Resume
Senior Software Engineer
Summary
Charles Hayes
Senior Software Engineer with over twenty years experience in software engineering, designing scalable automation frameworks, test strategies, and CI/CD pipelines for complex applications and distributed systems. Experienced building, testing, and deploying cloud-native applications for several industries including finance, healthcare, and defense. Proven technical leader who partners with developers, product teams, and platform engineers to improve testability, diagnose failures, establish quality practices, and deliver reliable software through continuous integration and delivery.
Core Competencies
Languages
Java, Python, C++, TypeScript, JavaScript
CI/CD & DevOps
GitLab CI/CD, Jenkins, Azure DevOps, Docker, Kubernetes, Helm, Ansible
Test Automation
Pytest, Playwright, Serenity BDD, Cucumber, Jest, Selenium WebDriver, RestAssured, Karate API, Postman/Newman, Robot Framework, Gatling
Observability & Reporting
Elasticsearch, Kibana, Quality Dashboards, Serenity BDD Reports, Custom Reporting Solutions
Certifications
SAFe 6.0 for Teams
CompTIA Security+
Education
Avionics Technology; FCC License
1990 - 1992
Spartan College of Aeronautics and Engineering
Professional Experience
Senior Software Engineer — Quality Engineering & Test Automation
July 2023 - Present
Frontier Technology Inc / RAFT
- Develop and maintain Flask REST APIs and backend services using Blueprints and SQLAlchemy. Developed unit and integration tests with Pytest and developed UI component tests with Cypress.
- Collaborated with our platform team to develop ansible playbooks for installing and configuring backend infrastructure.
- Recommended using ansible roles, and led the effort of refactoring playbooks into roles.
- Resolved a critical defect in our elasticsearch cluster where some indexes were filling up and not rolling over properly.
- Developed automated infrastructure tests using Python/Paramiko to securely connect to remote hosts, validate system services and data flows, and verify operational health across distributed environments.
- Developed a centralized quality-observability platform using Elasticsearch and Kibana to aggregate results across frameworks, applications, teams, and pipelines and expose failure trends, stability metrics, and release-quality indicators.
- Lead test automation architecture and quality-engineering improvements for a distributed cybersecurity platform spanning web applications, REST APIs, network sensors, Kafka, Elasticsearch, and containerized services.
- Worked with DevOps engineers to improve their Gitlab CI/CD pipeline performance and operational capabilities.
Technologies: Python, Pytest, Flask, SQLAlchemy, REST APIs, Cypress, JavaScript, Ansible, GitLab CI/CD, Docker, Elasticsearch, Kibana
Senior Integration and Test Engineer
July 2020 - July 2023
Actalent / Boeing
- Integrated and validated Kubernetes-deployed microservices for satellite ground-station software, diagnosing deployment and service issues across distributed environments.
- Built Python/Pytest integration tests for APIs, service-to-service communication, network behavior, and end-to-end ground-system workflows involving modem emulators and virtual switches.
- Managed Kubernetes application deployments and Helm upgrades, partnering with development and platform teams to resolve release and environment issues.
- Diagnosed cross-service failures with systems engineers and operators, isolating networking, configuration, and deployment issues affecting mission-critical workflows.
- Created repeatable integration validation workflows that expanded test coverage, reduced regression risk, and helped new engineers ramp up on the ground-system architecture.
Technologies: Python, Pytest, Jenkins, Docker, Kubernetes, Microservices, Helm, Rancher, CI/CD, Networking, Jira, Zephyr
Professional Experience (continued)
Lead Software Engineer in Test
September 2019 - July 2020
TEKsystems
- Advised client engineering teams on continuous delivery and testing, mentoring developers and improving automation frameworks, CI/CD pipelines, and quality reporting.
- Architected a data-driven test framework using TypeScript, Serenity BDD, Cucumber, and the Screenplay pattern, producing readable tests aligned with business workflows.
- Integrated automated test frameworks with InfluxDB by publishing JSON execution results, enabling timely visibility into quality metrics.
- Authored a framework architecture and maintenance guide, enabling client teams to support and extend the solution after the consulting engagement.
Technologies: UI/API Test Automation, TypeScript, Selenium, Serenity BDD, Cucumber, Azure DevOps, Karate API, Continuous Testing
Senior Software Engineer in Test
June 2018 - September 2019
T-Mobile
- Architected and developed a full-stack test automation framework for the T-Vision Home Entertainment product using Java, Gradle, Selenium WebDriver, Selenide, and Allure.
- Automated API regression testing with Postman and Newman to expand repeatable coverage across service interfaces.
- Solved difficult UI automation challenges for an embedded browser running on a TV set-top box, including remote-control driven interactions and nontraditional navigation patterns.
- Promoted test-driven development by leading monthly Lunch and Learn sessions and coaching developers on unit testing techniques.
- Helped developers improve unit testing of UI components using Jest, Sinon, mocks, and spies.
- Recognized for exceptional impact in test automation with multiple merit-based salary increases and stock awards within the first year.
Technologies: UI/API Test Automation, Java, JavaScript, Gradle, Selenium, Selenide, Allure, Jest, Sinon, Postman, Newman
Senior Software Engineer in Test
January 2018 - June 2018
The Judge Group (contract)
- Designed a custom REST API test automation framework for Dish Network's back office products. Leveraged Serenity BDD with Cucumber for developing the test scripts and used Java 8, JUnit 5, and Selenium WebDriver for the framework.
- Utilize developer toolsets such as Chrome DevTools and Charles Proxy to capture Logcat traces, inspect API payloads, and simulate real-world network constraints.
- Conducted data integrity and system-level validation across backend microservices, messaging systems, and database layers.
Technologies: Serenity BDD, Cucumber, Java 8, JUnit 5, Selenium WebDriver, Chrome DevTools, Charles Proxy
Senior Software Engineer
June 2017 - December 2017
ITEC (contract)
- Supported an organization-wide transition from a traditional waterfall development to a DevOps delivery model as a member of the DevOps Architecture team.
- Analyzed and documented existing engineering processes, practices, and toolchains and helped design future state DevOps workflows and standards.
- Developed architecture documentation using Phillipe Kruchten's 4+1 architectural view model to communicate architectural concepts to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
- Guided engineering teams through the adoption of new DevOps processes, practices, and tooling, helping teams understand how the changes fit into their software development lifecycle.
Technologies: Architecture, DevOps, CI/CD, Jenkins, Build Tools, UML Modeling, Technical Documentation, Presentations
Senior Software Engineer in Test
April 2016 - December 2016
TEKsystems (contract)
- Lead automation efforts for microservices used in Comcast's video activation platform, ensuring high availability and performance at scale.
- Developed automated performance and load tests for API endpoints using Scala and Gatling, and leveraged service virtualization to simulate dependencies and test system behavior under various conditions.
Technologies: Scala, Gatling, Service Virtualization, Microservices, API Testing, Performance Testing
Senior Software Engineer
August 2014 - April 2016
Colorado Interactive
- Designed and implemented a multi-tenant judicial case management application for Colorado district courts, combining shared functionality with tenant-specific configuration and data isolation. Redesigned Oracle schemas to enforce tenant boundaries and refactored JSF components for dynamic branding.
- Redesigned Colorado's business-registration application to streamline interactions with the Departments of Labor and Employment and Revenue and the Secretary of State.
- Provided technical leadership to five engineers through code reviews, mentoring, engineering guidance, and knowledge-sharing sessions.
- Developed and maintained a multi-tier Java EE application (JSF, EJB 3, Hibernate/JPA, Spring) on JBoss with an Oracle database. It integrated with state agency systems through SOAP/Axis2 web services, generated PDF reports with JasperReports, and was tested with JUnit/PowerMock and Cucumber/Selenium BDD suites.
- Introduced BDD using Cucumber, partnering with analysts and stakeholders to turn acceptance criteria into executable specifications and improve requirement clarity and test feedback.
Technologies:Java, JEE, Maven, JBoss, EJB3, JSF, SOAP, WSDL, XML, XSL, XML Schema, JAXB, Spring, Hibernate, HTML, CSS, Oracle, Javascript, Ruby, Cucumber, BDD, JUnit, Mockito, Powermock, PlantUML
Senior Software Engineer
January 2014 - August 2014
KForce (6-month contract)
- Validated an end-to-end video-on-demand ingestion pipeline, tracing content from edge services through Amazon S3 and backend microservices to verify complete, correct processing.
- Developed Ruby scripts to simulate high-volume edge-service uploads to S3, enabling production-scale ingestion testing before release.
- Validated microservice-generated JSON against expected movie schemas and data to prevent incorrect metadata from reaching the user interface.
Technologies: Ruby, RSpec, Microservices, API Testing, Postman, AWS S3
Senior Software Engineer
January 2013 - December 2013
TEKsystems
- Developed a Java application for investment portfolio reporting and backend financial-service integration using Spring, JAX-WS, XML, XSL-FO, WSDL, and XML Schema; deployed on IBM WebSphere.
- Modernized a Charles Schwab Java application by migrating WebLogic-specific services to standards-based JAX-WS and replacing legacy Ant build processes.
Technologies:Java, Maven, Spring, SOAP, WSDL, XML Schema, JAX-WS, XML, XSL-FO, IBM WebSphere, BEA Weblogic
Senior Software Engineer
January 2009 - December 2012
McKesson / TEKsystems
- Developed contract-first SOAP services using Java, JAX-WS, WSDL, and XML Schema to integrate components of a distributed healthcare platform serving multiple clients.
- Configured ActiveMQ queues and topics for asynchronous messaging between distributed services, supporting reliable communication and scalability.
- Worked with cross-functional teams to translate ARRA regulatory requirements into application functionality.
- Owned the unit testing strategy, expanding JUnit, Mockito, and PowerMock coverage to support reliable changes and code refactoring.
Technologies:Java, Maven, Spring, SOAP, WSDL, XML Schema, JAX-WS, XML, XSL-FO, IBM WebSphere, BEA Weblogic