Curriculum Vitae - Vincent Dirks

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

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 organisational structures so that I can adapt and contribute effectively. I specialise 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 Skills

Context Driven Testing API Testing Testing Native Mobile Apps Testing Web Apps Testing Firmware/Embedded systems Data Privacy

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

Programming and Automation Skills

JavaScript	Java	Other
Node.js, npm Express.js React Jest Cypress.io Webdriver.io	Maven, JUnit, TestNG Cucumber (BDD) REST-assured Selenium Page Object Models (POMs) Tidal. Wave	C#, Specflow (BDD) SQL & SSMS Appium XCUITest GraphQL C++: Arduino, ESP32

Tools & Technologies Experience

Splunk Postman, Newman VS Code, IntelliJ, Visual Studio Github, Bitbucket Docker, Linux

Fiddler, Charles Proxy, Wireshark Jenkins, Azure DevOps (TFS), Google Cloud Platform Bash & PowerShell scripting Jira, Confluence, Zephyr Scale, XMind SoapUI, ReadyAPI

Domain Experience

Banking and Finance Sector AML/CFT Sector Online Auction Platforms Vehicle Leasing systems Platform Engineering Staff Mentoring & Induction

Agile (Scrum, Kanban, SAFe, Squad Master) Microservices Architecture Manufacturing Resource Planning - Logistics Manager Physics - Weather Radar Systems, Lasers, Fibre-optics Electrical & Electronic Engineering

Work Experience

skills

Upskilling & Community Roles 2024 (May-2024 - Current)

Playwright,

Upskilling whilst looking for work, breathing life back into the Ministry of Testing - Auckland meetup group, and managing the Laingholm Village Hall

• Udemy Playwright: Web Automation Testing From Zero to Hero

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

Java, Maven, Selenium, POM's, Tidal. Wave, IntelliJ, Web App Testing, Azure DevOps

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)

Banking, API's, Mobile, Web, Observability, Accessibility, Microservices, Java, Cucumber, TestNG, REST-assured, Selenium, POM's, JavaScript, React, Jest, Linux, Docker, Event Queues, Appium, XCUITest, Charles Proxy, Jira, Confluence, Zephyr, Splunk, Platform Engineering, Jenkins, Azure Devops

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 visualising test environments (Node.js, React, mermaid.js).

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

Postman, AML/CFT, Accessibility, Data Privacy, GraphQL, AWS

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) sector.

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

Weather Radar Systems, Electronics, Embedded Testing, Arduino

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)

Postman, Newman, Google Cloud Platform, JavaScript, Node.js, Express.js

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)

Banking, Automation, API Testing, Mobile Testing, Accessibility, Observability, Postman, Splunk, JavaScript, Node.js, Express.js, C#, Specflow (BDD), SQL & SSMS, Fiddler, Jira, Confluence, Microsoft Test Manager, TFS, PowerShell

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)

Context Driven Testing, Exploratory Testing, Agile, Testability, Accessibility, Observability, Jira, Confluence, DB, Web App, Mobile, API Testing, PowerShell, Splunk, ReadyAPI, A/B Testing, XMind, Onboarding, SQL & SSMS

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, utilising 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

Risk Based Testing, VB, Embedded Dev & Test, MRP II, Electronics, Logistics, Networking, Training & Tutoring, C++, Customer & Tech Support, Production Planning, Documentation, Specifications, Sales Forecasting

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

Related wiki pages

References

TTC, Westpac , Fiserv , Trade Me Motors

GitHub Profile

My GitHub Projects

Volunteering

Laingholm & Districts Citizens 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) 1993

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

Learning

• Udemy Playwright: Web Automation Testing From Zero to Hero

I'm going to try use this to test some of my CV Wiki site.

See my notes as well as GitHub repo #1, and repo #2

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

• Attended NZTestingConf 2024 in Wellington. Presentations:
  • 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

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