Rob Sarro

1. 50%

   faster test execution

   Developing engineers

   I coached a team of manual testers into capable automation engineers through direct, hands-on mentoring. The shift cut test execution time in half and gave those engineers a skill set that advanced their careers.

2. 30 days

   to a working automation framework, twice

   Building from the ground up

   I have established a QA function at a startup that had none, designed a release process where no formal one existed, and on two occasions delivered a working automation framework within 30 days of starting.

3. 70% → 40%

   customer-reported defects, in 90 days

   Improving quality without adding headcount

   When customers were reporting 70% of a product's defects, I restructured how QA operated within each sprint. Within 90 days that figure dropped to 40%, with the same team.

4. 6 months

   as interim VP of Engineering

   Leading beyond my role

   I served as interim VP of Engineering for six months, responsible for delivery and planning across the full engineering organization while continuing to lead QA and DevOps. Earlier, I guided a 22-person team through an acquisition.

5. ~70%

   less time to automate test coverage

   Driving adoption that lasts

   I introduced AI-assisted development to a 19-person organization and measured the outcome: the time required to automate test coverage fell by roughly 70%. I also established a standard of at least one automated test per pull request, which the team has maintained.

Professional Experience

1. Oct 2025 — Present · Remote

   Manager - Quality & Delivery Engineering

   Anaconda, Inc.

   Lead QA and release management for Anaconda's AI platform with 19 engineers across multiple timezones, owning hiring, development, and performance. Built the release process from scratch — taking the organization from no release visibility to full visibility on dates, content, ownership, and checklists — and now define and enforce cycle time, change failure rate, and on-time delivery across multiple releases per month. I also lead AI adoption across the QA organization, coaching GitHub Copilot for code review and Claude Code for execution with custom skills and agents, and own capacity planning across 27 active projects.

2. May 2025 — Sep 2025 · Remote

   QA Engineering Manager

   ServiceUp

   Built the QA function from the ground up at an early-stage startup, standing up a Playwright framework integrated with CI/CD that reached 20% automated coverage of core workflows within the first 60 days. Set test strategy around high-risk areas, partnered with Engineering and Product leadership to shift testing left, and directed API testing initiatives that gave the team repeatable contract and integration validation.

3. Sep 2023 — Mar 2025 · Remote

   Senior Quality Assurance Manager

   Virtuous

   Cut customer-reported defects from 70% to 40% within 90 days by redesigning sprint-based QA processes rather than adding headcount, and scaled the Playwright suite from 10 isolated tests to over 500 cross-product tests at 80% coverage of critical user journeys. Institutionalized quality gates requiring at least one automated test per pull request, established executive-level dashboards tracking defect escape velocity and origin, and hired and mentored a team of five.

4. Feb 2022 — Sep 2023 · Remote

   Senior QA and DevOps Manager

   Raptor Technologies

   Owned both QA and DevOps, spanning test strategy, pipeline management, and release execution. Designed and deployed a Python and PyTest automation framework within 30 days, integrated with TestRail and Azure DevOps, and transformed manual QA staff into automation engineers through hands-on coaching that cut test execution time by 50%.

5. Nov 2020 — Feb 2022 · Remote

   Senior Services Delivery Engineer

   BigID

   Technical point of contact for enterprise customers across 15+ engagements, owning delivery from kickoff through production handoff. Deployed the platform across AWS, GCP, and Kubernetes with integrations to 100+ data sources, and gathered requirements directly from CISOs and IT leaders to deliver GDPR and CCPA data discovery programs in regulated environments.

6. May 2016 — Nov 2020 · Waltham, MA

   Quality Engineering Manager

   Hitachi Vantara (formerly Pentaho)

   Managed 22 QA engineers across multiple timezones through and after the Hitachi Vantara acquisition, owning growth, hiring, and technical direction. Set QA strategy and roadmap for Pentaho's data integration and analytics platform, built data-driven automation frameworks for complex ETL and analytics workflows that raised coverage to 90% of core functionality, and drove QA practice adoption across 8 agile teams.