Rafael Branco · Senior QA Engineer

Summary

A hands-on engineering approach to quality

/ QA Engineer with 6+ years of professional experience across software development and quality engineering, with deep focus on test automation, E2E & API testing, and CI/CD integration. A background in software development enables a hands-on engineering approach — writing more effective tests and collaborating directly with development teams. Actively integrates AI coding tools (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, GitHub Copilot) into daily QA workflows to accelerate test design and scale automation output.

/ Over the past two years, led QA efforts at an American insurtech startup, coordinating a team of 4 QA engineers across 3 simultaneous products. Work spans from hands-on automation with Playwright and PyTest to defining testing strategy, mentoring team members, and communicating quality status to technical leadership. Fluent in English, working daily in remote cross-functional environments.

Skills

Capabilities & toolchain

Automation & Testing

PlaywrightPyTest CypressWebDriverIO SeleniumE2E APILoad RegressionSmoke Manual TestingTest Planning Test Case CreationExploratory Testing AI-Assisted TestingSpec-Driven Dev Prompt Engineering for QA

CI/CD & Infrastructure

Bitbucket PipelinesJenkins DockerAWS GCPTerraformLinux Git

Programming Languages

TypeScriptPython JavaScriptShell Node.jsJava C/C++C# PHPSQL HTML/CSSSCSS FlaskMySQL

Test Management

TestRailTestmo TestinyJIRA Atlassian

Tools & Practices

PostmanAgile EclipseDataStudio Google Tag ManagerExcel/VBA SharePointWordPress

AI-Assisted Development

Claude CodeCursor Codex (OpenAI)GitHub Copilot

Experience

Where I've made an impact

Tricura Insurance Group — QA Engineering Tech Lead

Jan 2024 – Present

United States · Remote from Brazil

Led QA coverage across 3 simultaneous products — a healthcare platform (Gemini), an underwriting system (Orion), and a claims management platform (Centaur) — in a fast-growing American insurtech startup.
Coordinated a team of 4 QA engineers (5 including self), responsible for onboarding, mentoring, and day-to-day alignment across all products.
Defined QA strategy and test automation roadmap; participated in technical leadership discussions with CEO, CTO, and product directors.
Managed release risk on a weekly cadence and produced executive QA documentation for stakeholder communication.
Worked directly with PMs, designers, developers, and CS teams to triage issues, investigate customer-facing bugs, and communicate quality status.
Built automated E2E test suites from scratch using Playwright (TypeScript and Python), covering critical flows, edge cases, and multi-role authentication scenarios — including full project structure, fixtures, Page Objects, API clients, and CI pipeline setup.
Designed API, unit, and integration test coverage with PyTest across 10+ domain modules — authentication, RBAC, error handling, response validation, claims, policies, facilities, and reporting.
Defined a practical test pyramid strategy across unit, API, and E2E layers; executed smoke and regression testing in production release cycles.
Improved frontend testability by instrumenting React/TypeScript applications with data-autotest attributes in collaboration with frontend developers.
Configured and maintained CI/CD pipelines in Bitbucket Pipelines and Jenkins with scheduled runs, AWS Secrets Manager integration, Slack-based test reporting, and flaky-test troubleshooting.
Migrated data-availability pipelines from Jenkins to Bitbucket Pipelines; managed Dockerized test execution environments and Terraform repository configuration.
Applied AI-assisted development practices (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex) daily for test script generation, scenario analysis, and pipeline design — reducing implementation time while maintaining engineering standards.
Adopted a spec-driven testing approach using AI coding agents, translating OpenAPI specifications and test scenario catalogs into executable Playwright and PyTest suites.

PlaywrightPyTestTypeScript PythonFastAPIReact Bitbucket PipelinesJenkinsDocker AWSLinuxTerraformPostman JIRAClaude CodeCursorCodex

Atos — Load & Automation Tester

Jun 2022 – Dec 2023

Curitiba, Brazil

Planned and executed load and performance tests for high-traffic systems — defining test scenarios including concurrent users, transaction types, and load variations; analyzed results to assess system behavior under stress.
Developed automated E2E tests using WebDriverIO; performed API validation using RESTful methods and Postman; contributed to manual and performance testing to ensure functional stability.
Supported CI/CD processes with Jenkins; managed test execution environments using Kubernetes and Docker.
Scripted automation tasks in Python, JavaScript, and Shell on Linux environments; used Git for version control and JIRA for defect tracking.
Validated SIP, WebRTC, and CTI-based telephony solutions within Unified Communications systems — covering features such as conferencing, video calls, and voicemail within IP telephony platforms.

WebDriverIOPythonJavaScript ShellJenkinsDocker KubernetesPostmanJIRALinux

Mentores Digital — Web Developer

Apr 2021 – Feb 2022 · Curitiba, Brazil

Developed e-commerce stores using JavaScript, HTML/CSS, SCSS, WordPress, and Loja Integrada.
Managed AWS cloud infrastructure, SharePoint sites, DataStudio dashboards, and Google Tag Manager implementation.
Provided client support, addressing needs and maintaining strong relationships throughout project development.
Automated HR/Finance spreadsheets using JavaScript; actively involved in hiring and onboarding new developers.

JavaScriptHTML/CSSSCSS WordPressAWSSharePoint DataStudioGoogle Tag Manager

Freelance — Software Developer

Jan 2021 – Jan 2024

Delivered 80+ projects on the VintePila platform across web development, automation, and data — serving clients from various industries.
Built web solutions using JavaScript, PHP, Python, C, C#, MySQL, Flask, and WordPress; developed e-commerce stores on Shopify, Builderall, and Loja Integrada, including landing pages and presell pages optimized for conversion.
Developed automation scripts and bots in Python (CAPTCHA solving via 2Captcha API, Mercado Livre product image importer); built Chrome extensions (including ERP Tiny integration); scripted VBA macros for Excel automation and data consolidation.
Created data dashboards and automated spreadsheets in Excel for clients in construction and finance sectors; built systems integrating Python and Excel for process automation.
Managed hosting environments (cPanel, Plesk, Vultr, Hostgator); handled domain corrections, site migrations, and server-side configurations.
Provided private tutoring and programming mentorship to students across Python, JavaScript, C, Java, and data structures — guiding them through exercises, projects, and concepts with hands-on support.

PythonJavaScriptPHP CC#MySQL FlaskWordPressPlaywright SeleniumVBAShopify

Siemens R&D — QA Tester, Intern

Mar 2018 – Jul 2018

Curitiba, Brazil

Conducted smoke tests, regression tests, and build generation for the Spectrum Power portfolio (WebSDK graphical component).
Provided post-sales SLA support — maintaining Siemens solutions infrastructure (software and hardware), handling service requests, and managing IT network infrastructure updates including equipment patches, OS updates, and security systems.
Compiled KPI reports for internal and external stakeholders; maintained direct communication with clients on service status.

Smoke TestingRegression Testing Build GenerationSLA Support KPI ReportingWebSDK

Education

Academic background

Postgraduate Degree, Software Testing

Cruzeiro do Sul Virtual

2023 – 2024

B.Eng, Computer Engineering

Universidade Positivo

2016 – 2023

Associate's, System Analysis & Development

UNICURITIBA

2021 – 2022

Details

Languages & recognition

Languages

English — Fluent Portuguese — Native French — Basic

Recognition

Top Performer Award — Recognized among the top 4 of the year · Mentores Digital