Anton Gulin - Lead SDET - The Only QA You Need

The Challenge

When I joined CooperVision, there was no test automation. None. The QA process was 100% manual - spreadsheets, checklists, and hope. Every release was a gamble, and the team was drowning in regression testing that consumed entire sprints.

The company needed someone who could build a test automation framework from scratch, integrate it with their development workflow, and - perhaps most importantly - bring the existing manual testers along for the journey.

The Solution

Within the first week, I had the first automated test running. Within a few months, we had a production-ready framework. The key was moving fast enough to prove value while building sustainably.

I architected and built a complete test automation framework using Playwright and TypeScript, integrating Git for version control and establishing patterns that the team could extend without my direct involvement.

Playwright & TypeScript - Modern, fast, and maintainable
Page Object Model - Scalable architecture that separates concerns
CI/CD Integration - Every PR automatically tested via Azure DevOps
Docker & Kubernetes - Containerized test execution for consistency
Visual regression testing - Catching UI changes before they ship

Transforming the Team

The technical framework was only half the battle. The bigger challenge was human: transforming a team of manual testers into automation engineers.

I led a team of 5 (2 US-based, 3 offshore) and implemented a mentorship program focused on patience, clear communication, and psychological safety. The results spoke for themselves:

Two manual testers wrote their first automated tests within 2 months
Team learned TypeScript fundamentals alongside automation concepts
Established code review practices that built skills while maintaining quality
Created documentation and training materials for long-term sustainability

The Migration

The company had a legacy C#/Selenium test suite that was slow and flaky. I led the migration to Playwright with TypeScript, improving test execution speed by 40% and dramatically reducing maintenance burden.

Why Playwright over Selenium? Native TypeScript support, built-in waiting mechanisms, and the fact that Microsoft's framework receives the latest improvements first. The decision has proven right - the team spends time writing tests, not debugging flaky locators.

Impact & Results

300% increase in automated test coverage
50% faster deployments through CI/CD integration
35% reduction in test maintenance time
40% faster test execution after Playwright migration
60% improvement in regression test coverage
Promoted to Lead SDET within first year for delivering results

Key Takeaway

The biggest lesson from CooperVision? The first test is the hardest - not technically, but politically.

Once leadership saw automation catch a real bug that would have made it to production, everything changed. Buy-in followed results. Investment followed buy-in. And suddenly, the team that had no automation was asking for more.

If you're building automation from scratch, focus on quick wins first. Prove value. Then scale.

Duration: August 2020 – Present
Location: San Diego Metropolitan Area
Role: Lead Software Engineer in Test (promoted from SDET in 2021)
Industry: Healthcare / Medical Devices