A green tick is a claim, not proof
I check results against the source of truth and fix failing tests at the root instead of re-running them.
Alexandra-Maria Badescu · Quality Engineering Lead
“It should be fine” is not a test result.
You've heard it at work. I'm the one who checks. I help teams ship faster by making sure a passing build means the product actually works: fast automation, AI that's checked before anyone trusts it, and release decisions based on evidence.
- Romanian · English
- London · Open to remote
- ISTQB certified
$ npx playwright test ✓ account › signs up and verifies email 1.9s ✓ orders › places an order 2.4s ✓ payments › refunds in full 1.6s ✓ reports › totals are shown 1.2s 48 passed (1.1m) $ verify results --against source-data ! 2 reported totals don't match the ledger → all green, still wrong. that's my cue.
9years in software quality
87.5%faster API regression after parallelising runs
11months from Lead QA to Head of QA
18AI-assisted QA skills built and validated
2–3squads coordinated on releases and go/no-go
6sectors, from payments to insurance
About
From passing tests to correct results
I'm a quality engineering leader and former Head of QA with nine years across payments, fintech, regulated healthcare, insurance, identity verification and SaaS. I've built a QA practice where none existed, led QA engineers, and stayed hands-on throughout.
My work sits where automation, data and judgement meet. I write Playwright tests in TypeScript and Postman/Newman API suites, run them in CI, and make regression fast enough that teams actually use it. I check results against the source of truth, trace failing tests to their root cause instead of re-running them, and turn what I find into clear options for the people making release decisions.
I also use AI every day in testing. I build my own tools for test impact analysis, PR review and flaky test triage, and I test them like any other system before my team relies on them. I watch the other side too: when I noticed A/B test components quietly becoming permanent, including CMS code built with AI-generated solutions, I investigated, shared what I found and helped start a proper review process for complex components, with QA and developers both involved.
On a team, I'm the one who keeps people grounded when a release gets tense, and who makes a point of recognising other people's work in public.
On paper: Senior QA Engineer. Also answers to
- Quality Leader
- Ex-Head of QA. Strategy, standards, people.
- Release Whisperer
- Coordinates multi-team releases. Calmly.
- Incident Commander
- Runs the call. Then the postmortem.
- AI Wrangler
- Built a library of QA skills. Marks its homework.
- People Grower
- Coach, mentor, line manager, hype person.
- Chief Awkward Questions Officer
- Self-appointed. Widely tolerated.
Open to conversations about QA leadership, quality engineering and consulting work.
Experience
Career
-
2025 – Present
Senior QA Engineer
Regulated telehealth platform · Remote
Cross-functional squad owning payments, identity and eCommerce journeys for over a million patients. Went from ramp-up to owning QA for identity verification within months, then focused on scaling quality across the team.
- Coordinate releases across two to three squads and contribute to go/no-go decisions with test evidence and open risks.
- Parallelised API regression across 16 environments, cutting a full run from around 400 to 50 minutes.
- Built a library of reusable Claude skills for QA, each checked against known results before the team relied on it; ran AI workshops for other squads.
- Write Playwright (TypeScript) E2E, WCAG accessibility and visual regression suites; coached developers until the squad wrote its own E2E tests.
- Incident Commander on P0 to P2 incidents, with root-cause investigations and postmortems.
- Ran bug bashes, fixed flaky tests and led bug grooming until the backlog resolved more bugs than it created.
- Started a review process for complex CMS components, including AI-generated code, after spotting A/B test components becoming permanent without review.
-
2025 – Present
Independent QA Consultant
Identity and due diligence platform · Remote
- Test AML, KYC, bank account verification and document extraction workflows through a Postman/Newman regression suite and UI testing.
- Validate outcomes against source documents, separating a successful response from a correct one.
-
2022 – 2025
Head of QA
Kingsbridge Group · Remote
Joined as Lead QA Engineer on contract and was promoted to Head of QA within eleven months.
- Established the QA practice across SaaS and insurance products: test plans, shift-left practices, defect and release workflows in Azure DevOps.
- Introduced Cypress and Postman automation to move teams away from manual regression.
- Line-managed two QA engineers and coached development teams of up to ten to test their own work.
-
2020 – 2022
Associate Software Developer in Test
Checkout.com · London
- Built API and E2E automation for the merchant reporting tool used across UK and Asia-Pacific markets.
- Introduced exploratory testing and BDD practices, contributing to 20% fewer reported defects and 25% shorter QA cycles.
-
2019 – 2020
QA Engineer
Online healthcare and pharmacy platform · London
- Tested prescription services and partner integrations across five countries; built API and Cypress automation.
-
2017 – 2019
QA Engineer
Babylon Health · London
- Progressed from QA Intern to QA Engineer within a year, testing web, mobile and backend integrations for the UK, Rwanda and Canada.
-
2006 – 2017
Operations and management
Romania and UK
- Nearly a decade running administration, HR, compliance and customer care before moving into software quality.
Approach
How I think about quality
Fast feedback beats big suites
Regression only helps if people run it. I make it fast enough to sit in every pipeline.
Use AI, with checks built in
AI speeds up analysis and review. I test it against known answers so people stay in charge of the judgement calls.
Quality is everyone's job
QA joins at planning, developers own their tests, and early feedback helps people grow.
Worst-case thinking, practical decisions
I imagine what could go wrong, then say the risk plainly so the team can make a smart, fast call.
Upstream, not after the fact
The best bugs are the ones caught in a design review. I keep QA visible, proactive and in the room early.
Kind words
From people I've worked with
Excerpts from recommendations on my LinkedIn profile. Cuts are marked with an ellipsis.
-
She is an outstanding QA engineer who builds the safety nets that let us ship with confidence. She has expanded our visual-diff and end-to-end test coverage and built AI-assisted QA tooling for the team. … Alexandra is sharp on edge cases, collaborative and dependable.
M.B.Senior Frontend Developer · same team -
She is a highly skilled Senior QA Engineer who is always proactive, takes initiative, and has an exceptional understanding of the product and its details. … Beyond her technical expertise, she is a genuinely easygoing and positive person. Any team would be lucky to have her!
S.S.QA Engineer · same team -
Her reports are clear and include detailed steps to reproduce issues, which helps team fix problems faster. … On top of that, she has a great sense of humor and is very easy to work with. Alexandra brings positive energy to the team …
K.K.Frontend / Full-Stack Software Engineer · same team -
I've watched her develop from a manual tester, to a backend tester and now to a test lead. … I personally believe she is an excellent tester and is a benefit to any team.
J.D.Senior Test Automation Engineer and Test Lead · senior colleague -
Alexandra is a bright and experienced QA engineer with a huge desire to learn and make things right. … Alexandra is an absolute team player, who spends a lot of her time sharing her knowledge, mentoring and coaching our team towards better testing practices …
M.G.Product Engineer · senior colleague -
Not just me but the whole QA team and developers were impressed by her quick learning and dedication towards quality assurance. … She is always willing to help others.
A.B.Senior QA Engineer · same team
Notes
From the test run
Short pieces on the practical side of quality. Coming soon.
- EvidenceA green build is a claim, not proofComing soon
- AIHow I check AI output before my team relies on itComing soon
- SpeedMaking regression fast enough that people actually run itComing soon
- ReleasesGo/no-go is a conversation about evidenceComing soon
- EvidenceStop re-running flaky testsComing soon
- ReleasesStopping a release is half the job. Bringing options is the other half.Coming soon
- TeamsLeading quality across squads you don't manageComing soon
- TeamsEarly feedback helps people growComing soon
- JudgementWorst-case thinking, practical decisionsComing soon
- AIReviewing AI-generated code before it shipsComing soon
- EvidenceWhen an A/B test component becomes permanentComing soon
- TeamsA bug backlog that shrinks: resolving more than you createComing soon
Skills
Tools and practice
Automation
API and data
CI/CD and tooling
AI in testing · 18 custom Claude skills
Quality practice
People and ways of working
Credentials
- ISTQB Foundation (CTFL)
- Certified
- ISTQB Testing with GenAI
- In progress
- BBA, Management
- Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Iași
- Romanian
- Native
- English
- Proficient
Contact
Let's make quality a habit
Happy to talk about QA leadership, test strategy or AI in testing. The best way to reach me is a message on LinkedIn.
Message me on LinkedIn
linkedin.com/in/alexandra-maria-badescu