PANKAJ KARKRA
Senior QA Manager | Quality Engineering Leader | AI-Driven Testing & Automation | Agile (CSM)
Chandigarh
Summary
I am a results-driven Senior QA Manager with over 14 years of experience leading quality assurance transformations across enterprise-scale sports technology and healthcare platforms. I have built and scaled QA organizations that delivered measurable reductions in production defects and accelerated release cycles through the pragmatic adoption of AI-powered quality engineering. My expertise lies in establishing QA Centers of Excellence, modernizing test practices, and translating complex technical challenges into clear, business-focused outcomes.
Overview
16
16
years of professional experience
2
2
Certifications
2
2
Languages
Work History
QA Manager
MaverickServe
Chandigarh
06.2020 - Current
- Led QA transformation for a global sports technology platform, supporting hundreds of thousands of active users across web, iOS, and Android, enabling tournament registrations, player rankings, and membership workflows across multiple international associations.
- Built and scaled QA organization from 5 to 20+ engineers, establishing manual, automation, and performance testing Centers of Excellence.
- Architected and executed a comprehensive QA strategy, reducing production defects by 40% and MTTR by 50%.
- Led QA for Mavericks Coach / Coaching.com, supporting high-volume subscription and payment workflows (NDA-safe).
- Established executive-level QA dashboards and reporting frameworks, providing real-time visibility into quality metrics and release readiness.
- Drove 99.7% platform uptime through proactive monitoring, automated regression suites, and robust release governance.
- Implemented AI-powered testing framework reducing regression testing time by 35% while improving defect detection by 25%.
- Achieved 60% test automation coverage across critical user journeys, reducing manual testing effort by 45%.
- Conducted quarterly QA audits and retrospectives driving continuous improvement and team performance optimization.
- Managed cross-functional collaboration with Product, Engineering, and DevOps teams across US and remote time zones.
- Mentored 15+ QA engineers on automation best practices, AI-driven testing, and agile methodologies improving technical hiring, onboarding, and performance management for distributed QA teams.
Senior QA Lead
Elton
Chandigarh
06.2018 - 06.2020
- Led end-to-end QA for HIPAA-compliant healthcare platform managing 100K+ patient health records (PHI) and clinical workflows.
- Achieved ONC Certification for EHR product, ensuring 100% compliance with federal healthcare interoperability standards.
- Managed team of 10 QA engineers across functional, automation, and security testing disciplines.
- Implemented WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility testing using Achecker, ensuring compliance for disabled user populations.
- Reduced security vulnerabilities by 60% through comprehensive OWASP testing protocols and secure gate implementation.
- Validated automated clinical measures (eCQMs) ensuring accuracy for value-based care reporting.
QA Lead
Altius
Chandigarh
05.2017 - 04.2018
- Led QA team of 8 engineers for CCD (Continuity of Care Document) healthcare interface platform.
- Developed Java-Selenium automation framework achieving 70% regression coverage and 40% time savings.
- Conducted technical test case reviews and implemented defect triage processes improving team velocity by 25%.
- Managed sprint planning, estimation, and QA capacity planning for agile delivery teams.
- Standardized bug reporting methods for better communication between QA and development teams.
- Mentored junior team members, fostering growth and enhancing team performance.
QA Module Lead
Antora Assignments
Chandigarh
06.2016 - 05.2017
- Managed QA for healthcare management modules and iOS health-fitness mobile applications.
- Led team of 5 QA engineers across functional and mobile testing initiatives.
- Implemented mobile device lab strategy using AWS Device Farm reducing device coverage costs by 35%.
- Collaborated cross-functionally to ensure seamless integration of modules into larger projects or systems.
- Maintained expert knowledge of industry trends and advancements in module development technologies, ensuring that our organization remained competitive within the market landscape.
- Proactively identified opportunities for enhancing existing modules, leading to improvements in performance and usability for endusers.
Senior QA Engineer
McKinley
Chandigarh
01.2010 - 01.2016
- Tested enterprise bulk email marketing platform handling 10M+ emails daily across 5,000+ client accounts.
- Conducted performance testing using JMeter validating platform scalability for 50K+ concurrent users.
- Automated regression test suites using Selenium WebDriver reducing testing cycles from 5 days to 2 days.
- Performed cross-browser compatibility testing across 15+ browser/OS combinations.
Education
Bachelor of Science - Information Technology
Chandigarh Engineering College
Chandigarh, India06.2010
Skills
Quality Engineering Leadership
QA Strategy and Roadmap Development
AI Driven Test Automation
Agile and Scrum Delivery CSM
Accomplishments
- Led QA transformation for a global sports technology platform, supporting hundreds of thousands of active users across multiple regions, and achieving 99.7% platform uptime.
- Built and scaled the QA organization from 5 to 20+ engineers, spanning manual, automation, and performance testing disciplines.
- Reduced production defects by 40% and cut Mean Time to Resolution (MTTR) by 50% through the implementation of structured root cause analysis frameworks.
- Implemented AI-powered visual testing, resulting in a 60% reduction in UI regression defects and 35% faster release cycles.
- Achieved $500K+ annual cost savings through strategic automation, reducing manual testing effort by 45%.
- Drove ONC Healthcare Certification for EHR platform handling 100K+ PHI records, ensuring 100% compliance.
- Established QA metrics dashboards providing C-suite visibility into quality KPIs, defect trends, and release readiness.
Certification
Certified Scrum Master (CSM) – Scrum Alliance
Interests
Professional Interests, Global Quality Engineering Communities, AI-driven Quality Engineering, Cricket
Timeline
QA Manager
MaverickServe
06.2020 - Current
Senior QA Lead
Elton
06.2018 - 06.2020
QA Lead
Altius
05.2017 - 04.2018
QA Module Lead
Antora Assignments
06.2016 - 05.2017
Senior QA Engineer
McKinley
01.2010 - 01.2016
Bachelor of Science - Information Technology
Chandigarh Engineering College
TRAINING / COURSES
- Certified Scrum Master (CSM)
- SAFe for Leaders / Leading SAFe (Agile at Scale)
- AI-Assisted Test Optimization & Self-Healing Automation