- Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC)
- Agile Methodology
- Requirements Analysis
- Defect Tracking and Reporting
- Collaboration and Communication
- Mentoring and Training
- Automated Testing Implementation
- Mobile-Backend-Performance Testing Aptitude
- Continuous Integration
Accomplishments
- Initiated advanced testing methodologies such as Test-Driven Development (TDD) with a unit test-first approach resulting in a 35% reduction in defects.
- Achieved a 25% reduction in quality-related incidents by introducing shift-left testing strategies for risk-based approaches.
Certification
- Test Automation Engineering Certification Quality Assurance Testing Academy [2024 December]
Timeline
Senior QA Analyst-Educational Technology
Springfield School District 186
11.2022 - Current
QA Engineer
Springfield School District 186
02.2018 - Current
QA Manual Tester
YMCA of Springfield
12.2015 - 01.2018
- Test Automation Engineering Certification Quality Assurance Testing Academy [2024 December]
Bachelor of Science - Education
Quincy University
Master of Science - Computer Science
San Diego State University
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