THORSTEN STECKSTOR

Senior QA Manager

Executive Summary and Overview

Seasoned software engineer and quality assurance leader with 20+ years of experience. Proven track record in optimizing team organization, driving process improvements, and ensuring the successful delivery of high-quality products. Skilled in strategic planning, metrics/KPIs, and AGILE/Scrum methodologies. Proficient in C#/Java and adept at both verbal and written communication.

Accomplishments and KPIs

Optimized team organization and set up, resulting in increased test coverage and reduced defects at Electronic Arts.
Managed a team of 26 engineers to deliver high-quality updates for League of Legends at Riot Games.
Unified 60+ QA engineers across multiple entities at Solera Holdings, improving communication and reducing test turnaround times.
Built a new engineering team from scratch at Symitar, increasing test automation coverage to ~65%.

Work Experience

Electronic Arts Development Director August 2022 to March 2024

Optimized team organization and established quality standards for a team of 25 engineers.
Drove process improvements to increase test coverage and reduce unplanned work.

Riot Games Senior QA Manager May 2021 to August 2022

Managed a team of 26 engineers to deliver high-quality updates for League of Legends.
Developed and implemented quality assurance procedures and standards.

Solera Holdings Senior QA Manager August 2019 to May 2021

Unified 60+ QA engineers into a unified department, improving efficiency and communication.
Led globalization efforts to improve delivery speed without sacrificing quality.

Symitar Software Engineering Manager July 2014 to August 2019

Built a new engineering team and transformed a Manual Testing team into a Test Automation group.
Increased test automation coverage to ~65% over a 3-year period.

AIM Consulting Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET) August 2011 to July 2014

Lead Software Development Engineer in Test at HipCricket from 02/2013 to 07/2014
Senior Software Development Engineer in Test at MeteorComm from 02/2012 to 02/2013
Lead Software Development Engineer in Test at TideWorks from 08/2011 to 02/2012.

Aditi Technologies Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET) January 2008 to August 2011

Lead Software Development Engineer in Test at Motricity from 06/2010 to 08/2011
Lead Software Development Engineer in Test at Microsoft Research from 01/2010 to 06/2010
Lead Software Development Engineer in Test at Surfkitchen from 01/2008 to 01/2010.

UIEvolution Software Development Engineer in Test November 2006 to January 2008

Created test cases for cell phone automation framework.

Microsoft Research Software Development Engineer in Test (Contract) November 2005 to November 2006

Created automation test cases for Windows Service packs.

Volt Language Tester (Contract) November 2004 to November 2005

Language game tester (German) for Xbox games.

GTi AG Software Developer March 2000 to August 2002

Backend developer for medical insurance software.

Location and Travel

Open to: Remote, Hybrid, and On-site roles.
Compensation Seeking: Competitive salary aligned with industry standards and role expectations.
Position Seeking: Software Engineering and Quality Assurance leadership roles.