Alexandra Serafim

I joined TLM/Endava as a Senior Tester and within 6 months in the company, I have been promoted to Lead QA, based on my performance, but also based on the management experience I formed as QA DevTest Lead in Ubisoft. As a QA Lead at TLM/Endava, I manage projects for diverse clients, focusing on ensuring the quality and functionality of software releases across various platforms, including live environments and VR systems. This role has allowed me to strengthen my technical and leadership skills, deliver high-quality results under tight deadlines, and successfully manage both live and development projects across a variety of platforms.

• Live Title Management: Oversaw QA for Heroes & Generals, a live title with monthly releases. Validated new implementations during the testing environment, ensured functionality in the release environment, and conducted sanity checks post-release to approve server readiness.
• VR Game Testing: Worked on Creed: Rise to Glory VR, testing functionality across VR devices and managing the porting process from Oculus to Pico. Ensured proper implementation of Sony-specific features for Ghostbusters VR, including invites, communication, and multiplayer functionality.
• Undisclosed Projects: Managed a team of 3 testers for two confidential projects, gathering KPIs, creating test plans, and collaborating closely with developers and production teams. Led the testing of a voice communication feature under tight deadlines, coordinating with programmers and compliance specialists. The feature passed 1st party compliance submission on the first attempt with zero must fix issues, thanks to pre-planned testing and adherence to 1st party standards.
• Collaboration with External QA Teams: Worked closely with external QA teams on multiple projects, enhancing skills in cross-team collaboration and live environment management.
• Responsibilities and achievements:

- Standardized bug reporting methods for better communication between QA and development teams.

- Mentored junior team members, fostering growth and enhancing team performance.

- Managed multiple projects simultaneously, ensuring timely delivery of high-quality products.

- Streamlined QA processes for improved efficiency, reducing project completion time.

- Optimized test coverage by defining clear test objectives and prioritizing scenarios based on risk assessment.

- Led cross-functional teams to ensure seamless collaboration in achieving project goals.

- Reduced defect leakage by effectively conducting regression testing after each release cycle.

- Mentored and encouraged employees to strive for excellence while fostering professional growth.

- Liaised with HR manager to organize and perform quality standard training for new and existing staff.

- Collaborated with the automation team in order to build automated test scripts to handle repetitive testing work.

- Conducted candidate interviews and evaluated applicants to identify strong potential hires.

As a Testing Manager at Testlio, I successfully handled multiple software testing projects, managing end-to-end testing processes while maintaining direct communication with clients to ensure their needs were met. Key Responsibilities and Achievements:

• Client Communication: Served as the primary point of contact for clients, ensuring a clear understanding of testing scope, requirements, and expectations. Provided updates, clarified goals, and delivered comprehensive test reports to clients.
• Test Planning & Execution: Designed detailed test cases based on project specifications and client requirements. Scheduled and coordinated test cycles, ensuring deadlines and quality standards were met.
• Resource Management: Prepared builds for testing and assigned freelance testers to specific tasks, ensuring optimal resource utilization and efficiency. Managed and guided testers throughout the process to achieve accurate and thorough results.
• Reporting: Compiled detailed reports summarizing test results, identified issues, and provided actionable insights for clients post-testing.

This role further strengthened my ability to manage complex projects, coordinate diverse teams, and maintain high standards in software testing, all while fostering strong client relationships.

As a member of the Development QA team, I honed my expertise in engine testing, preflight testing, and close collaboration with multidisciplinary development teams, including UI, Game Design, Asset Artists, Technical Artists, Level Designers, Engineers, and Production staff.

Key Achievements and Responsibilities:

• Technical Proficiency: Worked extensively with tools such as Perforce, Unreal Engine 4 (and later Unreal Engine 5), Jenkins, and other build system solutions. Quickly adapted to both in-house tools and globally recognized platforms, including Jira, Confluence, and build distribution solutions.
• Leadership & Team Building: Began leadership in 2019, managing a team that grew from 3 mid-level Dev Testers to 9 testers with varying seniority levels. Supported team members in achieving career milestones, helping them transition to roles such as Technical Artist, Associate Producer Assistant, Automation Dev Tester, Senior Dev Tester, Associate Lead Dev Tester, and Game Designer. Facilitated personalized growth by matching team members' passions with appropriate training and tasks, securing support from senior experts across disciplines.
• Key Innovations: Initiated and championed the creation of the Automation Dev Tester role in collaboration with Management, HR, and studio leadership. This led to the establishment of the first Automation Dev Tester position in the Kyiv studio. Pioneered the development of a tailored evaluation process for Dev QA Testers, defining clear expectations for hard and soft skills across seniority levels. This initiative was adopted as a standard practice within the studio.
• Cross-Studio Collaboration: Acted as the primary liaison between the Kyiv Development QA team and QA/Dev QA teams in multiple Ubisoft studios, including Berlin, Bucharest, Toronto, Montreal, and Shanghai. Advocated for Kyiv's testing needs while contributing to key features such as render reflections, accessibility features, mini-games, PC and Stadia versions, and automation framework development.
• Project Management & Communication: Managed a team of 3 Automation Programmers, overseeing sprint planning, retrospectives, milestone reviews, task creation, and Jira ticket management. Organized and led meetings to ensure alignment between various teams and facilitated efficient project workflows.

I contributed to building a more structured and supportive Development QA environment, fostering growth and collaboration while achieving milestones that had a lasting impact on studio processes and team success.

With several meaningful years in the gaming industry, I have consistently developed and refined my technical expertise and core skills through hands-on experience. My career began with Ubisoft's renowned Assassin's Creed franchise, a pivotal opportunity where I gained extensive knowledge about console platform testing and the various stages of a project lifecycle. Building on this foundation, I expanded my expertise by working on VR titles for Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and PlayStation VR. I served as a Task Lead, managing a team of five members. This role involves taking ownership of project areas, ensuring seamless team functionality, and fostering a collaborative and productive environment.

Key Responsibilities:

• Work autonomously while managing and coordinating daily tasks for the team.
• Assist and mentor team members throughout the testing process, offering guidance and sharing expertise.
• Train new colleagues and provide ongoing support. Design and maintain test cases, regression templates, test plans, and reports.
• Conduct tests while meeting productivity and quality objectives.
• Proactively identify opportunities to optimize testing processes and improve overall project efficiency