MARCUS BATES_
AUTOMATION ENGINEER
ABOUT ME_
Denver based, I love M&M’s and all things outdoors. Also a passionate QA Automation Engineer with over a decade of hands-on experience, known for building robust testing frameworks and elevating quality practices in everything from startups to Fortune 500 companies. I’ve led projects that cut costs, sped up processes, and ensured high-quality products across web and mobile platforms. Skilled in JavaScript, WebDriverIO, Cypress, and Appium, I work closely with DevOps and engineering teams to integrate testing into CI/CD pipelines smoothly. Along the way, I’ve had the chance to mentor junior engineers, establish best practices, and even contribute to a successful IPO.
SKILLS_
JavaScriptCypressJestWDIOPythonPyTestRequestsMongoDBSQLPostmanAppiumCucumberGithubGitlabSelenium WebDriverSauceLabsBrowserStackJiraTrelloShortcutTestrailSAFEScrum
EXPERIENCE_
LEAD QA AUTOMATION ENGINEER_
NUTRIEN AG SOLUTIONS_ 2023 - 2024_- Technical lead for Shared Services team which governed the automated testing practices for 28 engineers on 10 different teams using recurring meetings & technical documentation for OneHub platform for a $46B/yr company (SAFE)
- Rewrote testing framework to enable a single test script to drive cross platform testing for Web, iOS, & Android using a shared code base (Webdriver IO | Appium | Cucumber | React Native | React.js)
- Monitored & automated Logs during test runs (AWS CloudFront)
- Wrote test scripts for React.js & React Native applications using containerized or locally run apps (Expo connected to cloud deployed backends)
- Reduced execution & maintenance costs by reducing lines of code by 65% for the cross platform app testing framework (WebDriverIO | Cucumber)
- Partnered with DevOps to create automated test checkpoints in the CI/CD process to prevent builds with known bugs from being promoted (Jenkins | AWS BrowserStack)
- Maintained data feeds to analytics dashboards to indicate the health, completeness, & testing for scheduled releases (AWS Cloudwatch | Browserstack Observability | Jira)
LEAD QA AUTOMATION ENGINEER_
THINK ALPHA TECHNOLOGIES_ 2022 - 2023_- Sole QA expert for a lean & mean startup team of self-sufficient developers providing guidance for E2E & Component testing (Cypress)
- Implemented an E2E & Component testing framework for use by developers (Cypress)
- Led design & planning of front end test methods & technologies (Agile | Risk & Context Based Testing)
- Trained & supported UI developers on testing frameworks & testing methodology (Jest | React | Cypess)
- Contributed test coverage & participated in code reviews of test code (Testrail)
- Setup / maintained / analyzed metrics from Cypress dashboard for testing inefficiencies (Cypress | AWS)
SENIOR SOFTWARE ENGINEER, QE_
GUILD EDUCATION_ 2021 - 2022_- Manager in Training with 3 direct reports
- Led / participated in numerous governance committees including the Architecture & Governance Committee for all of engineering
- Designed / implemented / wrote test automation frameworks (Python | Node.js | Microservices | AWS | Postman| PyTest | Jest)
- Monitored / interrogated Logs during test runs to catch issues during testing or in production (AWS CloudFront | DataDog )
- Performed exploratory testing or wrote automated tests scripts for microservices (AWS CDK | Python | Node.js)
- Created & worked with team members to implement a testing strategy that increased transparency & ensured functionality
- Interviewed over 50 candidates & participated in creation of the hiring process
- Technical supervisor of a pillar consisting of 4 teams
- Worked heavily with Lambda hosted microservices (AWS Python CDK)
SOFTWARE DEVELOPER ENGINEERING IN TEST_
RIFFYN_ 2019 - 2021_- Led the test automation transformation from Webdriver IO to Cypress
- Rewrote dockerized Webdriver IO test to Cypress & ran them in a CI/CD pipeline (Jenkins | AWS)
- Monitored / interrogated Logs during test runs to catch issues during testing or in production (DataDog)
- Enhanced test enablement through writing a test automation framework that spun up a local instance of the kubernetes system using minikube
- Trained & provided daily support of front-end developers using Cypress to test their front end code
- Sought out, interviewed, & hired another automation engineer to help with Cypress & other automation work
- Focused on reducing barriers to testing
- Led an offshore resource helping with conversion of Webdriver IO into Cypress
- Worked with Scientists/Customers to understand real world usage of the software
SENIOR SOFTWARE QUALITY ASSURANCE ENGINEER_
CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS_ 2019(6M CONTRACT)- Leading contributor of E2E tests for a customer facing cell phone activation portal that covered every single new feature being developed (Webdriver IO)
- Translated automated tests into collaborative framework with stakeholders ( Webdriver IO | Cucumber)
- Authored & executed manual & automated test cases serving as release train engineer (Testrails | Git)
- Participated in Agile QA, LEAN workshops & various agile planning ceremonies
- Worked with other teams to reuse consumable packages of software testing tools (NPM | Node)
- Participated in code reviews
SENIOR QUALITY ASSURANCE ENGINEER_
MYSTRENGTH, INC_ 2016 - 2019_- Contributed to the success of an early-stage startup, which achieved rapid growth and completed a successful IPO within two and a half years
- Sole QA subject matter expert at the company for the first 2 years responsible for establishing testing practices for a budding startup, includes hiring & onboarding to grow QA department
- Designed & implemented automated API & UI test framework for a cross platform mobile app (Postman | Xamarin | C# | .net | AWS)
- Manually tested every new feature being implemented during app redesign (Testrail)
- Wrote Manual / automated test scripts for a Web app, a native cross platform mobile application, a REST data API used by numerous backend data partners like Aetna & Humana (Angular | Postman | Xamarin)
SOFTWARE QUALITY ASSURANCE ENGINEER_
FOODSERVICEWAREHOUSE.COM_ 2015 - 2016_- Wrote automated tests for an existing Grid framework that was managed & run locally that tested a $150M/yr E-commerce platform (Selenium | Webdriver)
- Authored & executed manual & automated test cases
- Designed, implemented, & maintained UI automation framework for >20 micro web apps (Selenium GRID | Webdriver)
- Created & maintained test framework for the APIs connected to Mongo & SQL databases powering a high volume E-Commerce Website (AWS | Jenkins | Postman)
- Served as lead test engineer for all hands cross-org testing initiatives
- Evangelized the Automation Guild which established & shared automated testing practices at the company
QA ANALYST | TEAM LEAD_
INTERMAP TECHNOLOGIES_ 2014 - 2015_- Led a 5 person off-shore manual testing team with regular training sessions covering skills from quality methodology to using backend services to isolate defects
- Authored & executed manual & automated test cases including writing tests in Selenium IDE to automate test scripts (Selenium)
- Contributed in the planning-grooming of the backlog meetings (Microsoft Team Foundation Server)
- Received goals from management & translated them into team goals
- Hosted product demos, produced user requirements from User Acceptance Testing