Karen Baker

Contact: 214-425-2140 / e-mail: karenannbaker@att.net, Plano, TX

Over 20 years experience as a highly driven and passionate Quality Assurance professional with strong
documentation and SDLC skills. Consistently successful in developing, implementing and maintaining quality
assurance standards and processes as well as managing quality improvement to increase productivity and quality
products.
Extensive experience in all levels of the testing phases including writing requirements, design documents, test
planning, scheduling tasks and personnel, test plans, test designs and test cases, defect tracking, automated and
manual testing, as well as performing all levels of testing.
Core competencies include:
Strong SDLC experience - Iterative Development in an Agile Scrum environment
E-Commerce web testing , Client/Server testing
New Product Launches, Maintenance Product Releases
Project Management skills, Program Management skills
Manual & Automated Testing (WinRunner, in-house applications), User Acceptance Testing (UAT)
Managing QA teams, Business Analyst skills,
Mentoring Junior QA/Testers, Ability to communicate with Technical & Non-Technical personnel
Software includes:
SQL Server Management Studio, MS Visual Studio, HP Quality Center, Oracle Enterprise Manager, Team
Foundation Server, Mercury/HP Test Suite, various defect tracking systems

Professional Experience
Senior Quality Assurance Engineer

Quality Assurance/Tester
Fort Worth, Texas

Peoplefluent, Irving, TX

7/2012

- present

Provide leadership in developing the overall testing strategy and the execution of unit and integration testing
for all products.
Review recommended improvements to the testing strategy as made by the team.
Oversees the quality testing of product deliverables from construction phase to release.
Act as a senior resource on quality matters for others within the Engineering organization.
Directly responsible for developing and executing the testing strategy of one or more products within our
talent management applications.
These responsibilities include the frequent use of creativity in developing resolutions to complex quality
testing and technology problems, using judgment within the defined Agile Scrum development methodology
and quality testing practices.
Represent the quality team as a senior contact and often perform in a project leadership role.
Interact with other senior management of the quality team and throughout Software Engineering on matters
requiring coordination and collaboration.
Test Tools Used: Visual Studio, SQL Studio Management, Oracle Enterprise Manager, HP Quality Center, inhouse application used for Agile methodology sprint, test case and defect tracking.
Cross browser testing (IE, Chrome)

Think Finance (contract with Oxford Corp)

11/2011 - 2/2012

Worked directly with Project Management, Business Analyst and Marketing members to gather, refine and
document business and functional requirements.
Responsible for the planning and implementation of Quality Assurance and Testing roles for a new Internet
Website. Importance was place on end-to-end testing.
Worked closely with development to implement continuous integration to expedite release cycles.
The new Web site offers consumers the opportunity to enroll into a Prepaid Rewards Visa card.

Quality Assurance Professional

Karen Baker

Testing involved the Consumer Enrollment process, Consumers authenticity, Activation of the Card, Loading
the Card with money. Once the Card is loaded the Consumer is able to use the card to receive awards.
Development environment: LAMJ (Linux/Apache/MySQL/Java)
Created and implemented Use Cases to simulate Consumer activity
Cross browser testing (IE, Chrome, Firefox)
Third party vendors used during testing included: Galileo to verify Customer Identification Processes (CIP),
Yodlee - API Service that allows Spendable to authenticate user's access to linked Checking accounts
through providing online banking account login credentials.
Facilitated daily meetings to communicate information between departments and ensure priorities were
adhered to.

Freelance Work

1/2009 to 7/2011

Provided consulting services performing Business Analyst, Quality Assurance and Testing for small medium size
companies that produced Client/Server and Intranet Web applications. Designed and implemented testing approach
to ensure the highest level of quality.

Quality Assurance Lead

Seattle, WA

Raima (previously Birdstep Technology)

12/2005 11/2008

Reviewed business and functional requirements to ensure they were testable.

Developed the Quality Assurance processes and procedures for three product lines, which produced higher
quality as well as getting the products to market faster, which increased revenue, and customer satisfaction,
which was measured by their feedback. These procedures are still in place today.
Responsible for researching and purchasing a defect-tracking tool that was suitable for the products
produced and maintained.
Managed the planning and execution for products which included creating Test Plans, Test Designs and Test
Cases for executing automated scripts and manual testing.
Performed White Box, Grey Box and Black Box testing. This included Unit, Functional, Integration, System
and User Acceptance testing.
Products were tested and released on Linux, UNIX and Windows.
Accountable for testing schedules, planning, resources, providing progress reports and adherence to
requirements for all products.
Test Tools Used: AccuRev for Source Code Control, Defect Tacking and Reporting, Microsoft Project, Pure
Coverage for code coverage, Quick Build for iterative and build management of releases.
Languages Developers Used to build application included C and C++.

Sabbatical

5/2004 - 11/2005

Traveled the USA.

Software Test Engineer Lead (e-Commerce) Microsoft

Redmond, WA

3/2002 4/2004

Worked directly with internal customers to define business requirements and create User Stories.
Lead group of test engineers and software design engineers in test for the MSN Shopping test tools group.
This included becoming subject matter experts to plan the testing of the web based and desktop tools, backend data, images and cross browser testing. The Website releases were for the MSN Shopping and Windows
Catalog websites.
eCommerce Web-based testing (Business to Consumer)
Assist in researching and resolving customer-reported problems.
Oversaw test scheduling, planning, resources, documentation and executing testing for feature areas.
Testing included Grey Box and Black Box testing. This included Functional, Integration, System and User
Acceptance testing. Fulfilled API testing through Integration, System and User Acceptance testing.
Heavy SQL back-end data and validation testing.
Documentation included creating Test Plans, Test Designs and Test Cases.
Coordinated with Program Managers and Developers on a daily basis to assist in the software design and to
ensure the implementation was usable and testable, which increased quality and saved time to market.
Directed team members to ensure priorities and timelines were on schedule.
Contributed to the overall testing strategies.

Quality Assurance Professional

Supervised five Software Test Engineers (STE) and Software Development Engineers in Test (SDET).
Test Tools: SQL Server, Visual Source Safe, Microsoft Project, RAID for defect tracking
Languages Developers Used to build tools and e-commerce Web application included .NET, C#, SQL Server,
Visual Source Safe, Microsoft Project

Quality Assurance Manager (e-Commerce)

Karen Baker

I-NETwerks, Tampa, FL

3/2000 11/2001

Performed Project and Program Management tasks such as the project schedules and design documentation
as well as testing of the website projects.
Developed Quality Assurance department, by putting processes and procedures in place for every phase of
the software life cycle.
Created Test Plans, Test Designs and Test Cases as well as being involved in the daily Website testing for
various projects.
eCommerce Web-based testing (Business to Consumer, Business to Business)
SQL back-end data testing/validation
Testing included Grey Box and Black Box testing. This included Functional, Integration, System and User
Acceptance testing. API testing was fulfilled through Integration, System and User Acceptance testing.
Mentored two team members and carried out all phases of testing for multiple website projects.
Test Tools: SQL Server (used to verify back-end data), Visual Source Safe, Microsoft Project
Languages Developers Used to build e-commerce Web applications included .NET, C++, SQL Server, Visual
Source Safe

QA/Test Manager IMRglobal, (e-business division, previously ECWerks) Tampa, FL 5/1998 3/2000

Performed Project and Program Management tasks such as the project schedules and design documentation
as well as testing of the website projects.
Produced processes and procedures used during the software life cycle to ensure quality was built into each
website project.
Built and managed the team of up to eight testers by conducting knowledge transfer of processes,
procedures, testing, and tool knowledge as well as directing team in their daily responsibilities and tasks.
Performed Project and Program Management tasks such as the project schedules and design documentation
as well as testing of the website projects.
eCommerce Web-based testing (Business to Consumer, Business to Business)
Testing included Grey Box and Black Box testing. This included Functional, Integration, System and User
Acceptance testing. Fulfilled API testing through Integration, System and User Acceptance testing.
SQL back-end data testing/validation
Test Tools: SQL Server, Visual Source Safe, Microsoft Project
Languages Developers Used: .NET, C, SQL Server, Visual Source Safe

Senior QA Analyst
Intermedia Communications, Brandon, FL (contract with CMC)

Performed independent QA reviews on multiple projects to ensure methodology adherence

Testing included Grey Box and Black Box testing. This included Functional, Integration, System and User
Acceptance testing. Fulfilled API testing through Integration, System and User Acceptance testing.
SQL back-end data testing/validation
eCommerce Web-based testing (Business to Consumer, Business to Business)
Assisted Project Managers in the preparation of quality plans, assessment of risk throughout life cycle and
determination of project status relative to completion of deliverables
Responsible for planning and performing all testing phases required on projects

QA Manager
Paychex (previously National Business Solutions)
St. Petersburg, FL

1/1998 - 4/1998

4/1997 - 1/1998

Managed the department in a multi-platform development environment: Visual FoxPro, UNIX and DOS
running on Windows 95. The product was rewritten into a Client/Server application.
Assisted gathering requirements and designing the rewrite of a legacy system to a Client/Server application
(Visual FoxPro and SQL Server)
Testing included Grey Box and Black Box testing. This included Functional, Integration, System and User
Acceptance testing.

Quality Assurance Professional

Karen Baker

Researched automation tools to ensure correct tool was purchased to meet the employers need. I decided on
Mercurys WinRunner and Test Director products to perform automated testing. Responsible for designing
and implementing the overall Automation Testing strategy.

Sabbatical

8/1996 - 3/1997

Traveled the USA,Thailand and Nepal.

Field Data Conversion Analyst

Microsoft, Bellevue, WA (contract with Excell Data Corporation)

Team was responsible to convert and verify Microsoft Domestic Sales Office data into using one sales
application so data would be shared between the offices and corporate headquarters

Lead Software Test Engineer

Microsoft, Bellevue, WA (contract with BEST Consulting)

3/1995 - 12/1995

Worked with Project Management and Development to document product features and ensure User Interface
Standards adherence
Responsible for test schedules, test plans, test designs and test cases for multiple projects used internally by
Microsoft employees.
Testing included Grey Box and Black Box testing. This included Functional, Integration, System and User
Acceptance testing.

Senior Software Test Engineer

1/1996 - 8/1996

Wall Data Inc., Seattle, WA

10/1993 - 3/1995

Member of the User Interface Committee, which provided product architectural direction for the entire
SALSA product line
Lead the User Interface test team in writing, debugging, and maintaining test scripts using in-house
Automated Testing System. Wrote Microsoft C functions and utilized functions released with Microsoft Test
and the Windows operating system.

Software Test Engineer

Microsoft, Redmond, WA

7/1991 - 10/1993

FoxPro Group
Wrote and executed Test Plans and Test Cases for Microsoft FoxPro.
In charge of the Beta Support team for the FoxPro Distribution Kit. Duties included researching and solving
client questions received through CompuServe
Access Group 1.0
Responsible for writing test plans, test specifications, testing product functional areas, reviewing product
documentation, attending design reviews and identifying critical issues

Quality Assurance Analyst

Quality Assurance Engineer

Microrim, Redmond, WA

5/1989 - 7/1991

Duties included designing and implementing test plan procedures for R:Base product releases
Implemented Software Change Review Board to ensure timely response to defects and enhancement
requests

FLEXLink Intl. Inc., Renton, WA

8/1987 - 5/1989

Tested products including multi-platform file transfer, tape archiving, DBMS file access, and data access
Testing was conducted on a multi-platform system using an INTEL communication link
Systems included IBM MVS, IBM VM, DEC VMS, and Sun workstations

Education
Bachelor of Science, Central Michigan University, Computer Science Major, Mathematics Minor
Professional Training
Web/E-Business Testing, Software Quality Engineering (SQE)
Systematic Software Testing and Test Management, Software Quality Engineering (SQE)
Summit D Methodology Training (Coopers & Lybrand, Inc.)