Senior SDET · Based in Lisbon · Available for relocation to UK & EU

Karina
Zhdanova

I build test automation frameworks that actually hold up in production. 10+ years making software trustworthy — from fintech APIs to automotive UIs.

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10+
Years in QA
15+
Products shipped
3
Countries worked
0
Critical bugs on my watch

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About

Testing is an art.
I make software
trustworthy.

Based in Lisbon, actively targeting Senior SDET roles in London. I specialise in building robust test automation architectures from scratch — not just writing tests, but designing the systems that make QA scalable and maintainable.

My work spans E2E automation with Playwright, performance engineering with k6, API testing, and CI/CD pipeline design. I work across fintech, automotive, and SaaS — wherever there's complexity to tame.

Playwright TypeScript k6 API Testing Cypress Selenium GitHub Actions Docker Python Grafana InfluxDB REST / GraphQL CI/CD Agile / Scrum

Core Skills

01
UI & E2E Automation
  • Playwright + TypeScript
  • Cypress
  • Selenium WebDriver
  • Page Object Model
  • Visual regression testing
02
API & Integration Testing
  • REST & GraphQL APIs
  • Postman / Newman
  • Contract testing
  • Mock services
  • Schema validation
03
Performance Testing
  • k6 load testing
  • Grafana dashboards
  • InfluxDB metrics
  • Stress & soak testing
  • Performance baselines
04
CI/CD & Infrastructure
  • GitHub Actions
  • Docker containers
  • Pipeline design
  • Test reporting
  • Railway / cloud deploy
05
QA Strategy
  • Test architecture design
  • Framework setup from scratch
  • Risk-based testing
  • QA process definition
  • Team mentoring
06
Languages & Tools
  • TypeScript / JavaScript
  • Python
  • SQL
  • Jira / Linear
  • Git / GitHub

Experience

2023 — Present
Senior SDET
emagine / PMI · Freelance
Building and maintaining Playwright-based E2E test suites, API test coverage, and CI/CD pipeline integrations for automotive and enterprise SaaS clients.
Current
2018 — 2023
QA Automation Engineer
Freelance QA Consultant
Designed automation frameworks from scratch for multiple clients. Delivered performance testing strategies using k6 and set up complete CI/CD test pipelines.
Contract
2013 — 2018
QA Engineer
DataArt
Full-cycle QA across fintech, healthcare, and media projects. Grew from manual testing to building Selenium-based automation suites and leading QA on client engagements.
Full-time

Projects

2024 — Present
SDET Knowledge Base
karusya.github.io/learn-everything-sdet
A curated, open-source learning resource covering everything SDET — test automation, performance, CI/CD, system design, and interview prep. Built and maintained as a living document.
View Resource →
Live
Coming soon
More projects
Check back shortly
Soon

Let's build
something reliable.

Open to Senior SDET roles in London. Available for interviews, contract projects, and coffee chats about test architecture.

Email
karina.zhd@gmail.com
→
LinkedIn
linkedin.com/in/karinazhdanova
→

🇬🇧 🇪🇺 Open to relocation across the UK and EU countries. Currently based in Lisbon, Portugal.