Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Accomplishments
Certification
Timeline
Generic

Kavya Govada

Summary

· Over 12+ years in Information Technology, delivering high‑quality enterprise‑scale web, data, UI, and API platformsacross Finance, Healthcare and Analytics domains, with deep expertise in Software Quality Engineering, Test Automation, and Product Ownership using Agile (Scrum) and Waterfall methodologies

· Extensive experience operating as a Product Owner / QA Lead hybrid, bridging business vision and technical execution by translating complex business requirements into actionable user stories, defining clear acceptance criteria, prioritizing backlogs, and ensuring scalable, production‑ready deliveries.

· Strong command of Agile Scrum practices, including backlog grooming, sprint planning, story refinement, release planning, and stakeholder demos, with hands‑on ownership of product roadmaps, sprint commitments, and delivery outcomes aligned with business value and customer needs.

· Deep hands‑on expertise in modern automation frameworks such as Cypress, Playwright, Selenium WebDriver, Tricentis Tosca, Appium, and Cucumber, delivering robust UI, API, mobile, and end‑to‑end automation, fully integrated into CI/CD pipelines using Jenkins, Azure DevOps, GitHub, and Azure Repos.

· Proven experience in REST and SOAP API testing and automation using Postman, REST Assured, SOAP UI, Swagger, with strong focus on authentication, request/response validation, schema compliance, error handling, and backend data integrity, supported by advanced SQL-based database testing.

Overview

12
12
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification

Work History

Lead QA/ Product owner

LPL Financial
SC, USA
03.2026 - Current
  • Led end-to-end QA strategy and product delivery, aligning testing and product goals with business objectives.
  • Acted as Product Owner, managing backlog, prioritization, and roadmap planning.
  • Translated requirements into user stories, acceptance criteria, and test scenarios.
  • Led Agile ceremonies (planning, grooming, stand-ups, reviews, retrospectives).
  • Collaborated with stakeholders to define product vision, scope, and release timelines.
  • Defined and tracked product & QA KPIs (quality, adoption, defect metrics, release readiness).
  • Directed automation strategy (UI, API, ETL, mobile) to improve efficiency and reduce defects.
  • Ensured end-to-end validation (functional, integration, UAT, performance) across enterprise systems.
  • Acted as a bridge between business, QA, and engineering, ensuring clear communication and delivery.
  • Led release planning and go/no-go decisions based on risk, quality, and product readiness.

Lead SDET QA/ Product owner

S&P Global
New York, USA
09.2017 - 01.2026
  • Led QA strategy and test planning for a Financial Analytics Web Platform, defining scope for functional, integration, regression, performance, UAT, and non-functional testing, while ensuring alignment with enterprise governance, compliance, and production-readiness standards.
  • Acted as a trusted QA partner to program managers, vendors, and business stakeholders, aligning testing outcomes with program goals, key initiatives, and release timelines, and presenting quality health insights to support go/no-go decisions.
  • Acted as a Product Owner for a financial analytics platform, owning the product backlog, defining priorities, and aligning deliverables with business goals.
  • Collaborated with business stakeholders, product managers, and end users to gather and refine requirements into detailed user stories and acceptance criteria.
  • Led backlog grooming, sprint planning, daily stand-ups, sprint reviews, and retrospectives to ensure smooth Agile execution.
  • Defined and maintained product roadmap, aligning features with business value, customer needs, and release timelines.
  • Prioritized backlog based on business impact, risk, dependencies, and stakeholder inputs, ensuring maximum ROI.
  • Worked closely with engineering teams to clarify requirements, remove blockers, and ensure timely delivery.
  • Defined product success metrics and KPIs, tracking adoption, performance, and release quality.
  • Coordinated UAT activities with business users, ensuring features meet business expectations before production release.
  • Acted as a bridge between business, QA, and engineering teams, ensuring clear communication and alignment.
  • Supported release planning and go/no-go decisions based on product readiness, risk assessment, and quality metrics.
  • Defined, tracked, and reported QA metrics and KPIs including test coverage, defect density, defect leakage, pass/fail rates, risk severity, and release readiness dashboards using Azure DevOps and Excel.

Senior Test Engineer

ZenQ
Hyderabad
09.2016 - 09.2017
  • Owned quality assurance for a web-based enterprise insurance claims processing application, defining test strategy, test plans, and entry/exit criteria for each sprint.
  • Designed and developed SSRS reports, including parameterized reports, drill-down/drill-through, sub-reports, and dashboard visualizations, supported by SQL views and stored procedures.
  • Environment: Selenium WebDriver, Java, Cucumber, TestNG, Web Services, RESTful API, Eclipse, Agile, JIRA, Macros, HTML, JMeter, XML, SQL, SOAP UI 4.5.0, Notepad, PuTTY, Oracle SQL Developer, DB2, MySQL, WINSCP.

Test Engineer

ComTec Information Systems
Hyderabad
11.2013 - 08.2016
  • Designed and executed manual test cases for functional, compatibility, and regression testing across web and client/server applications, ensuring cross-browser and platform compatibility.
  • Logged and tracked defects, verified fixes, participated in review meetings, and contributed to risk mitigation and causal analysis.
  • Assisted in automation efforts using Selenium and UFT, performed backend validation using SQL queries, and delivered SAP automation suites using Worksoft Certify.
  • Integrated Selenium, UFT, and Jenkins with Rally, enabling end-to-end automated execution and centralized test result reporting.
  • Utilized advanced Selenium APIs including locators (XPath, CSS, ID), Actions, Screenshots, and UI interactions to stabilize automation scripts.
  • Performed requirements analysis, test case mapping, automation feasibility analysis, and provided effort estimates for design and execution phases.
  • Environment: Java 5 - 8, Weblogic 9 - 12, Spring Framework, HP ALM, Oracle 11g, SQL, Adobe Flex, SOAP, Javascript, EMC Documentum 6, TSO/ISPF, Jcl, COBOL, Vsam, DB2.

Education

Bachelor's degree - Computer science & Engineer

JNTU
04-2013

Skills

  • Product Ownership & Agile: Product Backlog Management, User Story Creation & Refinement, Acceptance Criteria Definition (BDD/Gherkin), Sprint Planning & Backlog Grooming, Stakeholder Management, Product Roadmap Planning, Business Requirement Analysis, Release Planning & Go-To-Market Coordination, KPI & Metrics Definition (Product & Quality), Agile (Scrum) / SAFe Methodologies
  • Testing tools: Cypress, Perfecto, Selenium WebDriver, Playwright, HP Quality Center/ALM, Azure DevOps, Visual Code, TestNG, JIRA, SOAP UI, Eclipse, Cucumber, Ranorex, SQL management, DBeaver, PostgreSQL, Postman, Swagger, Power BI, Tableau, GitHub, Jenkins, Rest Assured
  • Web Technologies: HTML, CSS, Angular, JavaScript
  • Data Warehouse & Reporting: SSIS, SSRS, ETL Testing, Data Validation, Data Reconciliation, Report Testing, Source-to-Target Mapping, BI Validation
  • Enterprise QA & Compliance: MES (Medicaid Enterprise System) Testing, Medicaid/Medicare Domain, HIPAA Compliance, QA Governance, Test Metrics & KPIs, Audit Readiness, Risk Identification & Mitigation
  • Languages: C, Java, SQL, VB Scripting, Python, JavaScript (Automation)
  • Project Management: Microsoft Project, Microsoft Office (Word, Excel), Microsoft PowerPoint, MS Access, Agile & Waterfall
  • Operating Systems: Windows XP, 7, 8 & server 2003, UNIX, MAC
  • Mobile OS: Android, iOS
  • Test Management/Defect Reporting Tools: Bugzilla, JIRA, HP ALM, Confluence, Bamboo, Azure DevOps (ADO/TFS), Zephyr, TestRail
  • Approach: Waterfall, Agile (Scrum), SDLC / STLC, Risk-Based Testing, Enterprise Test Strategy
  • Utilities: Eclipse, Firebug, Chrome Path, Git, GitHub, Jenkins, CI/CD Pipelines
  • Databases: MS SQL Server, Oracle 110, SQL Server 2000, Snowflake, Data Warehouse Systems, Cloud AWS
  • Accessibility Tools: Axe, AWS, Voice Over, Talk Back, Key Board Testing

Accomplishments

ISTQB Certified (Agile Tester & Foundation level)

CI India Tech & Data GSD Award Winner Q2-2023

Best team player Q3 - 2024
Best Culture Q2 - 2023

Certification

ISTQB AGILE and FOUNDATION level Tester

Timeline

Lead QA/ Product owner

LPL Financial
03.2026 - Current

Lead SDET QA/ Product owner

S&P Global
09.2017 - 01.2026

Senior Test Engineer

ZenQ
09.2016 - 09.2017

Test Engineer

ComTec Information Systems
11.2013 - 08.2016

Bachelor's degree - Computer science & Engineer

JNTU
Kavya Govada