David E Spear

Insight Global @ Airbnb – January 2023 to Present

In this dual-faceted role working for Airbnb as a contractor, I oversee software release processes and QA efforts for the Communication and Connectivity Team, ensuring alignment with business goals and project deadlines. Key responsibilities and accomplishments include:

Planning and Implementation:
•Developed detailed release plans in collaboration with development teams, ensuring efficient, timely deployments.

Quality Assurance Leadership:
•Managed all testing phases, including unit, integration, and user acceptance, to uphold high quality standards. Established procedures for quality inspection and issue reporting, ensuring production consistency and customer satisfaction.

Cross-functional Collaboration:
•Acted as a liaison among development, operations, and product management teams, enhancing software releases and updates.

Achievements:
•Led initiatives that improved test case coverage by 70%, significantly reducing production bugs and enhancing software reliability.
•Increased testing efficiency by 80% through automation, reducing key performance measurements for escaped defects by 10% each month.
•Executed comprehensive test cases, ensuring functional, performance, and regression testing met project requirements.
•Mentored junior testers, fostering a collaborative and knowledge-sharing environment.

Compliance and Standards:
•Ensured adherence to all legal standards, including Accessibility testing requirements.
•Maintained detailed records of quality reports and documentation.

PSCU – February 2018 to January 2023

IT Strategic Business Partner

While employed in this position I was responsible for managing and governing the relationships with internal business unit leaders, and serving as the single point of contact for IT solutions and services. It was my responsibility to improve communication and collaboration between the IT department, and the internal business unit to ensure they are supported and aligned to meet their business goals and objectives. I was responsible for developing, influencing, and implementing a partnership strategy that aligns the individual business units with the IT business goals and objectives. I did this by creating relationships and building trust between the departments so that we can hold each other accountable for performance and service delivery commitments, and minimize enterprise risk to the company, and to each of the business units. Some of the key components I was responsible for in this role, and displayed were:
• Collaboration with all levels of management across the company in order to optimize the partner relationships, with the objective to maximize services offered to the employees of the company.
• Provide service excellence to my business units by understanding established priorities, communicating needs and objectives, and negotiating through challenges to determine the most desirable result.
• Use my technical skills from previous job experience in the technology field to provide guidance, and clarity in the processes. I worked with key internal stakeholders and executives to negotiate, escalate, and resolve issues, direct and establish priorities with the business unit in order to ensure there is focus on the most critical issues.
• Served as the point of contact for all presentations, and negotiations of financial and resource commitments on assigned projects within the business unit. I did this by coordinating and facilitating discussions around the business strategy and requirements.

Software Quality Assurance Lead

While employed in this role I was responsible for establishing, implementing, and maintaining effective Quality Assurance processes for Applications Development, and ensuring that applications were built and distributed appropriately, and stakeholders were notified of changes to existing systems. In this role I also accomplished the following:
• Expanded the use of automated testing by establishing an automated testing framework and ensuring that cross functionality exists between all project teams by collaborating with stakeholders on each project to ensure a thorough understanding of deliverables and timelines.
• Engaged with leadership to communicate testing strategy, direction and changes and ensured that project information is communicated in a timely manner.
• Enhanced and expand the scope of existing QA and testing function while following the Agile methodology and Software Development Lifecycle.

Marquis Software Development – June 2016 to February 2018

While employed here I was assigned to the Arkansas Department of Corrections eOMIS project as the lead tester. In this position I contributed the following as part of my work:
• Performed software quality assurance processes across multiple organizations, to include Arkansas Department of Corrections, Arkansas Parole Board, Arkansas Community Corrections, and Correct Care Solutions.
• Planed the entire quality assurance cycle as well as suggested software testing strategies; participated in test reviews and document reviews to control requirements, functional and technical design and test scripts.
• Directed software development projects, while leading teams of engineers and developers as well as assigning tasks to the junior members of the Testing Team.
• Held responsibility for the design and execution of test plans and test cases based on different functional aspects; reporting progress to the project management team.
• Analyzed software test results and recommended a course of action if necessary to ensure that performance standards demanded by the organization were maintained.
• Leveraged superior knowledge of back-end testing using SQL and JavaScript, as well as applied knowledge of Agile development cycle and knowledge of JIRA and Qmetry.

Brandt Information Services – January 2015 to June 2016

While employed here I was responsible for leading the QA team and efforts as well as mentoring other QA team members. I oversaw the testing efforts for the Go Outdoors software solution for Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee. In this position I have contributed the following as part of my work:
• Held responsibility for formulation and implementation of software testing strategies; provided thorough resource management, including allocation, monitoring, motivating, etc., to ensure proper QA process.
• Performed multiple level software testing, utilizing various testing tools, including JIRA serving as JIRA administrator; ensured product quality by having a strategic and well planned effort to test each software release.
• Documented, implemented, and monitored all testing processes as per organizational standards; ensured the availability of all hardware and software needed to execute testing of a release.
• Communicated with clients and responded to customer inquiries and emergencies as well as addressed issues to the Testing Team to ensure that client requirements were met.
• Escalated issues with project requirements to the Scrum Master/Project Manager, as well as served as a key point of contact between the Development Team and the Testing Team.

Florida Lottery – October 2009 to January 2015

While employed here I was responsible for ensuring that both the online terminal games and instant win games were thoroughly tested, and that all back-end systems that supported them were thoroughly tested as well. In this position I have contributed the following as part of my work:
• Provided functional and regression testing of the lottery gaming system and other in-house lottery software systems built with Oracle software, as well as made test software changes to the lottery website.
• Created end-to-end test plan and executed it, while managing all activities in the plan to ensure that all objectives were met and that solution worked as expected.
• Ensured that every phase and feature of the software solution was tested and that any potential issues was identified and fixed before the product went live.
• Tested software solution in terms of functionality, reliability, stability and compatibility with other legacy- and/or external systems; ensured that testing was well defined, planned and executed.
• Coordinated test implementation of new terminal lottery games and discontinuation of the old ones; provided technical documentation to software vendor staff for review with change requests made by lottery staff.

TSYS – May 2008 to October 2009

While employed here I was responsible for testing multiple areas of the TS2 mainframe system dealing with credit card transactions, authorizations, payments, and other areas of credit card processing for multiple clients such as Chase Bank, Bank of America, Capital One, and several other large banks. In this position I have contributed the following as part of my work:
• Played a key role in software development process, as well as collaborated with the software development team during the incubation phase; held responsibility for the software review process.
• Read and analyzed application requirements and design documents; developed comprehensive testing structures and test plans to satisfy business and/or technical requirements and analyze the quality of the product.
• Performed risk assessment of test designs and scenarios to mitigate risk while still meeting required timelines; executed tests and analyses as well as reviewed documentation such as business and technical specifications.
• Created test designs according to project requirements as well as coordinated on-line, batch and data verification testing to validate test results.
• Collaborated with technical and business resources to identify and correct system defects; worked with programming staff to create certain conditions and execute special testing requirements for test validation.

Synovus Financial – April 2007 to May 2008

While employed here I was responsible for supporting the Remote Express Deposit check scanning service which included testing the devices, providing customer facing assistance in the use of the devices, and providing feedback to project management on issues and enhancements discovered during the support of the system. In this position I have contributed the following as part of my work:
• Performed analysis of the company’s information technology capacity and its business objectives; ensured successful completion of analytical, building, testing and deployment tasks.
• Improved the quality of cash management products and services, delivered by the IT department to the end users, by gathering business requirements, analyzing them and recommending possible changes and products.
• Assisted in testing of changes to software and analyzed their efficiency within the company; provided the end user of software with technical support and collected their feedback to use as a basis for future upgrades.

Wachovia Bank – November 2004 to April 2007

While working here I was responsible for providing quality customer service to each and every customer that visited the local branch. In this position I have contributed the following as part of my work:
• Conducted dozens of banks’ routine transactions within time limits and established guidelines; assessed customer needs beyond the immediate transaction and directed the customer to the appropriate channel.
• Introduced new products and services, made sales referrals, suggested alternate channels and cross-sell products and services; managed risk in every transaction and detected fraudulent transactions to prevent losses.
• Promoted to the Service Banker role, but also served as the Assistant Branch Manager and backup to the Teller Manager; during this tenure, trained staff on sales goals and provided technical support in times of need.