Curriculum Vitae - Vincent Dirks

Name	Vincent Dirks
e-mail	vincent@dirksonline.net
Mob	021-0269-6216
LinkedIn	nz.linkedin.com
Location	Parau, West Auckland

Vincent Dirks - Software Quality Engineer

As a versatile Software Quality Engineer, I aim to understand the nuances of the product, team dynamics, technological landscapes, and organizational structures so that I can adapt and contribute effectively. I specialize in adapting to diverse contexts, and look beyond traditional testing methodologies to consider the design of the whole quality ecosystem necessary for delivering quality software solutions efficiently.

Skills

Testing

Context Driven Testing API Testing Testing Native Mobile Apps Testing Web Apps Testing Firmware/Embedded systems Testability Concepts

Observability Concepts Exploratory Testing (Session & Thread Based) Visual Modelling Metrics Driven Development (A/B Testing) Accessibility Testing

Programming and Automation

Javascript	Java	Other
Node.js, npm Express.js React Jest Cypress.io Webdriver.io mermaid.js	Cucumber (BDD) Maven Tidal. Wave UI automation library Selenium REST-assured JUnit, TestNG LeJOS (Lego mindstorm) Robotics	C#: Specflow (BDD) SQL & SSMS Appium XCUITest GraphQL C++: Arduino, ESP32

Tools

Splunk (log aggregation & analysis) Postman, Newman VS Code, IntelliJ, Visual Studio Github, Bitbucket Docker, Linux Chrome Ext's CJS, Bug Magnet, Clear Session Icecream Screen Recorder

Fiddler, Charles Proxy, Wireshark Jenkins, Azure Devops (TFS), Google Cloud Platform Bash & PowerShell scripting Browser Dev Tools Jira, Confluence SoapUI, ReadyAPI

General

Banking and finance sector AML/CFT Solutions Online Auction Platforms Vehicle Leasing systems Platform Engineering Staff Mentoring & Induction

Agile Squad Master Micro-services architecture Manufacturing Resource Planning - Logistics Manager Physics - Weather Radar Systems, Lasers, Fibre-optics Electrical & Electronic Engineering Dinghy Sailing

Work Experience

Currently on a health and wellbeing break for some self-care after some significant life changes.

Water Services Reform, DIA - Senior Test Automation Engineer (Nov-2023 - Jan-2024)

Contracting through TTC Global. Test Automation team, Three Waters Project, developing a UI Automation suite in Java using the Tidal. wave Selenium automation library

Westpac NZ - Senior Automation Quality Engineer (Apr-2021 - Nov-2023)

Served as a roving Automation Quality Engineer, addressing testing and automation needs across multiple teams. Conducted testing and automation for mobile apps (Appium & XCUITest), a D365 web UI (Java, Selenium, POM's), and various APIs (Java, REST Assured). Also contributed as a platform engineer supporting Splunk, and developed a React web app for visualizing test environments (Node.js, React, mermaid.js).

FirstAML - Test Analyst (Oct-2020 - Mar-2021)

Served as a quality coach for a startup company developing a ReactJS Web App for the AML/CFT (Anti-Money Laundering/Countering Financing of Terrorism) industry.

Weather Radar NZ limited - Weather Radar Systems Engineer (Jun-2020 - Oct-2020)

Contracting 4 days/week. Retrofitting legacy weather radars with embedded Arduino micro controllers. Designing new electronics, PCB's, maintaining power waveguide systems, and performing signal analysis.

Grappler- Agile Quality Analyst (Jun-2020 - Oct-2020)

Contracting 1 day/week. Developed a small solution to run a Postman collection in Google Cloud Platform and a simple Web UI (Node.js, Express.js) to trigger test runs and display HTML test reports.

Fiserv Auckland - Intermediate Software Test Engineer (Jan-2017 - Apr-2020)

Native Mobile App functional and accessibility testing. API testing and automation, using Postman/Newman, Specflow with C#, Javascript (Postman, Node.js, Express.js), Splunk for dashboards, TFS & Powershell for System deployment automation. Created the Postman Testrunner Framework (PTF) for automated API integration checks and environment health monitoring.

Trade Me - Senior Software Test Analyst (Dec-2014 - Aug-2016)

Conducted context-driven exploratory testing for software changes to the iconic Trade Me website, focussing on the Motors page & features. My responsibilities included testing DBs, UIs, APIs, and mobile apps, leading deployments, conducting test planning and peer reviews, utilizing BDD and visual test tools. I gained experience with implementing agile methods, Splunk, ReadyAPI, XMind, Jira, and Confluence. I also enjoyed onboarding new staff and contributing to the test and agile guilds.

Pre-2014 Roles

Software Tester, Logistics Manager, Caregiver, Software Engineer, Development & Support Engineer, Production Scheduler, Physics Tutor

Related wiki pages

References

TTC, Westpac , Fiserv , Trade Me Motors

Volunteering

Laingholm & Districts Community Association, Ministry of Testing, Eastern Suburbs AFC, Glendowie Boating Club, MOTAT, Eastern Suburbs Montessori Primary School

Professional Development

Conferences, workshops, meetups etc.

Education

University of Auckland: ME(Elec)

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What I'm reading, watching, listening, learning, and trying out in 2024

My Personal Observability Project

• Express.js basic hello world and my node.js-in-the-cloud repo
• Kubernetes vs. Docker by Josh Campbell at Atlassian
  

I want to learn the difference between these technologies to see how it might apply to my Observability Project

• Setting up Docker Desktop at home to run the Docker Splunk Image

Test Community Events

• Registered to go to the NZTestingConf 2024 in Wellington to listen to
  • Shay Naiki, QA Manager @ Alphero: Creating a collaborative culture in the testing world: lessons from life in a digital agency
  • Nevetha Mani, Product Human @ Hectre: Off the beaten path: rethinking quality in the startup world
  • Emma Procter & Jonathan Shirley, @ PikPok: Finding the fun: researching and playtesting games at PikPok
  • Patricio Miner, Content Creator @ Free Range Testers: ETL: the testing niche you've never thought of
  • Toby Martin, QA Practice Lead @ Pushpay: Stop automating, start investigating: a guide to slowing down to speed up
  • Ryan Bevens, QA Community Manager @ Potentia: Diary of a reluctant recruiter: your value as a tester

== Watch this space for conference notes ==

Interesting Reads

• A Context Driven Approach to Automation in Testing By James Bach and Michael Bolton

Quote: "dynamically evaluating context and selecting, designing, or adjusting our actions to solve the problems that we encounter."

• Round Earth Test Strategy by James Bach

Interesting alternative to the "Test Automation Pyramid".

Quote: There are testing problems to consider at every level, "Quality above requires quality below".

Archive

Old pre-2024 entries

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