# Zach Howard
**Quality Engineer | Test Automation, API Testing & AI-Assisted Development**

Oshawa, Ontario, Canada | zach.d.howard@gmail.com | github.com/zdhoward | tools.zachtech.ca

## Summary
Quality Engineer focused on test automation and quality processes. Built testing workflows for web platforms, game engine tools and software development teams, working directly with engineers.

## Skills
- Automation: Playwright browser automation, API testing, test framework development, workflow automation
- Testing & Quality: Test automation, end-to-end, regression and integration testing, test planning and strategy, release validation, defect investigation
- Languages & Tools: Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, SQL, REST APIs, Git, GitHub
- Scripting: Bash and PowerShell scripting

## Experience

### Owner / IT Services, ZachTech | March 2026 - present
Oshawa, ON area
- Founded ZachTech and build custom software solutions and websites for small businesses.
- Provide IT support for small businesses and set up and maintain their networks.

### QC Lead, Eterio Realities | March 2025 - March 2026
Victoria, BC
- Built an automated Playwright test suite for the company's web application: 153 tests in 22 files (118 UI, 28 API, 7 visual) with 10 page objects, as of March 2026.
- Wrote multiple test plans for the engineering team, covering the web portal.
- Created repeatable testing workflows to improve consistency across releases.
- Developed internal tooling using Claude Code to improve product knowledge access and debugging workflows.
- Worked directly with developers to integrate testing and quality practices throughout development.

### Associate Quality Designer, Electronic Arts | March 2024 - June 2024
Vancouver, BC
- Created and maintained QA test passes for Frostbite engine changes and validated new features and workflow changes.
- Triaged defects, investigated issues with software engineers, and communicated technical findings across teams, including coordinating QA requests with Central QA.

### QA Specialist, embedded at Electronic Arts, Keywords Studios | April 2020 - March 2024
Vancouver, BC
- Embedded QA on the Frostbite Build Tools team, working directly with software engineers on internal developer tools and workflows used across AAA game projects.
- Validated changes to internal build systems and developer workflows and created testing strategies for complex engineering systems.

### IT Coordinator, Mountain West Studios | September 2018 - April 2020
Vancouver, BC
- Developed backend systems for automated video rendering and delivery, and automation for business workflows.

### Product Specialist, Saved By Technology (now Long & McQuade Pro) | January 2016 - August 2018
Toronto, ON
- Tripled the company's Amazon sales in one year, from about $500K to $1.5M, by automating listings and order processing; fully in charge of the Amazon sales channel.
- Automated product listing and order-processing workflows and managed online sales systems and integrations.

### Earlier roles
- Technical Analyst / Server Specialist at Aireus POS (2015): 24/7 emergency database contact for 400+ restaurants, QA testing and deployments.
- Freelance since 2013: server deployment, database migrations, and custom Max/MSP audio tools for musicians.

## Projects
- Design and run multi-agent AI development workflows with Claude Code and Codex, assigning models to tasks by strength and managing context to keep output reliable.
- Develop audio VST plugins in C++ with JUCE through ZXAudio (zxaudio.ca). (https://zxaudio.ca)
- Built AIUsageMonitor: an ESP32 touchscreen desktop display with C++/Arduino firmware, fed over USB serial by a Python collector, showing AI subscription quotas and live system telemetry. (https://github.com/zdhoward/AIUsageMonitor)

## Education
- Seneca College - Computer Programming & Analysis, 2012 - 2015