PAUL LUCA

Quality Assurance • DevOps
Open to opportunities
Cluj-Napoca, Romania • Available for Remote/Hybrid/On-Site

DevOps Engineer | Software Tester

DevOps Engineer who brings 11 years of quality first discipline to infrastructure delivery. I build reliable automation, safe patching workflows and observable systems, backed by deep troubleshooting instincts from a decade of production QA. Hands-on with Linux administration, Ansible, CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions), and Python/Bash scripting. Currently expanding into cloud infrastructure (Azure) and container orchestration.

paul@qaops:~
1.8+
Years DevOps
11+
Years QA
Calm
During incidents
Quality
As a habit
What I do
Find the real risks
Focused on impact, not checkbox testing.
How I do it
Evidence-first
Repro steps, logs and clear evidence.
What you get
Reliable delivery
Predictable delivery with fewer surprises.
Currently Building: Simple Money — A privacy first personal finance app built with TypeScript, React Native, Node.js, and PostgreSQL. Launching this year.

Technical Expertise

Practical skills built through production work.

DevOps Techstack

Linux (RHEL/CentOS/Debian) Ansible Puppet Bash Python RabbitMQ Azure AWS AWS Lambda Grafana Jenkins Nginx PostgreSQL

DevOps Delivery

GitHub Actions Reusable workflows CI/CD pipelines Patching scripts Pipeline troubleshooting Workflow automation HTML dashboards Versioned releases

Troubleshooting

Client/Server logs Root cause Linux troubleshooting Incident support Ansible Playbooks Service checks Connectivity debugging Proxy routing Wireshark

QA Test Strategy

Exploratory Regression System Test Compatibility Risk-based Acceptance E2E flows Smoke Release sign-off

QA Tooling & Process

Jira Jama Confluence Postman Agile Defect lifecycle Logcat/RXLogger Test Case creation Test Case maintenance Release notes

Communication

Clear status updates Stakeholder alignment Triage facilitation Calm under pressure Docs-first Knowledge sharing Ownership mindset Cross-team handoffs Expectation setting

Skill Levels

Core / Strong / Familiar - Here's what I know.

Core

I can start with this

    Strong

    I ramp up fast

      Familiar

      I'm familiar and learning

        Projects I've worked on

        Tools I’ve built to make releases and operations smoother.

        RPM Package Check

        Ansible

        Read only compliance check that verifies required packages are present across inventory groups and produces a clear pass/fail report.

        Reason: Quick pre-flight validation before deployments and troubleshooting, no more spot checking servers by hand.

        • Validates required package presence per host or group
        • Highlights missing packages per host
        • Impact: Replaced manual spot checks with automated 1 minute validation across 15+ servers

        Patching Workflow

        Ansible

        Safe rollout pattern: explicitly targeted runs, one host at a time, stop on first failure, with a run report and controller side failure logs.

        Reason: Standardizes patch execution to reduce risk and make results consistent regardless of who runs it.

        • Safe-by-default targeting (SAFE_DEFAULT + explicit target)
        • Before/after snapshots with what's changed
        • Impact: Enforces blast radius reduction and deterministic failure handling across production hosts

        Server Version Dashboard

        Python

        Single-page HTML dashboard built from an inventory file that shows host grouping, runtime details, ONLINE/OFFLINE status, and last-known state retention.

        Reason: New joiners, TLs, PMs and devs needed fast context. This dashboard made handoffs smoother by showing environment, platform, and status in one place.

        • Single-page report
        • Shows status + last-known retention for offline hosts
        • Impact: Centralizes status, platform, and connectivity data for 30+ hosts — fewer handoff questions, faster onboarding

        Log-Driven Bug Triage

        QA

        Repro + evidence using client/server logs to speed up finishes and reduce noise.

        Reason: “It doesn’t work” tickets burn time. Good logs and knowing the root cause of the issue gets devs to root cause faster with fewer loops.

        • Clear repro steps + attachments
        • Fast feedback loops
        • Impact: Reduced average bug turnaround from ~3 days to ~1 day by providing root-cause ready reports

        Regression Suite Hygiene

        QA

        Keeps regression lean, stable, and aligned to real release risk.

        Reason: A noisy regression suite created false confidence and wasted time. This focused on high-risk flows and removed flaky tests.

        • Risk-based scope (high-impact flows first)
        • Deterministic reruns
        • Impact: Cut regression escaped defects by ~40%, reducing release blocking issues from ~5 per cycle to 1–2

        Compatibility Matrix

        QA

        Structured device/OS coverage to catch real world issues early.

        Reason: Users don’t all run the newest device. Used multiple Android devices and OSs to catch the “works on my phone” problems before release.

        • Risk-based selection
        • Up to date with the latest Android
        • Impact: Covered 8+ device/OS combinations per release, catching ~15% of issues that only reproduced on specific hardware

        Legacy Pipeline "Bug" 🐣 Easter Egg

        QA • DEVOPS • STABILITY

        Wait, this card looks... tilted. Is there an undocumented issue here?

        DEBUG: Click this card to open the diagnostic report.
        • Investigate the tilt
        • Find the root cause
        • Verify the fix

        How I Work

        I’m transitioning into DevOps with strong QA fundamentals: risk management, strong triage, and dependable execution.

        Work Experience

        Highlights (details in PDF).

        Jun 2024 – Present

        DevOps @ Cognizant

        Stack: Linux • Ansible • Bash • Python • GitHub Actions

        Built Ansible inventory-driven utilities and patching workflows across 15+ Linux servers to improve release reliability and repeatability.
        Enhanced CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions) to automate build, test, and validation stages.
        Developed Bash/Python scripts for YAML validation, reporting, and pre-flight deployment checks.
        Collaborated with QA and infrastructure teams to implement risk-based delivery and incident handling.

        Jul 2019 – Jun 2024

        Test Analyst @ Cognizant

        Stack: Android • Logcat • Jira • Story Testing • System Testing

        Designed, executed system and story-level tests for Android apps using log based evidence collection.
        Streamlined defect lifecycle and introduced evidence first triage templates, reducing bug turnaround by ~30%.
        Supported release validation for mobile platforms with multi-device compatibility coverage.

        Jul 2017 – Present

        Freelance Software Tester @ Global App Testing

        Stack: Exploratory Testing • Bug Reporting • Mobile/Web

        Performed exploratory testing and detailed bug reporting for global brands across various mobile and web platforms.
        Identified high-severity functional and UI issues, providing clear reproduction steps and technical logs.

        Aug 2017 – Jun 2019

        Software QA Tester @ OSF Global Services

        Stack: Web • Jira • TestLink • Integrations

        Tested eCommerce web applications across desktop and mobile, validating cross-system integrations and checkout flows.
        Maintained regression suites in TestLink and improved traceability via Jira.
        Contributed to post-launch support, ensuring stable releases for global clients.

        Feb 2015 – Aug 2017

        Junior → Senior QA Tester @ Gameloft

        Stack: iOS • Black-box • Compatibility • Game Testing

        Performed manual and compatibility testing for iOS mobile titles across multiple devices and OS versions.
        Supervised a team of 3-4 QA testers and temporarily managed a 22-member team. Optimized test case libraries, improving coverage accuracy by 15%.
        Awarded Employee of the Month for leadership and dedication during critical release cycles.
        Mentored junior testers in test planning, prioritization, and bug documentation.

        Contact

        Interested in dependable delivery and QA-minded DevOps? Let’s talk.

        Email Call LinkedIn GitHub