Available to hire
Hi, I’m Karen Rutkoski. I’m a QA professional with over a decade of experience delivering reliable software by building robust automation, leading teams, and collaborating across cross-functional groups. I thrive on turning complex requirements into maintainable test strategies and empowering teams to ship quality software.
I’m seeking a position in Quality Assurance that is challenging and utilizes my strong automation, leadership, and communications skills.
Skills
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Language
English
Fluent
Work Experience
Quality Assurance Tester – Functional Verification at IBM Tivoli Software
January 1, 2000 - December 1, 2004Worked closely with development teams to create test scenarios and ensure coverage; identified defects and collaborated with engineering to verify fixes; contributed to test plan development and final release readiness.
Automation Developer at IBM Tivoli Software
January 1, 2004 - December 1, 2007Developed automation solutions for multiple products using Java, Perl, and other tools; led efforts to reduce testing time and improve regression coverage.
Quality Assurance Lead – Tivoli Monitoring System Verification at IBM Tivoli Software
January 1, 2007 - December 1, 2009Led a global QA team across RTP, Austin, Los Angeles, and India; planned test coverage for releases; collaborated with customers to resolve field issues; prepared comprehensive test plans.
Quality Assurance Lead – Green Energy Management Verification at IBM Tivoli Software
January 1, 2009 - December 1, 2011Directed QA activities for green energy management verification; ensured alignment with release goals and maintained high test coverage.
Quality Assurance Tester – Marketing Automation Software at SAS
July 1, 2011 - January 1, 2014Created and maintained test case scenarios; collaborated with cross-functional teams to validate marketing automation software; contributed to QA processes and standards.
Test Lead – Real-Time Decision Manager at SAS
January 1, 2014 - December 1, 2017Led a QA team focused on Real-Time Decision Manager; oversaw test planning, execution, risk assessment, and cross-team coordination to ensure scalable, reliable releases.
Automation and Quality Assurance Tester – Customer Intelligence 360 at SAS
January 1, 2017 - November 1, 2021Worked in CI/CD and automation for Customer Intelligence 360; designed and implemented automated test scenarios for APIs, data workflows, UI, and mobile components; used Robot Framework and Python; maintained code in Git; collaborated on AWS-based builds.
Automation and Quality Assurance Tester - Customer Intelligence 360 at SAS
January 1, 2017 - November 1, 2021Worked in CI/CD pipeline environment; Tested scenarios for APIs, Data Warehouse, Identity Service, UI, mid tier, and mobile areas of the marketing software suite; Developed automation scenarios for stories iteration using Robot and Python; Used JIRA for test case management, defects, and stories; Maintained code in GIT with daily check-ins and builds; Product developed on AWS, automation scenarios part of daily builds
Quality Assurance Lead – Green Energy Management Verification at IBM Tivoli
August 1, 2009 - July 1, 2011Led a global integrated team including resources in RTP, India, and Italy; Actively participated in design and planning of content for new releases; Worked closely with customers to resolve field issues; Responsible for preparing overall test plan and coverage for each release; Prepared test scenarios and continually improved test coverage
Quality Assurance Lead - Tivoli Monitoring System Verification at IBM Tivoli
August 1, 2007 - July 1, 2009Led a global integrated team including resources in RTP, Austin, Los Angeles, and India; Responsible for setup and maintenance of complex simulated customer environments
Automation Development at IBM Tivoli
August 1, 2004 - July 1, 2007Developed several automation solutions for various products using Java, Perl, and other tools; Led a team to reduce regression testing time by automating 50% of the regression test bucket for Tivoli Enterprise Console product
Quality Assurance Tester – Functional Verification at IBM Tivoli
August 1, 2000 - January 1, 2004Collaborated closely with development teams to create test scenarios and ensure coverage; Found defects and actively worked with development to fix them
Education
BS Computer Science, Minor in Business & Economics at Rutgers University
May 1, 2000 - April 23, 2026Bachelor of Science in Computer Science at Rutgers University
January 11, 2030 - May 1, 2000Qualifications
American Software Testing Qualifications Board, Certified Tester II
January 11, 2030 - April 23, 2026Certified Tester II (CT2) - American Software Testing Qualifications Board
January 11, 2030 - April 28, 2026Industry Experience
Software & Internet, Professional Services, Computers & Electronics
Skills
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