Scott Allman

smallman@smallman.com | 303-641-7714 | Boulder, CO | linkedin.com/in/smallman

SUMMARY
Senior software testing professional with 30+ years of experience across startups, enterprise companies, and independent consulting. Deep expertise in test design, automation, risk assessment, and team leadership.

Currently implementing AI tools — including Claude and ChatGPT — into professional testing workflows, while maintaining the human judgment that AI cannot replace. Invited speaker at the international conference of the Association for Software Testing. Past President of SQUAD, the Boulder-area software quality professionals group. MA in Philosophy with thesis on software testing; former adjunct professor at University of Colorado, Boulder.

EXPERIENCE
GridVisibility, Inc. Jan 2025 – Present
Software Quality and Testing — Contractor

  • Plan, design and execute automated unit and integration tests for this innovative startup
  • Applying AI-assisted testing strategies and mentoring developers.

Gridmetrics, Inc. Jan 2021 – November 2024
Senior Software Tester

  • Designing, coding, and running tests for a startup in the energy monitoring space. Worked closely with
    development and marketing to build an extensive automated regression suite.
  • Implemented AI tools (Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini) into the testing practice — using AI to generate unit tests
    from code structure, eliminating low-value hand-coding.
  • Developed programs and tools to leverage AI capabilities without exposing proprietary code.
  • Technologies: Python 3, PyTest, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Pandas, SQL.

NetApp, Inc. Oct 2018 – Oct 2020
Senior Software Engineer in Test
Contributed deep testing and Python development expertise across three strategic projects. Active leader in NetApp’s efforts to build community among software testers.
• Refactored a large legacy Python test suite — improving quality and significantly reducing issues found in production.
• Designed and implemented an innovative Selenium architecture to flexibly test a web-based product; coded
the prototype and presented to the Boulder office.
• Authored a test plan for a flagship product that received praise across all levels of the business.
• Taught internal classes on test design: Given/When/Then methodology and Selenium.
• Active contributor to in-house tester community: book club, forums, presentations, mentoring.

Complex Systems Management Sep 2009 – Oct 2018
Independent Contractor — Software Tester and Developer
Delivered testing and development solutions for multiple companies in the cable television industry. Applied rapid-learning and strong communication skills to solve urgent technical problems under pressure.
• Architected and built an automation framework to measure Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11ac) performance — verified
and ruled out multiple product designs quickly under tight deadlines.
• While testing audience measurement systems, built a lightweight dev-ops tool that helped several cable
operators capture critical data during content license renegotiations.
• Managed testing strategy for a complex industry-standard library — first in the industry to achieve
certification.
• On short-term engagements wrote test plans, evaluated tools, and prototyped test suites to reduce risk as teams explored emerging technologies.

Vidiom Systems Mar 2004 – Sep 2009
Director of Software Quality
Recruited, mentored, and led a team of 25 software testers across three offices to test embedded system
libraries, scaling the QA organization in step with rapid product development.
• Grew the testing organization from a single engineer to a full division with multiple teams.
• Architected testing solutions for sophisticated embedded hardware systems.
• Designed and helped bring to market products that sold testing services to external clients.
• Coached and stabilized a remote office through a period of organizational disruption, keeping key projects on track.

Consultant Mar 1994 – Feb 2004
Software Testing Consultant — Digital Globe, Royal Observatory Hong Kong, CableLabs

  • Digital Globe (Longmont, CO) — Director of Quality. Led testing of ground systems supporting satellite
    imagery sales and photo archive estimation.
  • Royal Observatory, Hong Kong — Designed and wrote tests for a state-of-the-art foul weather detection
    system for Hong Kong’s new international airport. Mentored local engineering team.
  • CableLabs (Louisville, CO) — Multiple projects across data science for audience measurement, advanced
    networking, and adaptive video streaming.

TECHNICAL SKILLS
Languages: Python, Unix shells, Java, C
Test frameworks: PyTest, Selenium, Playwright
Cloud & data: Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Pandas, SQL, MySQL
Test techniques: Unit, white-box, risk-based, integration, system, stress, exploratory
Embedded systems: Extensive testing of cable set-top boxes and embedded Unix systems
Web & API: Playwright, Python requests, REST
AI tools: Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, home grown RAGs — active use in testing workflows
Leadership Team: building, interviewing, Agile mentoring, test planning

CERTIFICATIONS & PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

  • Certified Quality Analyst — Quality Assurance Institute (since 1999)
  • Certified Scrum Master
  • Sun Certified Java Programmer
  • Association for Software Testing — teacher, student, and invited conference speaker
  • Associate of Cem Kaner, pioneer of exploratory testing methodology

PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITY
• Invited speaker — Association for Software Testing international conference (2023)
• Past President — SQUAD (Software Quality Assurance of Denver), 1,400-member professional society
• GitHub portfolio available on request

EDUCATION
University of Colorado
Master of Arts, Philosophy — Thesis on Software Testing
Thesis examined the philosophical foundations of software testing methodology.

Indiana University
Bachelor of Arts, Philosophy

University of Colorado Boulder
Adjunct Professor — Department of Computer Science
Taught computer science courses at the university level.

Summary
Scott Allman is a senior Software Test Engineer with decades of experience in software testing,
automation, and software development. Over the past three years, he has enriched his practice by
applying artificial intelligence to software testing. Using tools such as ChatGPT and Claude, he rapidly
develops unit tests, integration tests, and custom Python programs for analysis and debugging.
Scott brings the mindset of a career software tester. He combines deep technical skills with a practical
focus on software quality. His expertise includes Python, Java, JavaScript, Linux, and modern testing
frameworks such as PyTest, Playwright, and Jest.

Scott earned a Master’s degree from the University of Colorado. His thesis focused on software testing.
His committee included faculty from Computer Science, Philosophy of Science, and Philosophy of
Mind, reflecting the analytical approach he brings to every project.

A natural teacher, Scott has taught courses on designing tests, quality assurance, and even creating
your own RAGs. He is the mentor you want working with your developers and testers.