Senior QA Engineer - Test Automation & SQL

Surabhi Sachdeva

Senior QA Engineer / Test Automation Lead

Bangalore, India Mobile: 991-***-**** Email: *******.**********@*****.***

[LinkedIn URL - https://www.linkedin.com/in/surabhi-sachdeva/]

Professional Summary

Senior QA Engineer with 13+ years in software quality assurance across Banking, Payments, Capital Markets, and Retail, currently at First Citizens India (formerly Silicon Valley Bank). Deep expertise in test automation (Java, Python, Selenium, Cucumber BDD), API testing, ETL/data-warehouse validation, and complex SQL-based data testing. Designed and built reusable Java and Python automation libraries now used across 7 projects. Experienced QA Lead managing teams of up to 6, delivering SIT, UAT, and production validation for critical payment and settlement systems.

Domain Expertise

Payments: ISO 20022 messaging, SWIFT (MT942, MT950), payment wires - GFX, Payplus, The Clearing House (TCH) real-time payments, SEPA

Banking & Settlements: payment processing, settlement workflows, reconciliation, debit/credit postings, mainframe transaction validation

Capital Markets: Calypso trade processing, Bloomberg feeds, PSGL

Data & ETL: data-warehouse testing, MDM match/merge, source-to-target transformation validation

13+ years across Banking, Payments, Capital Markets, and Retail (First Citizens, Silicon Valley Bank, Wells Fargo, RBS)

Key Achievements

Designed and built reusable test automation frameworks in Java and Python (shared libraries); the Java framework is adopted across 7 projects automating ~1000 test cases, and the Python framework automates ~100 test cases for 1 project.

Authored 470+ reusable Cucumber/Gherkin and Python BDD step definitions (295 Java, 184 Python) so teams write only feature files and page objects, cutting new-suite setup from ~2 weeks to ~2 days.

Reduced regression execution effort by ~65% (full cycle from ~5 days manual to under 1 day) across payment-wire, clearing-house, and data-migration workflows.

Accelerated framework design, build, and code review using AI-assisted development (Claude) while owning architecture, coding standards, and quality.

Standardized cross-project capabilities: config-driven authentication, smart waits, shared test context across API/DB/UI/ETL, and layered logging (console, file, report).

Technical Skills

Languages: Java, Python, SQL

Automation: Selenium WebDriver, Cucumber BDD, TestNG, REST Assured, Maven

API Testing: Postman, REST Assured, microservices / data-contract validation

Databases: Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, PostgreSQL

ETL / Data: ETL and data-warehouse testing, Informatica PowerCenter, source-to-target validation, reconciliation

CI/CD & Version Control: Git, Bitbucket, Jenkins/GitLab CI

Test Management: Jira, HP ALM / Quality Center

Domain: ISO 20022, SWIFT messaging (MT942, MT950), payment wires (GFX, Payplus, TCH), Calypso

Other Tools: IntelliJ, Eclipse, PyCharm, TOAD, SQL Developer, Autosys, Splunk, OpenShift, WinSCP, PuTTY, UNIX/vi

Methodologies: Agile/Scrum, STLC, SIT, UAT, Regression, Integration testing

AI Skills

Expert in AI-assisted software development using Claude (Anthropic) for building and reviewing production automation frameworks.

Skilled in prompt engineering - writing clear, structured prompts to generate high-quality, maintainable code and solve complex problems efficiently.

Leverage AI to accelerate framework design, code generation, debugging, and code review while retaining full ownership of architecture, standards, and quality.

Use AI to boost team productivity - converting requirements into reusable step definitions, documentation, and test scenarios faster.

Work Experience

First Citizens India, Bangalore - Senior QA Engineer / QA Test Lead

March 2023 to Present

Built and maintained reusable Java and Python automation libraries adopted by 7 project teams for UI, API, DB, and ETL testing, standardizing automation across the QA org. Automated 1000 test cases for 7 projects by using reusable step defs.

Led a team of 5 QA engineers, owning test strategy, reviews, and delivery across SIT, UAT, and production validation.

Validated GFX Wire and Payplus Wire payment flows against ISO 20022 standards, ensuring data accuracy across upstream and downstream systems.

Performed integration testing and data validation for The Clearing House (TCH) real-time payments.

Executed API testing of banking microservices with Postman, validating payment APIs, data contracts, error responses, and end-to-end data flow.

Designed complex SQL queries for data-quality testing, reconciliation, and transformation validation across Oracle and SQL Server.

Built end-to-end automated validation of FinParser output for SWIFT MT942 and MT950 parsing, comparing parsed data against source messages and downstream tables.

Managed defect lifecycle (logging, triage, root cause, resolution) in Jira with full SIT-to-production traceability.

Silicon Valley Bank, Bangalore / Santa Clara, CA - QA Test Lead

May 2018 to March 2023

Led manual and automation testing using Java, Selenium, and Cucumber BDD for banking data-flow, payment-processing, and reporting modules; managed a team of 5.

Built and maintained Selenium + Cucumber automation suites, increasing regression coverage and reducing manual effort.

Performed extensive API testing of microservices in Postman: test collections, request/response validation, status codes, error handling, and DB persistence checks.

Wrote complex SQL to validate data transformation logic, ETL mappings, and data integrity across Oracle and SQL Server.

Validated application logs and processing events using OpenShift and Splunk.

Tested Bloomberg feeds, SWIFT message processing, data-load validations, PSGL, and Calypso trade processing.

Drove Agile ceremonies (sprint planning, reviews, scrum) and requirement/defect discussions with developers.

Wells Fargo, San Francisco - QA Engineer (Contract)

June 2016 to December 2017

Analyzed test requirements with business and development teams for the Online Bill Pay application.

Performed web and database testing, including cross-browser and cross-device testing on real devices and simulators (mobile, tablet).

Wrote SQL queries to validate customer details, payment transactions, and DB updates across multiple environments.

Validated debit/credit postings, account reconciliation, and transaction details in the mainframe system.

Managed test execution and defect lifecycle in HP ALM / Quality Center; ran knowledge-transfer sessions for new team members.

Levi Strauss & Co, San Francisco (via Infosys) - Test Lead

May 2015 to May 2016

Global Master Data Management (MDM) hub for product and location data: data feeds from multiple source systems, ETL mapping, merge, and data-quality validation.

Led onsite delivery coordinating a 6-member offshore team (Hyderabad); prepared test plans, scenarios, cases, and data.

Validated MDM match-and-merge rules with complex SQL; performed ETL and data-driven testing of source-to-target transformations.

Ran ETL jobs via Informatica PowerCenter; tested fact tables and KPIs.

Owned Business Acceptance Testing (BAT) for Product MDM and Location MDM; managed cases and defects in HP ALM.

Apple Inc. (via Infosys), Bhubaneswar - System Tester

July 2014 to December 2014

Channel Sales dashboard for viewing POS and HQ sales (sell-thru, sell-in, total adjusted) and store performance at weekly/quarterly levels.

Converted functional requirements to test cases; executed tests, reported defects (Apple Radar), and sent daily status.

Tested across Desktop, iPhone, and Tablet platforms.

Royal Bank of Scotland (via Infosys), Chandigarh - QA Engineer

June 2012 to June 2014

Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA): EU-wide payments integration initiative.

Analyzed requirements and prepared test cases from technical and functional specs.

Executed functional and regression cycles; wrote SQL to validate customer, payment, and SEPA-compliance data.

Tracked results and defects in HP Quality Center 9.0; ran knowledge-transfer sessions.

Education

Bachelor of Engineering, Mechanical Engineering - Uttar Pradesh Technical University, Lucknow, India

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