Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Certification
Work Availability
Timeline
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Kathy Subramaniam

Kathy Subramaniam

Test Lead/manager
Harrow

Summary

Results-driven professional with over 20 years of experience in software testing. Brings expertise in leading and managing successful testing teams across diverse industries including healthcare, telecoms, automobiles, utilities, charity, and public services. Proficient in various test methodologies such as Waterfall, V-model, and Agile (Scrum and Kanban). Excels in project planning, task management, cross-team collaboration, and stakeholder management. Streamlines testing processes through automation, enhances test frameworks, and fosters strong communication between testers and developers. Facilitates Scrum adoption, creates regression test suites, improves test efficiency, and maintains streamlined test documentation for transparency and productivity.

Overview

27
27
years of professional experience
8
8
years of post-secondary education
4
4
Certifications

Work History

Test Lead/Manager

Qualitest UK
07.2005 - 11.2024
  • Led and managed an onshore-offshore test team of 9 resources, ensuring seamless collaboration across global teams and alignment with project objectives
  • Planned, executed, and reported on testing activities for design change requests, from initiation through to completion
  • Prioritized and planned workloads in accordance with project delivery deadlines, ensuring timely execution of all test activities
  • Developed test schedules and effectively utilized team resources to meet delivery targets on time
  • Managed the entire defect lifecycle, from identification to resolution, ensuring high-quality outcomes
  • Ensured all test team requirements were met to support efficient and effective testing activities
  • Coordinated with both internal and external stakeholders to resolve open defects and ensure smooth test execution
  • Documented test processes and methodologies, ensuring clear communication and transparency throughout the project
  • Collaborated with design teams, stakeholders, and labs to address and resolve issues as they arose
  • Worked closely with release and delivery managers to manage test progress, address blocking issues, and align on priorities
  • Provided test estimations for work requests, facilitating timely stakeholder approvals for testing activities
  • Coordinated with environment managers and labs to ensure test environment requirements were met for successful test execution
  • Produced and reviewed testing artefacts to align with client expectations, ensuring accuracy and completeness
  • Developed test plans, test exit reports, and obtained stakeholder approval to proceed with testing and release activities
  • Performed ESN impact assessments for all work requests to assess potential risk impact on critical systems and operations
  • Applied strong manual testing expertise to both in-house applications and off-the-shelf software, ensuring comprehensive test coverage
  • Analyzed design documentation to perform static testing, identifying issues early in the development cycle
  • Performed various testing including integration, SIT, front end, back end, data warehouse testing, regression testing, performance testing and some automation testing
  • Performed exploratory testing as and when required to ensure unforeseen areas/scenarios were tested
  • Managed test preparation and execution, ensuring thorough and effective testing throughout the project lifecycle
  • Reviewed and provided feedback on regression test packs, ensuring that they met requirements and provided sufficient coverage
  • Streamlined testing processes for increased efficiency and reduced overall test cycle time.

Team Lead/Manager (Client: Smith and Nephew)

Qualitest UK
06.2021 - 08.2024
  • Oversaw test governance for IT projects, ensuring adherence to IT testing, validation, and PMO standard operating procedures (SOPs)
  • Escalated any process deviations to the PMO and IT program manager and provided suggestions for consideration
  • Led cross-functional teams for successful project execution while maintaining strong collaboration among team members
  • Enhanced overall team performance by providing regular coaching, feedback
  • Managed ALM tool, including providing user access and delivering training on best practices, as well as offering guidance to testers on its effective use
  • Developed and maintained ALM training materials, including slide decks and installation guidelines
  • Conducted quality assurance for project test planning and scoping activities to ensure alignment with project goals and requirements
  • Reviewed business requirements and design documentation to ensure clarity, completeness, and testability
  • Created and maintained master test plans, phase entry plans, and test completion reports, and facilitated review and approval from relevant project stakeholders
  • Managed risks and mitigated potential issues through proactive planning, monitoring and timely decision making
  • Supported the preparation of test cases, recommending test case prioritization based on a Risk-Based Testing approach
  • Ensured the quality of SIT and UAT test scripts by verifying they met scripting standards and provided full coverage of the requirements in scope
  • Monitored and reported on test execution status, providing regular updates to project stakeholders
  • Managed defect triage processes, ensuring timely action, resolution, and retesting of defects to deliver high quality applications to customers
  • Ensured all testing activities were completed in line with industry best practices and quality standards
  • Monitored project test progress, identified risks and issues, and escalated them to stakeholders along with actionable recommendations
  • Actively participated in retrospective meetings, providing feedback on what went well, what didn’t, and suggesting improvements for future sprints/releases
  • Supported the completion of project assessment documents for project managers, ensuring thorough and accurate reporting

Test Analyst

T-Mobile UK
05.2002 - 06.2004
  • Contributed to the Windows XP migration project by conducting preliminary testing of applications to ensure compatibility with the new operating system
  • Developed installation and test scripts for applications, ensuring smooth deployment and functionality
  • Led user acceptance testing (UAT) in collaboration with business users, gathering feedback and ensuring the applications meet user requirements
  • Investigated and resolved installation issues, troubleshooting problems to ensure successful application deployment on Windows XP
  • Created XP user accounts with appropriate permissions and migrated user details to the new XP environment, ensuring a seamless transition

Software Tester

Hitec Labs Ltd
01.2002 - 05.2002
  • Conducted functional testing of electronic document storage solutions on Windows and .NET platforms, ensuring full functionality and system reliability
  • Managed defect tracking and resolution processes and implemented automation to streamline testing and improve efficiency

Internship

Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (aka Defra)
08.1997 - 07.1998
  • Developed intranet pages and coordinated with customers to gather content, ensuring timely and accurate publication on the intranet

Education

MSc - Distributed Information Systems

Brunel University
United Kingdon
09.1999 - 05.2001

BSc (Hons) - Computing and Applicable Mathematics

Staffordshire University
United Kingdon
09.1995 - 07.1999

Secondary Education - GCE A/Level and GCSEs

Coombe Girls’ School
United Kingdom
09.1992 - 07.1995

Skills

Test planning

Certification

Institute of Leadership and Management Level 3 - Pass

Work Availability

monday
tuesday
wednesday
thursday
friday
saturday
sunday
morning
afternoon
evening
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Timeline

Team Lead/Manager (Client: Smith and Nephew)

Qualitest UK
06.2021 - 08.2024

Test Lead/Manager

Qualitest UK
07.2005 - 11.2024

Test Analyst

T-Mobile UK
05.2002 - 06.2004

Software Tester

Hitec Labs Ltd
01.2002 - 05.2002

MSc - Distributed Information Systems

Brunel University
09.1999 - 05.2001

Internship

Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (aka Defra)
08.1997 - 07.1998

BSc (Hons) - Computing and Applicable Mathematics

Staffordshire University
09.1995 - 07.1999

Secondary Education - GCE A/Level and GCSEs

Coombe Girls’ School
09.1992 - 07.1995

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Kathy SubramaniamTest Lead/manager