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Smita Patnaik

@smitapatnaik

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Automation leader and Senior SDET building AI-augmented test frameworks for web, mobile, and APIs.

India

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What I'm looking for

I’m looking to lead AI-augmented test automation—building scalable Playwright/Cypress/Selenium frameworks across web, mobile, and APIs, improving reliability and CI speed, and partnering with engineering on production-ready release validation.

I’m an automation engineering leader specializing in building scalable test frameworks across web, mobile, and API platforms. My focus is on improving test reliability, reducing execution time, and enabling faster, stable releases.

I design automation systems from scratch and use AI tools like Claude and Playwright MCP agents to speed up test creation, improve debugging, and identify edge cases. I’m deliberate about building reusable modules, utilities, and data-driven approaches that keep suites maintainable.

In my recent role as Senior SDET at Aspire, I built a Playwright (TypeScript) framework for creator workflows and increased coverage by finding edge cases in complex business flows. I also reduced CI execution time through parallel execution and added performance testing with k6 and Grafana to monitor behavior under load.

As a QA Lead and QA Manager, I’ve delivered strong automation outcomes—building Playwright with Python + Pytest (achieving ~80% automation coverage), and building Cypress and Appium frameworks from scratch at Noice. I lead defect triage, define release validation strategy, mentor teams, and improve CI/CD stability through practical, repeatable testing standards.

Experience

Work history, roles, and key accomplishments

Current

Senior SDET

Current

Aspire

Aug 2024 - Present (1 year 10 months)

Built a Playwright (TypeScript) automation framework from scratch for creator workflows (campaigns, offers, payouts). Used Claude and MCP agents to accelerate test creation/debugging, improve edge-case coverage, and reduced CI execution time via parallel execution.

Playwright TypeScript Claude Playwright MCP Agents Automation Framework Grafana Performance Testing CI CD

QA Lead

Hypercare

Jan 2024 - Aug 2024 (7 months)

Built a Playwright (Python + Pytest) automation framework for a healthcare platform and reached ~80% automation coverage across critical workflows. Integrated tests with CircleCI and defined the test strategy and release validation process in collaboration with product and engineering teams.

Playwright Python Pytest CircleCi Test Strategy Automation Coverage Healthcare QA Debugging

QA Manager

Noice

May 2022 - Sep 2023 (1 year 4 months)

Built Cypress and Appium frameworks from scratch for web and mobile applications, increasing automation coverage across core user flows. Reduced release validation time through improved test execution efficiency, led defect triage, and mentored the QA team to standardize automation practices.

Cypress Appium Mobile Testing Test Execution Defect Triage QA Leadership Web Testing Cross platform testing

Senior Lead QA

Fueled

Jul 2021 - Apr 2022 (9 months)

Designed scalable Cypress automation frameworks for client applications and automated backend validation with integrated testing in CI pipelines. Reduced manual testing effort by increasing automation coverage for repetitive workflows.

Cypress Integration Testing CI CD Pipelines Test Automation Regression Testing Automated Testing

Module Lead QA

TELUS International

May 2016 - Jul 2021 (5 years 2 months)

Led Selenium and Appium automation efforts for enterprise applications, improving CI/CD pipeline stability and reducing execution failures. Investigated flaky tests to improve reliability and enhanced framework scalability for cross-platform testing.

Selenium Webdriver Appium Cross platform testing

Member of Technical Staff

InterraIT

Nov 2015 - May 2016 (6 months)

Performed REST API testing and cross-platform validation to ensure backend and integration stability. Supported reliable system behavior across environments by verifying API functionality and integrations.

REST API Testing Cross platform testing Integration Testing

QA Automation Engineer

Innominds

Apr 2015 - Jul 2015 (3 months)

Designed and enhanced automation framework components for web applications and prepared automated test scripts based on business requirements. Executed automated tests to validate application behavior against defined scenarios.

Automation Framework Development Web Application Testing Test Script Development Test Automation QA Automation

Software Test Engineer

Kargotech Software Systems Pvt Ltd.

Apr 2011 - Feb 2015 (3 years 10 months)

Analyzed client requirements to create detailed test scenarios and test cases, and executed functional, regression, integration, and system testing. Designed and maintained automation frameworks to support automation adoption for repetitive test workflows.

Testing Design Functional Testing Regression Testing Integration Testing System Testing Test scenarios Automation Framework