Valeriia Iuzhakova
Tallinn, Estonia
Summary
Senior Quality Assurance Leader with 16 years in IT and 13 years in Quality. Experienced in designing and scaling organization-wide quality systems that enhance engineering shipping efficiency and confidence - from CI/CD quality gates and automation to data-driven metrics and risk management.
Proven track record of leading quality transformations in high-growth SaaS, enabling DevOps and SRE practices, while building autonomous teams through effective hiring, mentoring, and ownership. Focused on fostering clarity, accountability, and continuous improvement in product-led settings.
Overview
16
16
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Senior Quality Assurance (QA) Engineer Lead
Pipedrive
Tallinn
02.2020 - Current
- Owned and evolved company-wide quality strategy, processes, and tooling across CI/CD, automation, and release management
- Implemented SonarQube quality gates in CI/CD, preventing technical debt accumulation, and avoiding ~$500K in remediation costs over 2 years
- Designed and scaled a Structural (Code) Quality Index, improving company-wide code quality from 84% to 97% with year-long visibility
- Led organization-wide quality initiatives (Bug Bashes, Root Cause Analysis (RCA) automation, Critical User Flows), significantly reducing production defects and recurring issues
- Built and owned quality tooling and frameworks (Cypress, BrowserStack, CI/CD gates, monitoring, and alerting)
- Established data-driven quality metrics and dashboards, enhancing release confidence, and risk visibility for informed decision-making
- Partnered with Engineering, Product, DevOps, and SRE to define quality standards and automated testing requirements, integrating Developer Experience (DX) feedback, and minimizing operational toil
- Hired, onboarded, and developed 10 Quality Engineers; founded and led Quality Ambassador Forum for 5 years to foster quality ownership across teams
Software Testing Quality Analyst
Pipedrive
Tallinn
06.2017 - 02.2020
- Enhanced automated testing practices, coached developers on writing reliable tests, increasing functional coverage
- Identified quality risks early, supported scope validation to prevent downstream defects and ensure project integrity
- Developed quality metrics and dashboards, improving visibility into testing effectiveness and facilitating informed decision-making
- Collaborated with Engineering, Product, DevOps, and SRE on tooling requirements and quality standards
QA Lead
Revenue Grid
Kiev
11.2014 - 05.2017
- Defined test strategy, coordinated releases, and managed defect lifecycle to ensure product quality and timely delivery
- Led manual and automated QA across multiple enterprise integration products
- Collaborated with Product, Engineering, and external partners to align on scope and ensure release readiness
- Onboarded and mentored QA engineers, enhancing team effectiveness and knowledge sharing
- Supported backend and integration testing using SQL, API, and diagnostic tools
Mentor on QA Testing course
GoIT - start your career in IT
Kiev
02.2015 - 05.2015
- Mentored QA students on testing fundamentals and real-world practices; enhanced their learning through detailed feedback and ongoing guidance
QA Engineer
InvisibleCRM
Kiev
10.2012 - 10.2014
- Tested Customer Relationship Management (CRM) desktop and Outlook integration products across platforms including SalesDesktop, CRM Desktop for Siebel, CRM Desktop for Oracle CRM, and Outlook integration for Evernote to ensure functionality and compatibility.
Service Engineer
Freelance
Kyiv
03.2012 - 09.2012
- Delivered end-user IT support through software installation, configuration, and troubleshooting to enhance user experience
- Assisted with basic network setup while ensuring compliance with security practices
System administrator
Mitsubishi Motors Ukraine
Kremenchug
01.2010 - 03.2012
- Delivered technical support for hardware, software, and network infrastructure, ensuring prompt problem resolution.
- Updated and maintained corporate website along with associated systems to enhance functionality.
Education
Specialist - Management in Business
Kremenchug University of Economics, Information Technologies And Management
Kremenchug01.2009
Specialist - Automatic Control Systems Specialist in Computer Systems
Kremenchug University of Economics, Information Technologies and Management
Kremenchug01.2007
Skills
- Quality transformation leadership
- Strategic prioritization and decision-making
- Test strategy and automation
- Data-driven quality metrics
- Stakeholder and organizational influence
- CI/CD quality gates
- Root cause analysis and risk management
- Product and experimentation quality
- AI-assisted quality practices
Certification
• AI for Work and Life, University of North Florida, 12/01/25
• The Prompt Advantage with Dave Birss, The Gen AI Academy, 10/01/25
• QA Lead, OTUS Online education, 06/01/23
• JavaScript testing Automation, OTUS Online education, 03/01/21
• UA Online Product Management School, LemBS, 10/01/20
• Certified Tester, Foundation Level, ISTQB - International Software Testing Qualifications Board, 12/01/16
• Java Basic, GoIT - start your career in IT, 12/01/15
• ITIL Foundation Certificate in IT Service Management, AXELOS Global Best Practice, 03/01/24
• Mobile testing, Kit.center, 01/01/17
• Organization of automated testing, Software-Testing.Ru, 05/01/16
• The Prompt Advantage with Dave Birss, The Gen AI Academy, 10/01/25
• QA Lead, OTUS Online education, 06/01/23
• JavaScript testing Automation, OTUS Online education, 03/01/21
• UA Online Product Management School, LemBS, 10/01/20
• Certified Tester, Foundation Level, ISTQB - International Software Testing Qualifications Board, 12/01/16
• Java Basic, GoIT - start your career in IT, 12/01/15
• ITIL Foundation Certificate in IT Service Management, AXELOS Global Best Practice, 03/01/24
• Mobile testing, Kit.center, 01/01/17
• Organization of automated testing, Software-Testing.Ru, 05/01/16
Publications
How Pipedrive Supports Quality Releases while Deploying 50+ Times Per Day, Medium
Languages
- English, Full professional proficiency
- Ukrainian, Native or bilingual proficiency
- Russian, Native or bilingual proficiency
- Estonian, Limited working proficiency
Timeline
Senior Quality Assurance (QA) Engineer Lead
Pipedrive
02.2020 - Current
Software Testing Quality Analyst
Pipedrive
06.2017 - 02.2020
Mentor on QA Testing course
GoIT - start your career in IT
02.2015 - 05.2015
QA Lead
Revenue Grid
11.2014 - 05.2017
QA Engineer
InvisibleCRM
10.2012 - 10.2014
Service Engineer
Freelance
03.2012 - 09.2012
System administrator
Mitsubishi Motors Ukraine
01.2010 - 03.2012
Specialist - Management in Business
Kremenchug University of Economics, Information Technologies And Management
Specialist - Automatic Control Systems Specialist in Computer Systems
Kremenchug University of Economics, Information Technologies and Management