{
  "$schema": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jsonresume/resume-schema/v1.0.0/schema.json",
  "basics": {
    "name": "Zach Howard",
    "label": "Automation Developer | Workflow, Test & AI-Assisted Automation",
    "email": "zachdhoward@proton.me",
    "url": "https://resume.zachtech.ca/automation/",
    "summary": "More than a decade of hands-on work across IT, custom development, QA and DevOps for multiple companies and studios (freelance since 2013).",
    "location": {
      "city": "Oshawa",
      "region": "ON",
      "countryCode": "CA"
    },
    "profiles": [
      {
        "network": "GitHub",
        "username": "zdhoward",
        "url": "https://github.com/zdhoward"
      }
    ]
  },
  "work": [
    {
      "name": "ZachTech",
      "position": "Owner / IT Services",
      "location": "Oshawa, ON area",
      "period": "March 2026 – present",
      "highlights": [
        "Founded ZachTech, a local IT services business, and am building its client base."
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "Eterio Realities",
      "position": "QC Lead",
      "location": "Victoria, BC",
      "period": "March 2025 – March 2026",
      "highlights": [
        "Developed internal tooling using Claude Code to improve product knowledge access and debugging workflows.",
        "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.",
        "Automated a test plan of about 200 cases covering roughly 90% of the web application and its APIs; the remainder was not practical to automate.",
        "Created repeatable testing workflows to improve consistency across releases."
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "Electronic Arts",
      "position": "Associate Quality Designer, Engineering Workflows",
      "location": "Vancouver, BC",
      "period": "March 2024 – June 2024",
      "highlights": [
        "Created and maintained QA test passes for Frostbite engine changes and validated new features and workflow changes."
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "Keywords Studios",
      "position": "QA Specialist, embedded at Electronic Arts",
      "location": "Vancouver, BC",
      "period": "April 2020 – March 2024",
      "highlights": [
        "Validated changes to internal build systems and developer workflows and created testing strategies for complex engineering systems.",
        "Embedded QA on the Frostbite Build Tools team, working directly with software engineers on internal developer tools and workflows used across AAA game projects."
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "Mountain West Studios",
      "position": "IT Coordinator",
      "location": "Vancouver, BC",
      "period": "September 2018 – April 2020",
      "highlights": [
        "Developed backend systems for automated video rendering and delivery, and automation for business workflows.",
        "Managed network planning, maintenance and recovery processes and supported internal technical operations."
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "Saved By Technology (now Long & McQuade Pro)",
      "position": "Product Specialist & E-commerce Automation",
      "location": "Toronto, ON",
      "period": "January 2016 – August 2018",
      "highlights": [
        "Automated product listing and order-processing workflows and managed online sales systems and integrations.",
        "Developed internal software tools and utilities for sales and operational workflows.",
        "Fully in charge of the company's Amazon sales channel."
      ]
    }
  ],
  "projects": [
    {
      "description": "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."
    },
    {
      "description": "Built an embeddable, zero-dependency TypeScript web component (Shadow DOM, Tailwind CSS) that gives real-time B2B automation quotes and validates lead capture.",
      "url": "https://tools.zachtech.ca/projects/quote-calculator/"
    },
    {
      "description": "Built and deployed tools.zachtech.ca: a Next.js and React portfolio with an MDX blog, a 13-theme engine and unit-tested client-side crypto and networking tools, on Cloudflare Pages with automatic deploys from GitHub.",
      "url": "https://tools.zachtech.ca"
    },
    {
      "description": "Designed and run a self-hosted homelab on two Unraid servers: about 40 Docker Compose-managed services, including Authentik SSO (with Postgres and Redis), Nginx Proxy Manager, Cloudflare tunnel and dynamic DNS, and Grafana and Prometheus monitoring."
    }
  ],
  "skills": [
    {
      "name": "Languages & Tools",
      "keywords": [
        "Python",
        "JavaScript",
        "TypeScript",
        "SQL",
        "REST APIs",
        "Git",
        "GitHub"
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "Automation",
      "keywords": [
        "Playwright browser automation",
        "API testing",
        "test framework development",
        "workflow automation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "Scripting",
      "keywords": [
        "Bash and PowerShell scripting"
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "Infrastructure",
      "keywords": [
        "Linux",
        "Docker",
        "Docker Compose",
        "reverse proxies",
        "networking",
        "DNS",
        "VPNs",
        "monitoring with Grafana and Prometheus",
        "Cloudflare",
        "Tailscale",
        "Authentik"
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "Testing & Quality",
      "keywords": [
        "Test automation",
        "end-to-end",
        "regression and integration testing",
        "test planning and strategy",
        "release validation",
        "defect investigation"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "education": [
    {
      "institution": "Seneca College",
      "area": "Computer Programming & Analysis, 2011 – 2014"
    }
  ],
  "meta": {
    "variant": "automation",
    "keywords": [
      "automation",
      "workflow automation",
      "Python",
      "TypeScript",
      "Playwright",
      "REST APIs",
      "Claude Code",
      "CI/CD"
    ],
    "source": "claims verified or confirmed by the candidate"
  }
}