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Joshua Smith-O'Brien

@joshuasmith-obrien

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Staff Engineer specializing in automation testing architectures for enterprise SaaS CI/CD and AI-augmented QA.

United States

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What I'm looking for

I’m looking for Ireland-based opportunities where I can lead automation-first test architecture, strengthen CI/CD quality gates, and expand AI-augmented testing (LLM-based generation). I thrive embedded in engineering teams to speed delivery and reduce risk.

I’m a Staff Engineer with 15+ years of experience designing and scaling automation architectures for complex enterprise SaaS platforms. I build hands-free CI/CD pipelines, unify test strategies across web, mobile, and API layers, and stabilize “chaotic” transitions by embedding directly with engineering teams.

At Paylocity, I architected an enterprise-wide automation strategy for a multi-product platform serving 36,000+ clients, built 100% automated deployments with TeamCity and Octopus Deploy, and improved developer experience by redesigning test infrastructure to deliver faster feedback loops. I also champion AI-augmented QA—introducing GitHub Copilot and LLM-based test generation—while transforming manual QA organizations into automation-driven operations, including achieving 100% accessibility compliance through automated a11y test suites.

Experience

Work history, roles, and key accomplishments

Current

Staff Engineer, Software Testing

Current

Paylocity

Sep 2022 - Present (3 years 6 months)

Architected an enterprise automation strategy across web, mobile, and API testing for a multi-product SaaS platform serving 36,000+ clients. Built hands-free CI/CD pipelines enabling 100% automated deployments across product lines and introduced AI-augmented QA workflows using Copilot and LLM-based test generation.

Cypress Playwright XCUITest Espresso TeamCity Octopus Deploy GitHub Postman BrowserStack

QA Lead

Paylocity

Dec 2014 - Sep 2022 (7 years 9 months)

Led QA strategy for a greenfield Affordable Care Act platform from inception through launch, enabling entry into a high-demand compliance market. Delivered 100% accessibility compliance within 3 months, and transformed an 80% manual QA team into automation contributors through embedded, engineering-squad collaboration.

C Selenium SpecFlow Cypress Postman Neoload BrowserStack Accessibility Testing TeamCity GitHub

QA Engineer IV

Paychex

Jun 2008 - Dec 2014 (6 years 6 months)

Specialized in hardware testing for physical device integration with payroll and HR systems, validating firmware updates, device connectivity, and end-to-end data flows. Advanced into software automation using Selenium and built reusable test suites to reduce manual regression across multiple product lines.

Selenium Test Automation Hardware Testing Mobile Testing End To End Testing