Senior QA Leader with 17+ Years of Delivery Excellence

ILGAR TAGHIYEV

Toronto, ON, Canada 416-***-**** *******@*****.***

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ilgar-taghiyev-43906096

17+ years of Quality Assurance leadership experience driving QA strategy, test governance, quality standards, risk management, KPI/metrics, and continuous process improvement

End-to-end Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) expertise in Agile (Scrum, Kanban, Scrumban), Waterfall, and hybrid delivery models

Proven ability in building and scaling QA functions, optimizing test frameworks, release quality ownership, and cross-functional alignment

Strong background in QSR retail ecosystems, validating loyalty rewards, e-commerce transactions, digital ordering, customer engagement, and backend integrations.

Specialized in Functional, Integration, System, End-to-End (E2E), Regression, UAT, UI/UX, and Usability testing

Strong domain expertise in Retail, Digital Services, Financial Services, Banking, FinTech, and Healthcare

Skilled in API testing (REST, GraphQL, Postman, Swagger), and SQL database verification

Hands-on experience with CI/CD validation, test planning, test case design, defect lifecycle management, and test reporting

Proficient in test strategy development, test execution governance, traceability, and risk-based test planning

Experience driving quality initiatives, mentoring QA teams, and collaborating with Product, Engineering, DevOps, and Business stakeholders

Strong analytical, problem-solving, critical-thinking, and decision-making skills

Excellent communicator with demonstrated success in stakeholder alignment, presentations, and executive reporting

WORKL EXPERIENCE:

Tim Hortons Canada, Toronto

Sr. Quality Assurance Analyst, Team Lead August 2022 – Current

Established and governed enterprise QA standards, policies, processes, and quality metrics to drive continuous improvement, test coverage, and delivery transparency

Championed QA best practices, including test automation enablement, risk-based testing, test strategy, test design, defect management, and reusability frameworks

Led evaluation and adoption of emerging QA tools and technologies, performing ROI analysis and recommending strategic improvements to the test ecosystem

Managed end-to-end testing operations, including test planning, scheduling, resource allocation, and cross-department QA coordination

Executed end-to-end API testing for the RBI Loyalty platform, validating backend integrations, offers, rewards logic, and data consistency across multiple environments

Led mobile testing for the Tim Hortons iOS and Android applications, ensuring system stability and seamless user experience for Authentication, Loyalty features, and Points Redemptions

Partnered with Engineering and Product teams to define test strategies, design automated test scenarios, and improve overall product quality

Delivered onboarding and knowledge-sharing programs, training QA team members on testing methodologies, tools, quality expectations, and domain knowledge

The Expert Press USA, Denver

Sr. Quality Assurance Lead March 2022 – August 2022

Led test execution during early development stages, driving alignment with requirements, acceptance criteria, and quality goals

Implemented QA metrics, test coverage frameworks, and dashboard reporting tailored to Agile sprint delivery

Designed and owned a scalable QA roadmap, establishing processes to support business growth and product expansion

Ensured requirements traceability to test coverage, strengthening governance of test artifacts and quality validation

Enhanced root cause analysis (RCA) practices, improving defect prevention and resolution efficiency

Led risk identification, risk assessment, and mitigation planning to minimize impact on delivery timelines and product quality

Owned QA documentation standards, including version control, test repositories, and release documentation governance

Partnered with Engineering, Product, and cross-functional teams to drive quality-first delivery and continuous improvement

Led and actively participated in Functional, Regression, System Integration, and End-to-End (E2E) testing

McKesson Canada, Markham

Sr. Quality Assurance Analyst May 2020 – March 2022

Designed and led end-to-end quality processes for web, reporting, and database-driven applications, ensuring requirement compliance, defect resolution, and regression stability

Authored and structured high-level and detailed test cases, driving full test coverage and execution accountability

Executed and managed manual testing using qTest, including test planning, test cycles, and test result reporting

Generated and maintained test data sets through application interfaces and direct database manipulation

Performed backend database validation using SQL, verifying data integrity across INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE operations via MS SQL Server Management Studio and Sybase

Managed defect lifecycle in JIRA, ensuring clear documentation, prioritization, traceability, and timely resolution

Collaborated with cross-functional teams to investigate issues, reproduce defects, perform root cause analysis (RCA), and validate fixes

Provided production and post-release support, verifying deployment quality and overall system stability

Maintained alignment with QA standards, compliance requirements, and software quality best practices

LABORIE Canada, Mississauga

Sr. Verification Engineer April 2018 – March 2020

Designed, implemented, and executed manual and automated test plans and test cases, ensuring full test coverage and traceability

Participated in requirements refinement, system design reviews, and verification scope definition to enforce quality from early SDLC phases

Defined and owned system-level test strategies, verification plans, and quality gates for complex systems

Led improvements to test frameworks, verification processes, and documentation quality standards

Designed and supported verification test environments and tools to enable efficient test execution

Evaluated and validated QA compliance with FDA and ISO regulatory standards (system verification, risk controls, and audit readiness)

Served as a technical advisor in design and verification reviews, driving compliance and testability requirements

Established and enhanced Design Verification procedures, workflows, and supporting toolsets

Collaborated with Product, Development, and leadership to define QA best practices and quality governance

Developed compliant, traceable test artifacts (test plans, test cases, RTM) in Azure DevOps

Executed defect lifecycle management, including bug reproduction, logging, prioritization, triage, and verification of fixes

McKesson Canada, Markham

Sr. Quality Assurance Analyst / Project Test Lead August 2014 – April 2018

Led and managed the QA team for the Command Centre, including test strategy, resource planning, execution governance, and budget oversight

Defined and enforced quality standards and QA best practices aligned with organizational policies and delivery goals

Served as Lead QA Engineer, acting as the quality gate for software releases and SDLC deliverables

Performed impact analysis on requirement changes, covering test scope, effort, timeline, risk, and quality implications

Developed and maintained Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM) to ensure full coverage from business requirements to test validation

Designed and executed test cases from user stories using ALM (Application Lifecycle Management)

Conducted Functional, Regression, E2E, UAT, Usability, Integration, and Ad-hoc testing for web-based and client-server applications

Reviewed and approved test artifacts created by QA team members, ensuring quality, accuracy, and test coverage

Performed backend data validation with SQL using Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio (INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, data consistency checks)

Partnered with Product, Engineering, and Business teams to ensure alignment, clarify requirements, and remove delivery blockers

Presented test progress, defect trends, and release readiness to Scrum Master, Product Owner, and stakeholders

Actively participated in release planning, sprint reviews, test status reporting, risk escalation, and Go/No-Go decisions

Giesecke & Devrient Canada, Vaughan

Sr. Quality Assurance Analyst October 2008 – May 2014

Validated functional, usability, quality, and performance requirements using structured test methodologies and tooling

Led project discussions on issue resolution, product enhancements, and change requests across distributed teams

Performed peer reviews of requirements, design documents, test plans, and test cases to ensure accuracy and testability

Authored and managed test cases in IBM Rational ClearCase and Microsoft Test Manager

Established bidirectional traceability (RTM) between requirements and test cases using IBM Telelogic DOORS

Executed functional and regression testing across multiple application versions to validate stability and quality

Collaborated closely with Development and Business Analysis teams to investigate technical defects and confirm fixes

Logged, tracked, and verified defects using IBM Rational ClearQuest and Azure DevOps/TFS

Managed test environments, including hardware/software configurations and QA tool orchestration

Planned and executed testing effort for releases, including scope definition, effort estimation, resource alignment, and execution oversight

Coordinated, scheduled, and supported User Acceptance Testing (UAT) with business stakeholders

Performed SQL backend validation (INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, data integrity checks) using MS SQL Server Management Studio and Oracle

Ensured QA documentation compliance aligned with CMM Level 3 standards

Managed test lifecycle activities in Microsoft Visual Studio Test Framework including test execution and defect tracking

Delivered weekly QA status, risk, and progress reports to project and leadership teams

SigmaXL Canada, Toronto

Quality Assurance Analyst March 2008 - October 2008

Built and maintained test environments from the ground up, ensuring stability and operational readiness for test cycles

Administered QA tooling, including BUGTrack (Defect Management) and QA Wizard Pro (Test Automation)

Trained and onboarded QA team members on defect tracking workflows and automation tooling

Contributed to project planning, work breakdown structuring (WBS), and effort estimation

Authored comprehensive test artifacts, including Test Plans, Test Cases, Test Coverage Matrix, and Test Execution Reports

Executed Functional, System, Regression, and Integration testing to validate product quality

Conducted defect analysis, reproduction, reporting, and resolution facilitation in collaboration with development teams

EDUCATION

QA & Software Testing Certification Canadian Technology College, Toronto — 2007

Bachelor’s Degree Azerbaijan Medical University, Baku — 1993

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