I've got a lot of problems with you websites, and now you're gonna hear about it.
What I've done and what I do
Over the years, I've worked on projects big and small from print shops, record labels, and bands to global brands like Campbell's, Microsoft, Monster.com, MSNBC, NBA, Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, and Starbucks.
Work on these projects has spanned my career; throughout my developer lifecycle, I've worked as a Frontend Engineer, Lead Engineer, Technical Strategist, and Quality Assurance Engineer.
In each role, I've worked diligently to ensure client requirements were met at the end of each project. This included performing my own development work as a Frontend Engineer, but also moving into mentoring and leadership roles as a Lead Engineer. As a Lead, I led teams of 4-6 engineers to achieve on-time delivery of products.
As a Technical Strategist, I served as a requirements gatherer and technical writer. I was responsible for meeting with several clients multiple times a week to discuss client and user needs in order to pour those requirements into planning documentation. This included writing user stories, project plans, and supplementary project documentation.
In each of my previous roles, I performed QA Testing at high levels. I love attention to detail and being able to find the needle-in-the-haystack problem that may not have been found just yet.
Performing QA as an Engineer, Lead, and Strategist brought me to the role of Quality Assurance Engineer. Here, I am able to focus on manual and automated testing through tools like Ghost Inspector, BrowserStack, Playwright, Selenium, and others.
All the while, I've not lost my love of development and love finding a project here and there to dive into, whether it's graphic design, WordPress development, or React.
Oh, and one time I had to make a custom edit of "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" by the Backstreet Boys to remove the word "sexual" for my nephew's drum recital. Maybe my proudest moment of them all.
My experience
Alley Interactive
Senior Quality Assurance Engineer | July, 2022 – Current
As a Senior Quality Assurance Engineer, my love for QA and Testing steps into the forefront. In this capacity, I am able to focus directly on different forms of testing to ensure requirements are met with a keen eye for user experience. Combining my years of experience as a Designer, Engineer, and Strategist, I am uniquely suited for this role as I am able to not only End-To-End Test with the user in mind but I am also able to troubleshoot and plan at a highly technical level.
- Implemented a successful test automation strategy increasing test coverage by 1500% and significantly reduced manual testing time.
- Worked alongside the engineering team to pinpoint edge cases and areas for potential bugs before code moved to client UAT, leading to a substantial decrease in client-reported issues.
- Conducted thorough analysis and reporting of test results, delivering valuable insights to internal and external teams contributing to a notable improvement in product quality.
- Developed test cases for development tickets in the backlog, ensuring that each ticket was tested robustly both via manual testing and automated testing.
- Worked seamlessly with external engineering teams to streamline the QA workflow across multiple teams, enabling all teams to work confidently knowing that standard testing practices and tools were being used.
WebDevStudios
Technical Strategist | October, 2019 – June, 2022
As a Technical Strategist, I hung up the Engineer hat and moved into a more client-facing role. I met with multiple clients several times a week along with the Strategy team to discuss client requirements in order to develop mockups, project requirements, project plans, and other deliverables. In this role, I continued my work in QA by performing end-to-end testing on projects to ensure project requirements had been met.
- Maximized strategic approaches to development for 3-5 active projects by keeping a close eye on client needs.
- Created customized project plans with technical requirements, user stories, and acceptance criteria to ensure successful product delivery.
- Collaborated with Project Management and Engineering to achieve on-time and on-budget delivery of projects.
- Provided Quality Assurance and End-To-End Testing with a focus on meeting previously defined project requirements.
Lead Frontend Engineer | April, 2014 – October, 2019
As a Lead Frontend Engineer, I continued to complete my tasks as a Frontend Engineer while also leading a team of Engineers to complete projects on time and under budget. Stepping into this role allowed me to not only continue to grow my own Engineering skills, but to learn from and with a close-knit team while offering guidance and support.
- Planned, managed, and organized development for 2-4 concurrent projects implementing conversion of mockups into WordPress websites with PHP, HTML, CSS/Sass, JavaScript, and AJAX.
- Led teams of up to 4 Engineers to complete projects while performing code reviews and offering mentorship.
- Provided Quality Assurance and End-To-End Testing for websites prior to site launch with a sharp eye for detail.
Frontend Engineer | August, 2011 – April, 2014
As a Frontend Engineer, I was able to bring my years of design and development skills to an agency and a team. Working alongside 2-4 fellow Engineers on projects, I developed WordPress websites on a timeline and under budget.
- Completed website development, translating mockups into full WordPress websites with PHP, HTML, CSS/Sass, JavaScript, and AJAX for 2-4 active projects simultaneously.
- Delivered consistent experiences across Chrome, Safari, Firefox and other desktop and mobile browsers.
- Reviewed and tested sites before deployment, applying best practice diagnostic techniques to verify usability.
My skills
- Accessibility
- Adobe Suite
- Affinity Suite
- Agile
- Attention to Detail
- Automated Testing
- CI/CD
- Code Review
- Coding Standards
- Communication
- CSS
- Exploratory Testing
- Ghost Inspector
- Git
- Graphic Design
- HTML
- JavaScript
- Jira
- Leadership
- Manual Testing
- Node.js
- npm
- Performance
- PHP
- Playwright
- Print Design
- Print Publishing
- Problem Solving
- Project Management
- Python
- React
- Regression Testing
- Requirements Gathering
- Sass
- Selenium
- Test Cases
- Test Management
- Test Planning
- Time Management
- TypeScript
- User Experience
- User Stories
- WordPress
A little about me
It all started with a Commodore 64 on which I would play Maniac Mansion and Bop'N Wrestle.
From those humble beginnings a nerd was born.
When we got our first Windows desktop, the world was at my fingertips. I began building websites when I was 13 and never stopped. The days of editing solely in Notepad and using groundbreaking technology like tables and flame GIFs may be behind me, but only to focus on projects based in slightly more modern technologies.
Though, really, there's always room for a good old-fashioned flame GIF or barbed wire horizontal rule so let's not totally discount those valuable pieces of art.
Smash-cut to 20-some-odd years later: I graduated from SUNY Plattsburgh with an Audio-Radio/Digital Media Production degree.
Since real radio jobs died to the hands of radio automation as I finished out my degree, it was time to forget everything I learned in college and take on graphic design as a profession. I started out as a print designer for print & publishing shops while taking web dev jobs on the side.
My career path in earnest started kicked off as a Designer working in tools like InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, and some archaic newspaper layout software the name of which I'll never remember.
I transitioned into the role of a Developer honing my skills in HTML, CSS, Sass, PHP, JavaScript, React, and TypeScript. Continuing in this arena, I also enjoyed several years in a Lead Developer completing code reviews, performing quality assurance testing, and providing mentorship to team members.
From there, my love of planning, strategy, and QA led me out of development and into the role of a Technical Strategist. Here, I worked with clients on a daily basis to glean project requirements and write planning documents to ensure project success - while also coming back around to perform end-to-end testing on projects to ensure requirements had been flawlessly completed and user experience goals were met.
As a Senior Quality Assurance Engineer, I am able to focus my gaze onto areas which truly excite me - manual testing, automated testing, finessing the user experience, and finding new and innovative ways to break things. I really, really love finding ways to break things.
In real life, I watch more professional wrestling, eat more pizza, and drink more coffee than is probably healthy. Every now and then I'll venture outside to enjoy nature, beaches, mini golf, and long rides to buy delicious donuts. It's a life of excess to which I can give thanks to my step father for introducing computers and all things nerd-related to me.