Afshan Ali
Iselin,NJ
Summary
With over 11 years of IT experience in Financial, Banking, and Insurance sectors, I am a Certified Scrum Master with expertise in agile software development and QA testing. I excel in coordinating Scrum activities, fostering team collaboration, and ensuring successful project delivery. I thrive on overcoming obstacles, resolving conflicts, and promoting continuous improvement. I am eager to leverage my agile expertise to contribute to TIAA's success. Experienced Scrum Master with proven track record of successfully leading teams in developing high-quality software solutions on time and within budget. Skilled in multiple Agile methodologies, stakeholder management and sprint planning. Highly organized in managing complex projects with multiple deadlines.
Overview
12
12
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Scrum Master
TIAA
03.2017 - 09.2023
- Led Agile teams in delivering business and technical solutions, ensuring incremental value each sprint
- Facilitated key Scrum ceremonies (Sprint Planning, Daily Standups, Retrospectives) to enhance alignment and productivity
- Proactively identified and resolved obstacles to team progress, fostering an innovative and supportive work environment
- Collaborated cross-functionally to manage dependencies and optimize team performance metrics
- Played an active role in writing and grooming stories using Agile methodologies like JIRA Align/JIRA
- Worked closely with Development teams, QA teams, Project management teams and Analytics team
- Tracked initiatives around the development and continuous improvement of the IT operational model
- Assisted with UAT planning, write and review test scripts, manage UAT testers, manage the defect
- Educated team members and stakeholders on Agile methodologies, promoting continuous improvement and goal alignment
- Facilitated sessions for volume requirements, design reviews for ongoing progress
- Facilitated walkthrough sessions of the developed requirements with business teams
- Continuously seeking opportunities to optimize team processes, enhance productivity, and deliver high-quality software solutions.
QA Lead
Deutsch Bank
03.2014 - 03.2017
- Conducted data-driven analysis using tools like MySQL and Excel to extract actionable insights from testing data
- Utilized data analytics methodologies to enhance test plans, risk assessment, and evaluation reports
- Collaborated with Developers and Business Analysts to refine Test Cases and design documents based on data analysis outcomes
- Developed a Traceability Matrix leveraging data analytics for comprehensive testing coverage
- Scheduled and executed Baseline and Regression tests using HP ALM Quality Centre for every Release and Build
- Implemented Test Coverage Metrics and Defect metrics for continuous performance evaluation and improvement
- Coordinated with end users to investigate QA-related issues and facilitate User Acceptance Testing discussions
- Utilized JIRA for efficient storage and tracking of testing results, metrics, Test Plan Documents, Test Cases, Defect tracking, and Reporting
- Prepared and presented weekly and monthly QA Defect and Status Reports to project stakeholders, incorporating data analytics insights for strategic decision-making.
QA Analyst
Credit Suisse
09.2012 - 12.2013
- Reviewed requirement and software specification documents, identifying conflicts and errors, and providing feedback to business analysts
- Created comprehensive test scenarios to ensure complete test coverage and identify gaps, including positive, negative, and boundary test cases
- Reviewed test cases and collaborated with QA automation tool development to meet automation needs
- Identified severity and priority levels of defects and test cases, ensuring efficient resolution
- Conducted testing for Match Engine, Market Data, and EOS Trader applications
- Utilized Agile-Scrum methodology for streamlined work processes
- Reviewed message specifications and instrument data documents for Market Data, Trading, and Market Operations per iteration
- Performed various types of testing including smoke, integration, functional, regression, load, performance, and production testing
- Conducted component and feature-based testing to ensure system functionality
- Developed SQL queries for backend testing and data validation
- Managed build deployments, environment configurations, and production environment testing
- Validated XML tags based on XML documents to ensure data integrity
- Utilized IBM Clear Quest for managing test cases and defects, ensuring traceability to business requirements.
QA Engineer
U.S. Bank-Retail Banking
04.2011 - 08.2012
- Conducted System and Functional, User-Acceptance (UAT) and Sanity testing
- Maintained Test Logs, Test Summary reports and participated in defect review meetings
- Interacted with developers and Business Analyst for analysis of the application
- Participated throughout the testing life cycle, for requirements, test design and review, through the development and the testing process to customer implementation
- Recording and play back of scripts using QTP
- Used Mercury Quality Centre to trace the requirements, write the Test Cases in the test plan, execute the Test Sets in the test lab and track the Defects logged in the defect’s module
- Perform Mainframe testing to verify the Loan end-to-end process by using different commands
- Involved in the preparation of test completion report and receives the sign-off from the PM.
Education
MBA in IT Management -
Western Govern University
Salt Lake City, UTAH01.2019
BS in Business Administration -
Georgian Court University
Lakewood, NJ05.2005
High School Diploma -
Hackensack High School
Hackensack, New Jersey06.2001
Skills
- Agile Project Management Tools: Jira, Trello, Confluence
- Project Management Software: Excel, PowerPoint
- Automation Tools: Selenium
- Collaboration Tools: Microsoft Teams, Slack
- Version Control Systems: Git, GitHub, Bitbucket
- Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD): Jenkins, GitLab CI
- Cloud Platforms: AWS, Azure
- Data Analysis Tools: Power BI, Tableau
- Agile Metrics Tracking, Sprint Planning, Project Management, Agile Coaching
- Meeting Facilitation, Agile Best Practices, Scrum Framework Expertise
- Software Development, Risk Identification, Backlog Grooming, Kanban Knowledge
- Backlog Grooming, Stakeholder Management, User Story Creation
- Adaptive Leadership, Development team trainings, Resource Allocation
Certification
- Certified Safe 5 Practitioner
- Certified Scrum Master (CSM)
- Google Data Analytics Certification (Coursera)
- Enrolled in AI Academy Program - Data Scientist Certification (North Carolina State University)
Timeline
Scrum Master
TIAA
03.2017 - 09.2023
QA Lead
Deutsch Bank
03.2014 - 03.2017
QA Analyst
Credit Suisse
09.2012 - 12.2013
QA Engineer
U.S. Bank-Retail Banking
04.2011 - 08.2012
MBA in IT Management -
Western Govern University
BS in Business Administration -
Georgian Court University
High School Diploma -
Hackensack High School