Rachelle Rood

As a dynamic leader with over 20 years of experience in quality assurance and engineering, program management, and agile transformations, my strategic vision is to drive innovation, operational excellence, and continuous improvement across all facets of technology and quality. I am committed to fostering a culture of accountability and data-driven decision-making that aligns teams around shared goals, accelerates product development, and enhances customer satisfaction.

At the core of my vision is the belief that quality is not just an outcome but a strategic lever for business success. In my role as Vice President, I will focus on optimizing product lifecycle, ensuring that quality standards are seamlessly integrated into every step of development—from concept to release. By leveraging modern technologies, AI-driven insights, and automation, I will ensure that products meet the highest standards of reliability, performance, and security, while reducing defects and time-to-market.

I will unapologetically advocate for the product, will not hesitate to delay a release if it fails to meet the required quality standards, while working collaboratively with all stakeholders to resolve issues and get it to 'go'. I firmly believe that protecting the integrity of the product is essential to long-term success, and I am committed to ensuring that every release meets the highest standards of excellence.

• $1M+ Savings in Client Revenue : Spearheaded early test design processes, preventing over 200 production defects before development, saving the client over $1M in a single quarter.
• Optimized Cloud Spend : Led initiatives that saved a client several million dollars in Azure spend through performance optimization, observability, and reliability improvements.
• Reduced Testing Cycle by 90% : Automated testing for variable annuities product, reducing UAT testing cycle times by over 90%, saving 50+ days of processing time per test run.
• Mitigated Test Automation Abandonment : Improved test automation maintenance, cut costs, and enhanced lifecycle quality across complex, big data environments.
• Built QA Organizations from the Ground Up : Created strategic vision, direction, and processes for multiple organizations, including technology stacks and resource planning, leading to long-term success.
• Long-Lasting Impact : Developed processes still in use at UHG's QAMO a decade later, reflecting sustainable quality management.
• Early Adopter of Emerging Technologies : Implemented non-relational data storage, AI for test generation, and automation strategies to accelerate testing and improve quality.

UnitedHealth Group (UHG) & Ingenix
Leadership Roles (Full-Time & Consulting)

• Held leadership roles both as a full-time employee and in a consulting capacity, contributing to long-term process improvements, quality assurance implementations, and agile practices at UHG and affiliated organizations.
• Developed quality assurance processes that remain in use at UHG's QAMO, significantly improving product quality and reducing defects.

One Good Deed | Non-Profit Organization
Board Member, Director of IT

• Provide strategic IT leadership to ensure alignment with the organization's goals, overseeing technology planning, infrastructure, and security.
• Lead IT initiatives that improve operational efficiency, enhance data management, and support the organization's growth and sustainability.
• Collaborate with other board members to develop and implement technology-driven solutions that meet the needs of the community and stakeholders.

• Quality Assurance Manager, Sajan, Built a flexible QA organization that drove Agile adoption, improving development processes and driving quality across the company.
• Quality Assurance Lead, Ceridian, Introduced Agile/Scrum practices and implemented Fit/Fitnesse for automated testing, streamlining QA efforts and enhancing product quality.
• Senior Information Analyst, Express Scripts, Inc., Provided pharmacy benefit consultation and data analysis, creating models to support decision-making for various client types in the healthcare sector.

• Certified ScrumMaster, Scrum Alliance, 321052
• AI Certifications, IBM, Introduction to Artificial Intelligence (AI), Generative AI: Introduction and Applications, Generative AI: Prompt Engineering Basics
• Other Certifications, HIPPA, SAFe

• Rood, R., Parker, J. (2022). Software Quality Assurance 101 – Best Practices Make Easy.
• Speaker at industry conferences, forums, and networking events on quality assurance, agile methodologies, and cloud infrastructure.

• Content Management
• Life Sciences
• Healthcare
• Pharmaceutical Benefit Management
• Financial Services
• Localization, Translation
• Consulting